Chapter 9: The Frankenstein Experiment
The cemetery. A place that was usually not very pleasant, especially on stormy nights such as these. It was a place of death and mourning, but also a place of acceptance and closure.
And it was there that the graves were being robbed.
Tirelessly he dug into the dirt until he reached the coffin, opening it and securing the body parts that he needed.
He was small with a hunchback, his eyes were mis-matched with one wide open and the other too small, and his skin pale and clammy and covered in warts.
"Must not dally, must not dawdle, the Master will be angry he says." He grumbled to himself as he dug up another grave. "'Hurry, Igor,' he says. The experiment. The experiment. Always with the experiment!" He grumbled as he heaved a disembodied arm out of the grave.
Lightning crackled through the cloudy night sky as Igor felt a chill run up his spine for reasons he could not tell.
But as the thunder quieted down, Igor noticed a strange mist beginning to fill the graveyard. "What's this?" He questioned aloud, feeling a strange sense of dread in his gut. "Fog? But from where?"
Lightning then struck again as Igor felt a sudden presence behind him, forcing him to turn around with a yelp.
Behind him was a tall man dressed in black well-tailored suit and cape, his skin a deathly pale.
"Ahh!" Igor cried. "Who-who are you? A baron? A c-c-constable?"
"A count." The man answered. "Count Dracula." He then slowly began to levitate off the ground towards Igor, much to his shock. "And you, my small, round, rotund friend, are Igor Fritz Radev." He then grinned a little as his fangs peeked out of his mouth. "Assistant to a very brilliant man."
Now extremely freaked out, Igor grabbed the shovel he had been using to dig out the graves and held in front of himself defensively. "Wha-what are you?" He questioned fearfully. "How do you know such things?"
"Because I told him."
Igor yelled as he jumped away, falling on his back into the grave, seeing a tall yellow bullish demon standing above him.
"I, Savanti Romero." The demon said.
"Demon!" Igor cried. "Keep away from me!"
"We are all demons, aren't we, Igor?" Savanti reasoned. "So it is best you know your place amongst the monsters."
Igor raised his head from the grave as he gazed upon Savanti's loyal followers.
From the shadows of the cemetery emerged the ancient Mummy of the Pharaoh, his decaying skin and wraps fully apparent on his body as he held his ankh staff in his hands. Landing on one of the graves with a growl was Vulko the Werewolf, flashing his claws and fangs as he let out a roar. Finally, atop the trees was Dracula's newest slave, the red clad hotheaded ninja turtle himself, Raphael, now a vampire as he let out a hiss and revealed his new fangs.
Igor flinched back in fear for his life. "Wh-what do you want from me?" He asked nervously.
Savanti grinned as he kneeled down to Igor's level. "We need… your master's experiment."
"We're in Germany, in the year eighteen-eighteen." Renet explained as she, the Ninja Turtles, Po, and the Furious Five recovered from their recent jump through the time gateway. "And that, my friends, is Frankenstein's castle."
She pointed towards the large castle on the hill in the distance, as thunder and lightning crashed through the sky.
"Aw, man. Frankenstein?" Mikey questioned with a slight whimper. "We gotta take on Frankenstein too?"
"Who's Frankenstein exactly?" Po asked as he, Tigress, Viper, Crane, Monkey, and Mantis looked curious at that.
"Just this giant monster made of human body parts that's totally a zombie!" Mikey explained. "In fact, he was the OG zombie!"
"Actually, that's a common misconception." Donnie pointed out. "Frankenstein is actually the name of the scientist who created the monster."
"But we're still gonna have to fight another monster, right?" Monkey asked.
"One made of… human body parts?" Viper asked, sounding repulsed. "And also a zombie?"
"Pretty much." Donnie confirmed. "And not just that, we also gotta save Raph and turn him back to normal."
"Not to mention that the Time Scepter is running super low on power." Renet added as she held up the Time Scepter before the glow on it faded. "And there it goes."
"Well then, we better not waste any time." Tigress stated. "Come on, guys."
"Tigress is right." Leo agreed as he, along with the rest of the group, set out towards the castle. "Let's get to Frankenstein's castle and stop Savanti, and then we'll figure out how to get home." He then paused for a brief moment. "Or not, and then we're doomed." He added sarcastically.
"Yeah, no pressure or anything." Mantis agreed.
Meanwhile, back at the cemetery, Dracula floated across the graveyard, helping Igor along with Savanti, Vulko, and the Pharaoh collect the body parts needed for the experiment.
"Master," A voice spoke from behind one of the graves, to which Dracula looked to see Raph peeking out from behind, his face holding a sort of anxiousness, "I get to drink some real blood tonight, right?" Raph asked, crawling on top of the tombstone. "I mean, rats and spiders are one thing. I need some sustenance."
Dracula nodded. "Indeed, you will feast tonight, Raphael, when the time is right." He said patiently.
"It's about time! You're holding me up, Dracula." Savanti said brazenly, standing atop the archway at the entrance to the cemetery. "Seriously, man. I have monsters to recruit and worlds to conquer."
Dracula frowned as he glared up at him. "Do not irritate me, demon." He hissed.
Before he could retort, Savanti felt the time gauntlet on his wrist vibrate with a slight ping. "What's this?" He questioned as he checked it. "Renet and those disgusting turtles, along with their allies, followed me again!" He cursed.
"They won't give up, Savanti. We have to destroy them quickly!" Raph stated before turning to Dracula. "Send me, Master. With my knowledge and the Mummy's magic, we'll annihilate them!"
"Very well." Dracula agreed. "Torture them. Torment them. Make them suffer slowly."
Raph nodded as he and the Pharaoh left the cemetery, leaving Dracula gazing up at Savanti with a hidden disdain in his eyes.
Leo, Po, Tigress, Donnie, Mikey, Viper, Crane, Monkey, Mantis, and Renet continued to walk through the deep forest to get to Frankenstein's castle.
As they journeyed on through the night, they began to notice that the lush forest around them was now strangely starting to look like the swamps back in Transylvania, which couldn't help but make them all feel a sense of unease.
"Man, we've been walking all night!" Mikey whined, his feet dragging slightly. "Are we at the castle yet?"
"No." Leo and Tigress both said bluntly.
Po's stomach then rumbled as he lightly placed his paw over it. "Oh, man. So hungry." He mumbled, realizing that he hadn't eaten anything ever since this whole time travel journey started.
As they walked, however, Po felt something catch the corner of his eye, something gold and glowing.
Turning to face it, Po's eyes immediately sparkled upon seeing several delicious-looking dumplings hanging from the branches of a nearby tree like fruits.
"Whoa! Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Po exclaimed, practically salivating. "It's a miracle of nature!"
He then lunged for the dumpling tree, much to the others' surprise and confusion.
"Po!" Donnie called after the panda.
Po didn't seem to hear him as he skipped over to the dumpling tree, his mouth open and ready to eat…
… only for his mouth to meet the bark of the tree.
Confused, Po spat out the branch along with a few leaves. "What the-?" He questioned as he looked at the tree again, only to find the dumplings on the branches gone. "Hey, who stole my tree dumplings?!"
Donnie, with raised brow, slowly reached out to the panda. "What the heck are-?"
Suddenly, before Donnie's eyes, Po suddenly morphed into a giant vampirian skull that hovered above the purple clad turtle with it's fangs gleaming menacingly. Donnie screamed as he raised the seal of protection on his staff out in front of him.
The real Po, meanwhile, screamed as the tree opened up almost like an estranged door, and out stepped none other than Lord Shen with his knives out. Po barely had time to react as the peacock lunged at him, swinging his knives furiously with a mad grin on his beak, which only served to further unsettle Po as he dodged and ran away.
"What are you guys screaming about?" Leo questioned as the others stopped in their tracks.
Leo suddenly felt a dark presence behind him, forcing him to turn around. And he froze upon seeing none other than the Shredder standing above him.
"AHH!" Leo yelped before drawing his katanas to block a claw bladed strike from Shredder. He quickly jumped back as Shredder attempted to stab him with his other clawed gauntlet as the two continued to fight.
"Leo, what's-?" Tigress said in confusion before she felt someone kick her in the side, knocking her to the ground.
Shaking her head from her dizziness, Tigress sat up on the ground and readied herself to confront whoever had knocked her down, only for her amber eyes to widen upon seeing Tai Lung himself standing before her with a wicked grin.
"You!" Tigress exclaimed before she jumped to her feet and threw several punches and kicks at Tai Lung, which the snow leopard either blocked or dodged.
"Tigress, not you too!" Viper said as she, Mikey, Crane, Monkey, Mantis, and Renet watched as to them, their friends were fighting nothing but thin air.
Just then, Viper felt someone grab her by her tail, lifting her up from the ground with her upside down. "Whoa! What the…?!" She blinked her eyes into focus, only for them to widen as she saw the gorilla bandit she had defeated the night she found her courage was the one who was holding her up, poison-proof armor and all. "What?! How… what?!" She exclaimed in confusion and shock as she wretched herself free from his grasp and snapped her tail at him, to which the gorilla bandit blocked.
"What-what is going on?! Why are you all acting this way?!" Crane questioned before a jade chain sword suddenly wrapped around him, pinning his wings to his sides and dragging him across the ground. Looking up at the person who bound him, and his face went pale with fear upon seeing an all too familiar bull. "Kai?!" Crane exclaimed.
Kai smirked down at the bird as he raised his other jade sword, about to bring it down on Crane's head.
"Everyone's going crazy, yo!" Mikey gasped, his hands on his head. "Monkey, Renet, Mantis, what do we do?!" He exclaimed as he turned towards them, only to find that they were no longer there. "Renet? Monkey? Mantis?" He called, looking around for them.
He then turned back towards where Leo, Po, Tigress, Donnie, Viper, and Crane were fighting. "Guys! Renet, Monkey, and Mantis have disappeared!" Mikey cried.
But he froze when he saw Leo, Po, Tigress, Donnie, Viper, and Crane had vanished too. Mikey was now completely alone in the creepy forest.
"Guys? Where'd you go?!" Mikey called, looking around frantically.
Suddenly, Mikey felt incredibly sick to his stomach, forcing him to clutch his mouth in an attempt to keep his lunch down. But he couldn't keep it down as it rose up in his throat, only it wasn't his lunch he threw up, but squirrels. Lots and lots of squirrels that quickly grew morphed into a hoard of Squirrelanoids.
Monkey, Mantis, and Renet watched as Mikey seemed to join the others in the madness, letting out a blood-curdling scream as he tried to run away from the supposed monstrosities chasing him.
"What is going on here?" Monkey questioned, scratching his head in confusion.
"What do you think is going on here?"
Monkey gasped at the familiar voice as he turned to the trees to see none other than Wu Kong jumping down from the branches.
"Br-brother…?" Monkey stuttered fearfully.
"You and your friends are going mad, brother." Wu Kong smirked as he lunged at Monkey, forcing him to dodge out of the way as they continued to fight.
"Did everyone just decide to go insane?" Mantis questioned incredulously before he felt a large paw grasp him and lift him up from the ground. "Hey, what's the big… idea?" He exclaimed in anger before trailing off as he saw a giant version of Lei Lei holding up, cutsie smile and all.
"Green baby!" Lei Lei giggled, cuddling Mantis against her cheek.
"No, no, not again!" Mantis cried. "Not a baby! Not a baby! Antenna of fear!"
Meanwhile, Renet had huddled herself up against the bark of a nearby tree, her hands on her head and her eyes wide and shaking. "Savanti Romero? But-but… NO!" She cried in distress hearing the evil Time Master's haunting laughter, as if it were taunting and tormenting her.
Unbeknownst to all of them, all that they were seeing was but an illusion cast upon their minds by the Mummy of Pharaoh, who stood in the trees with Raph and Vulko, holding up his ankh staff up as it glowed.
"Yes, torture them with your magic, Pharaoh." Raph said with an evil grin, his fangs showing. "Make them suffer."
Far away in the distance in the castle at the edge of the cliff on top of the hill, the electrical machinery and equipment crackled and weezed with life, the lightning rods already absorbing the electricity from the lightning for power.
And it was in this dark laboratory that the infamous Doctor Victor Frankenstein was having trouble with his current experiment.
"That's not it, that won't work. Think, Frankenstein, think! What are you missing?" The tall and lanky German scientist asked himself as he observed his calculations and equations on the chalkboard. "It's not the synthetic blood, so it must lie in the rejuvenation formula!"
It was then that Igor arrived through the doors, entering the lab and dragging the bag of body parts with him. "Master, I have returned with the needed…" He grunted as he heaved the bag over to Frankenstein. "... anatomy."
Dr. Frankenstein looked pleased as he turned to his hunchback lab assistant. "Excellent, Igor. I must finish the rejuvenation formula by tomorrow's eve." He then turned to the window, gazing out at the storm clouds in the sky. "For that night, the heavens will produce the greatest thunderstorm Germany has ever known." He then grinned with an almost mad look in his eyes. "And with the power of lightning, I will give my creation the spark of life!"
"You mean, if you can finish the rejuvenation formula, Master." Igor pointed out.
Dr. Frankenstein let out a sigh as he knew Igor was right. If he couldn't figure out how to make the rejuvenation formula work, his experiment, his life's work, would be ruined.
"Perhaps I can help." A voice spoke up, getting the Doctor's attention.
Dr. Frankenstein turned to his right to find the source of the voice, only to be met with the silver hypnotic eyes of Dracula himself.
"The formula… I can't solve it." Dr. Frankenstein droned almost mindlessly, unable to look away.
Dracula simply smiled, turning towards Savanti, who was inspecting the Doctor's experiment down below. "Then allow my friend, the aging, ugly, foul, disgusting, but brilliant Professor Protarious, to help you." He said, using his hypnosis on Dr. Frankenstein to cast the illusion that Savanti was said professor to him.
"Ah, I've heard of you, Professor." Dr. Frankenstein acknowledged.
"Dr. Frankenstein, let me demonstrate the future of science." Savanti said, lightly taking the chalk from the Doctor.
Savanti then walked up to the chalkboard and began writing, correcting some of the equations and completing other ones, even adding a few calculations himself with his advanced knowledge.
Once he was done, Savanti stepped away, allowing Dr. Frankenstein to see the results.
"My dear man," Dr. Frankenstein said in awed amazement after reading the new mathematics, "the formula! It all makes sense now!"
Savanti grinned as everything seemed to be going his way.
Leo gritted his teeth as he raised his katana to block a strike from Shredder. The force of the hit was so hard that it knocked him to the ground. All he could do was block with his sword as the Shredder continued to slash down at him relentlessly.
And as he slashed Shredder suddenly morphed from his human form into the hulking mutant giant that was the Super Shredder.
Super Shredder then slashed at Leo again, this time morphing into his undead zombified self from when he was resurrected by Kavaxas.
The Zombie Shredder groaned as he limply raised his decaying and rotting hand to strike at the blue clad turtle.
Instinctively, Leo raised his katana to block the Zombie Shredder's head, only for his blade to be met by that of a certain kunoichi.
"No, NO!" Leo cried, eyes widening at what he saw. "Not you too, Karai!"
And indeed it was Karai who's blade clashed against his, her eyes glowing pale blue and her vampiric fangs glistening as the Zombie Shredder held her by the shoulders, as if encouraging her.
Karai let out a snake-like hiss as she lunged at Leo, who could only scream as she tackled him to the ground.
"AHH! Stop!" Donnie cried, his shell backed up against a tree as the vampire April and Casey slowly lumbered towards him, all while he held out his seal of protection in front of him, which strangely didn't seem to have any effect on them. "I don't want to be a turtle vampire, I hate blood!"
"Join us, Donnie!" April said as she grabbed him by the shoulders. "Join us, and drink deep! And you can be with me! Just like you always wanted!" She then opened her mouth, revealing her fangs as she moved to bite him, to which Donnie used his staff to keep her at bay.
Tigress, meanwhile, blocked a kick from Tai Lung before retaliating with a punch of her own. However, Tai Lung caught her punch and threw her over his shoulder.
Tigress crashed to the ground, shaking her head as she sat up. Only to be surprised to find the snow leopard gone.
Looking around the tiger found herself facing none other than Master Shifu, who gazed upon her with a scowl and a disappointed look. "Shifu…?" Tigress questioned hesitantly.
"Silence!" Shifu snapped, making Tigress wince in shock. "You are no student of mine, nor are you any daughter of mine!"
Tigress' mouth fell slightly agape and her eyes widened in shock. "W-What…?" She stammered, unable to believe what was coming out of her surrogate father's mouth.
"Do not speak to me!" Shifu yelled at her, causing her to wince back. "I made a mistake ever adopting you from that orphanage! You're just like Tai Lung! You're just a monster!"
Tigress almost felt tears coming to her eyes at his words as she placed her paws over her ears to drown out the noise. "N-no. No, I'm not! Please, baba! I'm not a monster!" She said, her voice cracking as she was on the verge of breaking down.
"Get away from me!" Renet cried, trapped in a ring of fire with Savanti hovering above her, cackling madly. "I'm super serial!"
Savanti continued to laugh as he spat down a swath of fire that encompassed her completely, causing Renet to scream even though the fire didn't hurt her.
Mikey screamed as he ran as fast as he could to get away from the Squirrelanoids chasing him. "Keep away from me!" He screeched as one of the rapid squirrel mutants tackled him to the ground, attempting to bite him, to which he quickly blocked the Squirrelanoids sharp teeth with the chain of his nunchaku.
Unbeknownst to him, it was not a Squirrelanoid that was trying to slash his face off, but instead it was Mantis, who saw a large cuddly version of a crocodile bandit underneath him.
"Stay down you fang-toothed freak!" Mantis explained, trying to keep the crocodile bandit pinned down. However, the crocodile bandit then grabbed him by the face and threw him off.
Viper continued to fight off the gorilla bandit with the poison-proof armor, snapping her tail at his face and nailing him in the nose.
"I beat you before and I can beat you again!" Viper exclaimed, raising her tail. "Get ready to feel the wrath of my deceptive dance!"
She then leapt into the air, flipping as she was about to bring her tail down, only for her to feel a sharp pain radiate from it.
"OW!" Viper cried as she landed, looking at her tail as it throbbed and looked like it was sprained while the gorilla bandit looked unharmed. "H-How…?" Was all Viper could murmur fearfully.
The gorilla bandit smirked. "My poison-proof armor doesn't just defy your father's fabled fangs, but it also defies your deceptive dance as well!" He then bent down, reaching out towards the now terrified Viper. "Guess what that means for you?"
Viper let out a scream of fear as the gorilla bandit overshadowed her.
Monkey dodged a punch from Wu Kong, but left him open to a kick from his older brother which knocked him to the ground.
"You let me go to prison to rot." Wu Kong said, punching Monkey and keeping him down. "You abandoned me! You abandoned our mother!"
"No! No, none of that's true!" Monkey cried, covering his ears with his hands to try and block him out.
He was startled when a gross rotting hand burst out of the dirt in front of him, causing him to scramble back with a yelp.
From the ground rose none other than Monkey's long dead mother, her eyes empty and glazed over and her fur fading as she lumbered over to the terrified Monkey.
Crane struggled desperately against Kai's chains as he tried to pull himself free, becoming more and more frantic as the bull pulled him towards him, his arms outstretched and glowing as Kai looked like he was preparing to absorb his chi again.
"No! No, stop!" Crane cried, unable to break out of the chains. "I don't want to be a jombie again! Please! Please!"
Po yelped as Shen attempted to stab him with his guan dao sword, forcing the panda to jump out of the way before aiming a kick at the peacock. Shen, however, grabbed Po's foot and pinned it down before using his tail feathers to swipe Po off his feet.
Po landed hard on his back, but was still conscious enough to catch Shen's blade as the peacock attempted to stab him.
"This doesn't make any sense!" Po said, more to himself than anyone else. "How are you here, Shen?! Me and then guys already beat you!" Suddenly, the panda's eyes widened in realization.
"Wait, that's it!" Po said, standing up before pointing at Shen. "You can't be the real Shen!" He exclaimed.
As soon as he said that, Shen lunged at Po with his sword, the panda not even taking a defensive stance as he just stood there, letting the blade along with Shen himself phase through him and turn into a puff of a smoke, the illusion broken as his surroundings shifted back from the Transylvanian swamp to the German forest.
Po looked up to the trees, spotting the Pharaoh, along with Raph and Vulko, holding up his ankh staff as it glowed.
"Guys, it's the Mummy!" Po exclaimed to the others. "He's using his magic to mess with our heads!"
Leo and Tigress both heard this and immediately stopped panicking and fighting. Leo lowered his katana as Karai lunged at him, only to vanish in a puff of smoke while Tigress straightened herself out as the fake Shifu vanished as well, their surroundings fading back to the forest.
"Po's right!" Leo shouted to the others. "It's all an illusion, fight it!"
"Concentrate!" Tigress yelled. "Clear your mind and break free!"
The others, hearing this, quickly began to fight back against the Pharaoh's spell, with Renet jabbing the Time Scepter into Savanti's gut and causing him to dissipate in a puff of smoke, Viper closed her eyes and calmed herself as the gorilla bandit faded away along with the pain in her tail, Mantis calming himself down as the illusion faded, Crane sticking out his leg and kicking Kai in the stomach and causing him to disappear while he was freed, and Monkey threw his arms out and shoved his brother and mother away, causing the illusion to be broken.
"Leo says it's not real. Leo says it's not real!" Mikey chanted to himself, letting Squirrelanoids phase through him as they lunged at him before fading away.
"Your… not… real!" Donnie said, standing up as he shoved April and Casey away, ending the illusion. "Agh! My head!" He groaned, rubbing his forehead under his hat.
"You fools! Don't you understand?!"
Leo, Po, Tigress, Donnie, Mikey, Viper, Crane, Monkey, Mantis, and Renet all jumped as Raph flew down towards them in his bat form.
"It would be easier if you let me drain a little blood!" Raph said, though his voice sounded a lot higher pitched in his vampire bat form. "We'll all get something out of that. I'll become a full vampire, and you will be my servants."
"Wait, what do we get out of it again?" Mikey questioned.
"Don't you see?" Raph continued, transforming back into his normal mutant turtle form in a flash of smoke. "We can rule together!"
"That's not you talking, Raph!" Leo stated firmly.
"Fight it, man!" Po added pleadingly. "Come back to us!"
Raph briefly paused, looking down to the side as his expression shifted, almost looking… remorseful, before his gaze hardened into a glare.
"If you won't join me," Raph spoke with an air of finality to it. "Then you will be destroyed!"
He then moved to lunge at the group, baring his fangs, only to hiss in pain as he felt the light of the morning sun shining on him as it rose up over the horizon.
Raph quickly transformed into a bat again as he, the Pharaoh, and Vulko fled out of sight as the sun had now fully risen over the hills.
"Aww, man!" Renet groaned while the others sighed with somewhat bittersweet relief. "If only the Time Scepter was charged up, I-I'd zap 'em here and kick their monster butts back to Transylvania!"
"C'mon, we gotta get to Frankenstein's Castle while it's still light out." Leo stated, turning towards the castle in the distance.
"But what about Raph? And Vulko?" Viper questioned anxiously while the others looked concerned.
Leo sighed as he looked down solemnly. "I don't know." He said grimly. "We might be able to save Vulko. But unless any of you come up with some bright idea, Raphael might be lost to us forever."
With that ominous omen in the air, the group continued on their trek towards Frankenstien's Castle. It took several hours, leading all the way into the late afternoon, but they eventually reached the front doors of the castle.
Walking up to the door, Renet grasped the door knocker and slammed it against the wooden door loudly.
Within seconds, the door peaked open, revealing Igor to be the one who answered.
Renet cleared her throat before speaking. "Um, greetings, Mr. Igor." She said nervously. "We, uh, need to see the doctor right away." She then opened the door slightly more and stepped aside, revealing Leo, Po, Tigress, Donnie, Mikey, Viper, Crane, Monkey, and Mantis. "These guys have green warts and fur all over their bodies."
"Ooh! Agh! Igor exclaimed in disgust, almost jumping back. "Okay, hurry then. The Master is busy, but always willing to help the afflicted."
With that little invite, the group quickly followed Igor into the castle, the door closing behind them as they were led directly into the good doctor's laboratory.
"Master, you have visitors." Igor called out.
Dr. Frankenstein bristled slightly from the chalkboard he was currently writing his equations on. "I'm sorry, I'm quite busy and can't accept new-" He turned around and gasped upon seeing the Ninja Turtles, Po, and the Furious Five. "What in the name of science are you?!"
"Woah, calm down, buddy." Crane said as reassuringly as he could.
Mikey then shoved the bird aside slightly. "Yeah, I'm known as super cute in many circles." He said, jabbing his finger into his chest proudly.
"Doctor Frankenstein," Renet spoke up, trying to come up with a good story. "These young men and women are, um, suffering turtle-toe-furritis, it's really rare. Can you cure them?"
"Cure them?" Dr. Frankenstein questioned incredulously as he walked down the stairs towards them. "These people are animals. I can't cure animals."
Donnie decided to cut to the chase as he stepped forward. "Doc Frank, we heard you're doing experiments to bring the dead back to life." He said earnestly.
"How would you know this?" Dr. Frankenstein asked in confusion.
"Because we're from the fu-" Tigress was about to say when Renet suddenly slapped her hand over her mouth.
"Hey, um, Tigress, can I talk to you for a second, please?" Renet said before pulling Tigress off to the side, just out of earshot.
"We can't reveal we're time travelers or alter major events in any way, remember?" Renet told the feline, who gave her a dull look in response. "C'mon, girl, get with the program."
Tigress huffed indignantly as she and Renet rejoined the group.
"It would be an honor to help the esteemed Doctor Frankenstein on his reanimation project." Donnie said politely.
Although reluctant at first, Dr. Frankenstein allowed the group to assist him with his project, though it was mainly Donnie who was helping the doctor with all the science work as he worked on the formulas, equations, calculations, and even modifying the synthetic blood slightly, all while Igor sat off to the side looking rather jealous.
Hours passed as the group continued to work, attaching the mechanical parts and sowing on the body parts (which Viper nearly ended up vomiting over while everyone else except for Donnie, Renet, and Dr. Frankenstein, looked grossed out) until eventually the sun had fallen over the horizon and the darkness of night set in.
"Donatello, you are the best assistant I've ever had." Dr. Frankenstein complimented the purple clad turtle gleefully. "I'm quite impressed with your knowledge."
Igor, meanwhile, let out a "harumph" as he folded his arms and glared off to the side.
Donnie rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "Thanks, Doc." He said. "I want to ask about your synthetic blood too. See, I've got this… friend who's gotten this really bad disease and it might help him."
"Hmm, let's conduct the experiment first, and then we'll see what we can do." Dr. Frankenstein said.
Donnie nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He said before turning to the others. "Alright! Time to hoist him up!"
Leo and Tigress quickly got on the levels and began to crank them while the others watched. The table that the experiment lay on was large and heavy, causing Leo and Tigress to really push to hoist him up towards the ceiling as it opened up, revealing the heavy storm clouds above.
As the table reached it's highest point at the electric rods, where the rods were immediately struck by the lightning above, absorbing their energy and redirecting it into the experiment.
"Yes, yes! Give my creation life!" Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed enthusiastically.
As the bright lights of the lightning dissipated, the table dropped right back down towards them, so fast that the tarp covering the experiment flew off.
Leo, Po, Tigress, Donnie, Mikey, Viper, Crane, Monkey, Mantis, Renet, Dr. Frankenstein, and Igor all collectively gasped in shock, awe, and somewhat horror upon what they saw.
From the table rose a large man who stood at least eight-feet tall with bulky shoulders and a thin lower body with thick leather boots. His skin was a sickly shade of green and rotting as it was carefully stitched together, his head was balding, with only loose pieces of hair on the side and several loose teeth while his eyes were glazed over.
The creature lifted it's head, letting out a guttural groan that sent a chill down everyone's spines, even Tigress'.
"Woah…" Po gasped, nervously reaching out slightly and holding Tigress' paw. "That is probably the grossest thing I've ever seen… but also freakishly awesome."
"Shh, Po." Tigress lightly chided him, though giving his paw and a comforting squeeze despite how nervous she was as well.
Viper's blue eyes were wide as her mouth hung open as she stared up at the enormity before her, almost trembling in terror.
Crane raised his wings slightly into a combative stance, although he himself showed clear signs of fear as sweat trickled down his head.
Monkey crawled back on all fours, raising his arm out in front of him defensively, his eyes wide and shaking in fear as he looked like he was ready to run away.
Mikey raised his hands up to his mouth, his teeth chattering as he stared up nervously at the great undead behemoth.
Donnie couldn't help but feel fascinated and frightened at the same time. He had read the story of Frankenstein and his monster before as it was one of his favorite books. But to find out that they were real, and that he was now playing a part in this story, was almost like a sort of twisted dream come true.
Leo remained on edge at the sight of the monster, squaring his feet as his shoulders tensed, his right arm slowly reaching for the handle of one of his katanas, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.
"Egad!" Igor cried, flinching back at the sight of the creature's face. "The lightning scarred him, Master!"
Dr. Frankenstein shook his head as his smile had completely vanished a long while ago. "My perfect being, ruined!" He cried in despair.
Suddenly, the monster looked down at Dr. Frankenstein with a curious look on his face. "Fa…" The creature suddenly began to speak. "... Fa… Father…?" He asked, his voice soft and carrying an almost child-like innocence.
Upon hearing his soft-spoken voice, the group began to relax slightly, with Mikey, Viper, Po, and even Tigress beginning to feel sympathetic for the monster.
Dr. Frankenstein, however, looked repulsed at the very idea. "Father?" He questioned. "No, you are a monster. An abomination!"
"No, he's not!" Mikey rebuked while he, Po, Tigress, and Viper glared at the Doctor. "He just wants love! Your love!"
Mikey then turned to the undead artificial creation. "It's cool, dude." He told the monster calmly with a friendly smile. "My name's Mikey. Your Frank. Fraaaank. Say it with me."
"Fa… Fra… Frank." The monster, now newly named Frank, spoke with his dried lips tugging up into almost a smile.
"That's right." Viper smiled in a motherly way as she slithered up to Frank. "And my name's Viper, and these people are friends." She gestured to the others with her tail. "Frieeends. C'mon."
"Fra… Fri… Friends?" Frank slowly spoke, to which Viper nodded.
However, they're bonding session with Frank was cut off by the sound of clapping, forcing the group to look past the monster and see Savanti Romero himself with all his monsters.
"Well, I must thank you for helping the good doctor." Savanti said as Dracula, the Pharaoh, the werewolf Vulko, and the vampiric Raph stood by his side. "Now I don't have to do any work. I just have to recruit the most powerful being the world has ever seen."
Dracula, however, cleared his throat to get the evil Time Master's attention, causing Savanti to turn towards him.
"I'd like to think that I am the most powerful." Dracula stated before turning to the good doctor, his eyes glowing their signature hypnotic silver. "Doctor Frankenstien, if you please."
Dr. Frankenstein bit his lip as he felt a fog come over his mind. He closed his eyes, trying hard to resist it. But in the end, it was futile as he submitted to Dracula's control, opening his eyes as they glowed silver like the Count's.
"DESTROY THE TURTLES AND THEIR ALLIES!" Dr. Frankenstein commanded Frank, much to the Turtles, Po, the Five, and Renet's shock.
Obeying his creator without a second thought, Frank let out a roar as he stomped towards them, swinging his arms erratically.
"Frank, it's me! Mikey! Your new pal, remember?" Mikey exclaimed, trying to get through to the artificial monster.
"Yeah, Frank! Come on! We're friends!" Po said, also trying to appeal to the monster.
However, their pleas seemed to fall on deaf undead ears as Frank grabbed them both and smashed them into the brick wall before throwing them into Leo and Tigress.
Shakily raising their heads, Leo and Tigress both gasped as Frank attempted to smash them with a large rolling table, forcing Leo and Tigress to pull both Po and Mikey out of the way.
"Doctor Frankenstein, why?!" Leo exclaimed, hurt and anger lacing his voice.
Renet then noticed the silver glow in Frankenstein's eyes as they continued to fight Frank. "He's under Dracula's control!" She said in realization.
"Yes, how easy you are to sway." Dracula pontificated from above them. "Like sheep."
"Pitiful mortals." Raph said venomously.
Donnie found one of the electric cords that was attached to one of the lightning generators. Quickly, he grabbed one of the cords and yanked it out, the end of it sparking with electricity. "Snap out of it, Doc!" Donnie said.
Donnie then jabbed the electric cord into Dr. Frankenstein's side, electrocuting the good doctor and sending flying back and crashing into a wall, knocking him out.
"Frank, please! It's us, your friends!" Viper cried as she, Leo, Po, Tigress, Mikey, Crane, Monkey, and Mantis attempted to hold the monster down, which was so far unsuccessful as Frank's wild lashing out made it hard for the group to keep him contained.
"Leave. Me. Alone!" Frank yelled as he grabbed Leo and Mikey and threw them into the nearby staircase, knocking over several chemicals above. He then grabbed both Crane and Monkey by their legs and smashed them into the ground before throwing them away.
As Po and Tigress tried to hold him down by his arms, Frank managed to wrestle his hands free and grab both of them by the scruffs of their shirts. He then bashed them together before throwing them to the ground while Viper and Mantis were forced to back off lest they suffer a vicious beatdown from the monster.
"Doc?" Donnie said, checking on Dr. Frankenstein as he began to wake up.
Dr. Frankenstein coughed several times. "I'm fine. I'm fine, Donatello. I'm alive." He reassured him.
"Not for long!" Savantis proclaimed. "Now Savanti Romero has all of the monsters under his command!"
"No, not my creation!" Dr. Frankenstein said firmly as he stood up before turning to Frank. "My friend, do not harm the Turtles or their allies. It is these wicked monsters you wish to destroy!" He said, pointing towards Savanti and his monsters.
"Yes, bad men!" Frank scowled before he charged up the stairs towards Savanti and his monsters. "Frank will smash!" He roared.
Savanti and his monsters tensed as Frank approached them, Raph even drawing his sais and looking ready to fight when Igor suddenly leapt in front of them with a lit torch.
"Stay back, monster! Stay back!" Igor exclaimed, waving the torch's fire around in Frank's face and startling the artificial lifeform.
"Igor, what are you doing?!" Monkey questioned, he and the others in shock of his betrayal.
However, as Igor swung the torch around, bits of embers and hot cinders fell onto the spilled chemicals on the ground, chemicals that were also incredibly flammable as they ignited in flames.
While Savanti, Dracula, Raph, Vulko, and Igor quickly stepped back from the flames, the Pharaoh wasn't so lucky as his bandages were close enough to the flames to catch on fire.
The Pharaoh let out a panicked groan as his body was completely covered in flames, causing him to stumble around to put the fire out before he tripped over the railing and fell into the lower levels of the laboratory, spreading the fire.
As the fire spread, Frank stared at the flames with fear clear in his glazed eyes. Scared out of his mind, Frank ran as far away as he could from the flames, going up the stairs towards the roof.
"Frank! Come back! It's too dangerous up there, dude!" Mikey cried as he, Viper, Monkey, and even Dr. Frankenstein chased after the monster up the stairs.
Raph grinned, his fangs showing. "Oh, it's dangerous down here too." He said. He then turned to Igor, softly placing a hand on the hunchback's shoulder. "Goodbye, Igor. Thanks for the help."
Before Igor could question what he meant, Raph then lifted Igor up and tossed him out the nearest window, leaving Igor to fall screaming to his likely death.
Nearby, Savanti floated down towards Renet, looking all suave and arrogant. "Give me my Time Scepter, girl!" He said. "It will make my monster invasion so much easier."
"Too bad it's out of power." Renet remarked before she gripped the Scepter tightly. "But it still makes a sweet weapon!" She then smashed the Time Scepter across his face before turning to run.
Savanti fell to the ground, rubbing his cheek, before he got up with a growl. "Renet! You cannot escape me!" He yelled as he flew after her.
As he flew after her, Crane swooped down from above, kicking Savanti in the back and knocking him to the ground. Mantis then jumped up from the ground as Savanti fell, grabbing him by one of his horns as he spun around before tossing him into the air again. Crane and Mantis then both hit Savanti with a flying kick, sending Savanti crashing to the floor.
"You want her, you'll have to go through us!" Crane said firmly as he and Mantis both took combative stances.
"Gladly." Savanti growled as he stood up, fire already flaring in his mouth.
"Bring it, horn-head!" Mantis taunted as he and Crane lunged at the evil Time Master.
Meanwhile, Leo let out a yell as he fired his stake gun at Dracula, the Count managing to dodge all of his shots.
"You need more training, Leonardo." Dracula stated arrogantly as he swerved past another stake before swooping down towards the blue clad turtle.
Leo quickly rolled out of the way before firing several more stakes, this time in several random directions. "Oh, I've been practicing, Vlady!" Leo retorted as the stakes ricocheted everywhere around the castle.
However, none of the stakes seemed to really hit Dracula as the Vampire Lord simply floated towards Leo rather casually, even catching one of the stakes in his hand. "Really?" Dracula asked amusedly, crushing the stake in his hand.
Leo glowered at Dracula before his eyes shifted to behind the King of the Vampires, spotting Tigress perched on the scaffolding above them, her amber eyes narrowing in anticipation as she calmly waited.
Tigress' tail began to swish as her eyes locked onto one of the ricocheting stakes. Finally, once she found an opening, her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as she cork-screw flipped into the air, grabbing the stake as it flew by.
Nimbly landing on the ground behind Dracula, Tigress leapt into the air with the stake in hand and stabbed into Dracula's back.
Dracula let out a yell of agony as he fell to the ground, Tigress falling off of his back and landing next to Leo as they both stared at the Vampire Lord.
"Not good… enough!" Dracula stated as he reached back and yanked the stake out from his spine.
Before Leo and Tigress could move, Dracula grabbed them both by their coat collars, lifting them into the air.
"I am the Lord of the Undead! The King Wallachia!" Dracula declared as Leo and Tigress could only squirm in fear in his grasp. "No-one has ever defeated me!"
With that said, Dracula then flug Leo and Tigress away, with them crashing into the metal stairs, temporarily incapacitating them.
Down in the lower areas of the lab, Donnie found himself surrounded by large gears turning and creaking on both sides as he looked around cautiously, his shoulders tense and his eyes darting around nervously as he remained on guard.
Just when he thought he was alone, he heard a loud growl coming from behind him, causing him to freeze.
Slowly, he turned around to see Vulko lunging towards him, claws extended.
"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Good doggy!" Donnie exclaimed as he dodged Vulko's claws and his bites. "No biting now!"
Retreating back, Donnie leapt onto the wall, springboarding himself onto one of the rafters above where Vulko couldn't reach him.
Once again, Donnie felt a small sense of relief before that was quickly interrupted.
"Hello…" A voice came from above him, forcing Donnie to look up and see Raph hanging from the ceiling, twisting his head in a complete 180 towards him, grinning evilly. "... brother."
Donnie let out a scream as he let himself drop down in a panic, landing right on Vulko and practically squashing the werewolf underneath him thanks to his shell. Donnie quickly rolled to his feet and began to run as Raph jumped down from the ceiling.
"You're not going anywhere, Donatello!" Raph growled as he chased after his smart younger brother.
Donnie puffed and panted as he rushed up the stairs to where the unconscious Leo and Tigress were, noticing Dracula slowly floating towards them with his fangs bared.
Quickly, Donnie pulled out his staff, holding out the mystic seal in front of Dracula as it glowed brightly.
Dracula hissed in the light of the seal, quickly backing off as he turned into a bat and flew away.
"Hey, Leo, Tigress! I could use a boost!" Donnie exclaimed, getting on the table as Leo and Tigress both began to stir.
"On it!" Leo said as he rushed over to the lever and began to crank it, allowing the table to be hoisted into the air with Donnie on it.
As Leo cranked the lever, Tigress spotted Raph coming up the stairs. She quickly drew two silver knives as Raph lunged at Leo with the intent of biting him.
"Back off!" Tigress exclaimed as she kicked Raph out of the air, standing in front of Leo protectively.
Raph hissed at the feline before noticing Donnie on the table as it rose higher and higher.
Thanks to his new vampiric condition, Raph was able jump much higher than he normally could, allowing him to bound up the stairs before leaping up and tackling Donnie on the table with the intent of biting him. Donnie quickly grabbed Raph by jaw and his shoulder to keep him from biting him.
Meanwhile, Renet continued up the stairs of the castle while Savanti pursued her, with Crane and Mantis doing everything they could to slow him down.
The castle was now completely on fire as the storm continued to rage on, thunder and lightning crackling through the clouds as rain began to fall.
Renet eventually reached the roof, spotting one of the lightning rods. "Hmm, if I mounted the Time Scepter to that primitive antenna, I wonder if I could recharge it." She mused.
"Give me the Scepter, neophyte!" Savanti yelled as he came onto the roof.
Renet gasped, unable to react fast enough as Savanti swatted her away with the back of his hand.
"At last! The Time Scepter is mine!" Savanti said victoriously as he picked up the Scepter.
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Mantis declared as he and Crane emerged from the stairs, tackling Savanti to the ground and causing him to throw the Scepter up onto the antenna.
Renet, Savanti, Crane, and Mantis all immediately stopped fighting as they stared up at the Scepter tensely, with the Scepter teetering close to falling off.
As luck would have it, a random bolt of lightning was attracted to the antenna as it struck the Time Scepter, fully charging it as the hourglass piece glowed brightly.
"Groovy!" Renet cheered excitedly, though earning herself a few odd looks from Crane, Mantis, and even Savanti.
Growling, Savanti threw both Crane and Mantis off of him and made a run for the Scepter.
"Oh, no you don't!" Renet exclaimed, going after Savanti.
Elsewhere on the rooftop, Frank timidly stumbled around the roof, his shoulders slouched as he whimpered. He was scared, confused. He had no idea what was happening. After all, he had been born just a few minutes ago, everything was still so new to him.
New and frightening.
Just then, another bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, followed by the roar of thunder, startling Frank as he stumbled over towards the edge of the roof.
"Frank! Come back! Frank!" Mikey cried as he, Po, Viper, Monkey, and Dr. Frankenstein reached the roof, causing Frank to turn towards them. "It's too slippery for your big feet, bro!"
"Frank, please! Don't be afraid!" Viper said in a soft, motherly tone.
"Yeah, man, we're your friends!" Po said. "You can trust us!"
Frank turned away from them, looking out to the edge of the roof. "Frank… monster. Frank knows what Frank is." Frank said sadly, sounding like he was near tears.
"No. You are my creation! I am sorry I called you a monster." Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed, seeing the error of his ways. "You are my son! And I want you back!"
A little down below, Leo continued to crank the lever with Tigress guarding him as Vulko came up the stairs.
"Leo, keep cranking. I'll hold him off." Tigress said as she took a combative stance while Vulko growled at her.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Leo replied as he continued to crank the lever as fast as he could.
Tigress and Vulko circled each other, their eyes locked and their claws bared. Vulko roared at the feline while Tigress snarled in response.
Vulko then lunged forward, slashing his paw at Tigress. The feline, however, grabbed his paw and forced it to the ground before spinning around and kicking him in the snout.
The werewolf stumbled back, shaking his head before he snarled and lunged at Tigress again. Tigress hit up with a powerful uppercut that sent him flying into the air. While he was air-born, Tigress leapt into the air and kicked Vulko away, sending him crashing into the wall and knocking him unconscious as the fire spread even more, creating a wall of flames that separated them.
"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Tigress said to Leo.
"On it!" Leo replied as he and Tigress quickly fled towards the doors.
Donnie and Raph continued to struggle and wrestle on the table as they were hoisted up, regardless that the fire was now spreading.
"Raph, please, I can help you!" Donnie cried as he tried to pry his hotheaded brother turned vampire off of him. "With the Doc's synthetic blood!"
"I never said I wanted help!" Raph snapped, still trying to bite Donnie.
Donnie winced, his expression growing saddened. "I'm sorry, Raphael." He whispered before holding the seal out in front of himself, the gem in the middle shining brightly.
"AHH!" Raph cried as he backed away from the bright light, holding arms out to shield his eyes. "Agh! No!"
"Get back! Back, evil one!" Donnie yelled as he got up, still holding the seal on his staff out in front of him.
"Keep it away from me!" Raph hissed before he dove under the table. "Keep it away!"
With a sorrowful frown, Donnie whipped out the hidden naginata blade in his staff before twirling it above his head and cutting the chains holding the table up, with Donnie grabbing onto one of the chains before he could fall.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Raph screamed as he plummeted down and crashed into a pile of firewood.
Dracula floated down, seeing everything in shambles. With Vulko unconscious, the Pharaoh still on fire, and Raph buried underneath the fire wood.
"Bah!" Dracula grumbled as he turned himself into a bat and flew up towards the roof. Must he do everything himself?
Up above on the roof, Mikey, Po, Viper, Monkey, and Dr. Frankenstein were still trying desperately to prevent Frank from jumping off the edge.
"Please, my creation! Come back!" Dr. Frankenstein pleaded. "I promise to take care of you!"
Dracula then flew up behind, transforming back into his humanoid form. "Out of my way!" He said, swatting the German scientist away like an insect.
Dr. Frankenstein slid across the slippery wet roof, just managing to grasp the edge of the roof before he could fall to his death.
"Help me!" Dr. Frankenstein cried.
"Doc! Hold on!" Mikey yelled as he, Po, Viper, and Monkey quickly rushed to his aid, only to be cut off as Dracula grabbed Po by his throat and threw him into the others, knocking them down.
"Little fools." Dracula scoffed as he floated towards Frank. "Monster, come with me, and no-one will see you as a freak. We creatures of the night shall rule!"
As all of this was happening, Crane and Mantis tackled Savanti again, allowing Renet to get ahead of them as she climbed to the top of the antena and grabbed the Time Scepter.
"Yes!" Renet exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief. "Finally! Now to kick some-"
But before she could do anything a random bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck one of the electrical generators, causing a large explosion of fire that began to envelop the rooftop.
Mikey, Po, Viper, and Monkey quickly regained consciousness and began to flee from the impending fireball, only managing to make it a few feet before the force of the explosion blew them towards Frank and Dr. Frankenstein.
Frank had just helped Dr. Frankenstein up from the edge when Po, Mikey, Viper, and Monkey tumbled towards them, their faces painted with horror and fear as the fire came closer to them, along with several dislodged gears.
"Oh no!" Was all that Dr. Frankenstein could say as flames and gears came towards them, with Po, Mikey, Viper, and Monkey already bracing for impact.
Thankfully, however, it never came as Renet, along with Crane and Mantis, came down from the antenna and managed to use the Time Scepter to create a protective shield around herself, Mikey, Po, Viper, Crane, Mantis, and Dr. Frankenstein.
Frank, however, was nowhere to be found.
As was a certain simian.
Down below, Leo and Tigress burst through the doors of the castle, coughing loudly as they breathed in the fresh air while exhaling the smog filled one as Donnie came out as well, dragging a chained up Raph with him.
Renet quickly used the Time Scepter to float herself, Mikey, Po, Viper, Crane, Mantis, and Dr. Frankenstein down to them. "Is everyone alright?" She questioned.
"We're okay… I think." Leo replied, adjusting his hat before brushing off his coat.
"We'll live." Tigress said simply, coughing slightly.
"Yeah, except the lab got trashed. All of the Doc's synthetic blood is ruined!" Donnie pointed out before he turned to Raph with a sad look. "I thought we could use it to save Raph."
Po gently placed a paw on the purple clad turtle's shoulder. "Don't worry, Dee. We'll think of something." He said optimistically. "Besides, at least Raph's back with us."
"Hey, wait… where's Monkey?" Crane asked, now noticing that one of them was missing.
Leo, Po, Tigress, Donnie, Mikey, Viper, Mantis, and Renet looked around, noticing that Monkey was gone as well.
"Monkey? Monkey, where are you?!" Viper called out.
"Monkey!" Leo also called out, cupping his mouth with his hands.
"Dude, where are you?!" Mikey shouted, looking around the treeline.
"If this is some hide-and-seek prank, Monkey, this is a really bad time!" Mantis said irritably.
"I don't think it's a prank, Mantis." Po said grimly.
"Renet, can't you locate him with the Time Scepter?" Tigress asked.
"I can try." Renet replied, holding up the Scepter as it began to glow.
"My… my creation." Dr. Frankenstein said sorrowfully, standing off to the side, getting everyone's attention. "Gone. Destroyed. Obliterated." He said, looking near weeping at the loss of his 'son'.
"Maybe not, Doc." Renet said comfortingly. "The Time Scepter says he's still out there, somewhere, along with all the other monsters."
"But… what about Monkey?" Po asked hesitantly. "He's not… gone, is he?"
Renet checked the Time Scepter again, only for her expression to turn grim. "He's alive." She said. "But… he's in Dracula's clutches now. There's nothing we can do for him at the moment."
Leo, Po, Tigress, Donnie, Mikey, Viper, Crane, and Mantis all gasped in horror at that news.
Renet, seeing their distraught faces, decided it was time for some good news. "But, hey, at least I got the Time Scepter partially charged up again." She quickly added. "Which means we've got one last shot at stopping Savanti and Dracula."
Their expressions becoming determined, Leo, Tigress, Donnie, Viper, Crane, Mantis, and even Po and Mikey nodded their heads in understanding.
"Put some garlic on Raph." Leo ordered. "We're going back to the future."
"Fools!" Raph hissed, still struggling in his chains. "You can't stop the Master. He's recruiting both your friend and Frankenstein's monster as we speak! You've already lost!"
Monkey groaned as he blinked his eyes open, his vision blurry as he sat up. "Oh, my head…" He groaned as he rubbed his sore temples. "W-Where am I?" He questioned, looking around the unfamiliar forest before spotting Frankenstein's Castle in the distance as it was burning down.
Just then, Monkey heard a gruff groan come from nearby, forcing him to turn and see Frank stirring as well. "Frank?" He said, clambering over to the monster. "You okay, buddy?"
Frank quickly got to his feet. "Frank fine, Monkey." He replied before spotting the burning castle in the distance. The place that would have been his home now nothing more than a pile of ash.
"Frank… alone." Frank said sadly. "No friends. No family. Frank lonely monster."
"That's not true, Frank." Monkey said, getting the monster's attention as he hopped onto his shoulder. "I'm your friend. And I'm sure our friends will find us too." He said optimistically.
However, just when Frank seemed like he was about to crack a smile, a swarm of bats flew in seemingly out of the blue, snatching up Monkey and pulling him to the ground.
The bats then formed into a cloudy mist that quickly dissipated, revealing none other than Dracula himself as he held Monkey in his grasp, his cape covering his mouth and muffling his panicked cries.
"You don't have to be alone anymore." Dracula said, still holding Monkey as he and the other monsters approached Frank.
"For you can join my monster army and rule a world that now forsakes you, my friend." Savanti added.
Monkey struggled in Dracula's grasp, trying to shout, yell, something, but couldn't say anything through the vampire's cloak.
"Oh… friend?" Frank asked cautiously.
"Yes!" Dracula said, approaching Frank with Monkey still in his grasp. "Just… look into my eyes." His eyes then turned bright silver as he used his hypnotic powers.
Frank stared into Dracula's eyes, his eyes beginning to glow a matching silver before they narrowed.
"Well, now that that's taken care of, what should we do about him?" Savanti questioned, pointing at Monkey.
Dracula looked down at Monkey, who was still in his grasp, before he grinned wickedly. "I believe I might have a… use for him."
The Vampire Lord then grabbed Monkey's head and tilted it to the side, leaving his neck exposed as Dracula extended his fangs.
Monkey let out a scream as Dracula sank his fangs into the side of his neck, already he felt his blood beginning to boil and his thoughts fleeting before he passed out.
With the simian now infected, Savanti used the emergency back-up time jumper device to open another time gateway.
"Come, my monsters." Savanti grinned. "The future awaits!"