A/N: Hi everyone. Thanks for the reviews, for I really appreciate them. Well, the end is coming near. I have finally decided to divide this fic up into three separate continuations. After this chapter, we've only got two or three chapters left, depending how I divide it up. Also, I forgot to say this last chapter: Ricepaper, you were correct in guessing where the fight scene in chapter 17 came from. It is in fact the intro from Final Fantasy 8, so you get ten points for that. :o)
Chapter 23: History Repeats Itself.
Shere Khan looked on from the doorway as Vasha mourned the death for her daughter. A part of him wanted to comfort her, as he could sympathise with what it felt like to lose a child, but then again, he wouldn't be able to relate to her feelings if it wasn't for her meddling in the first place. With that thought in mind, Shere Khan smiled, as Vasha deserved what she got. He knew why Kathryn had committed suicide; to pay her back for all the pain she caused for others. Kathryn had risked everything, yet she achieved what she wanted in the very end.
Vasha stopped crying for a moment in order to stare at Shere Khan in the doorway. She wanted to yell at him; to glare at him for intruding her privacy. But no anger appeared on her face, only sadness and grief. Shere Khan gave her a smirk before leaving her alone with her defeat.
*****
Saringai and Donatello stared at the chemical equation with a confused expression. They were trying to figure out the changes that occurred in their bloodstream after the dimensional barrier had evolved them. After writing three pages of mathematical calculations and scientific equations, they still couldn't work out the percentage composition of each of the new and introduced elements to their DNA.
A noise was heard causing Saringai and Don to look up. Venus walked into the room. "How was your hunting lesson with Raphael? You were taking a while so I sent Leonardo out to see how you were going," Saringai said.
"Yeah, we saw Leo. There weren't any rhebok around due to the snowfall, but Raph did manage to teach me how to knock out and hold the prey. Leo and Raph have gone down the mountain further to see if there are any rhebok grazing down there," Venus reported kindly. She walked over to the table. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Trying to figure out this equation. We thought we had found the answer an hour ago but it seems that what we had resulted with was quite mathematically impossible," Donatello said, still staring at the sheets of paper in front of him. Venus looked at the chemical problem.
"You forgot to balance the original equation out. You need to put a two in front of the carbon, see?" Venus pointed out. Saringai and Donatello looked to where her finger was, only to find that she was in fact correct. A dark and embarrassed expression crossed Don's face, as he felt stupid for missing something so simple in front of his mentor.
Saringai smiled. "That's my girl," the leopard said, knowing that she wouldn't process the full meaning of that sentence. Venus smiled back, and grinned even more when she looked at Donatello.
"Glad to help," she said before going to her room where Michael was playing. Within a minute, the two cheetahs could be heard fighting. Saringai sighed and excused himself to Donatello, before going to stop the argument in Venus and Michael's shared bedroom.
Donatello sighed and stared at the snow-drenched branches that made up the walls for the room. He was partly angry and depressed with himself. Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo had now all gained powers, but he, the one who came up with the theory in the first place, hadn't. Even Venus had her Shinobi skills to practice. Donatello couldn't help but feel ordinary.
He continued to stare at the branches of the tree. Donatello noticed a single leaf right at the very end, amongst the twigs and sticks. It fought against the cold and bitter wind like a forlorn and lost soul, as though it was forgotten in the grand scheme of things. He didn't know why, but Donatello felt sorry for the little leaf, which was singularly braving the oncoming storm outside. The sky flickered and Donatello began to evolve to his next stage. The atmosphere grew heavier and a blizzard abruptly started.
*****
One month later…
Michael breathed a flame of fire in Raphael's direction, but the cheetah managed to dodge it by burrowing into the ground. After weeks of practice, Saringai's students finally managed to control and discover most of their new powers. Knowing that they would have to face Shere Khan, the leopard even allowed them to spar with their elemental skills.
Venus was trying to build up her chi energy in order to perform a powerful attack, but was stopped suddenly when Raphael jumped up out of the ground, causing her to lose her balance and focus. Raph used this to his advantage and pinned her to the snow. He looked towards Saringai, awaiting his conformation. The leopard nodded and Venus was out of the group sparring match. She groaned and slowly walked over to her master so she could watch the others.
Donatello stood still and concentrated on his lower back. Out of all of them, Donatello's power had been the hardest and weirdest to learn and control. After focusing intently, two small yet strong plant vines transformed and grew from his back. The thick stems rapidly headed towards Raphael and wrapped around him, constricting him to use his earthly powers. Focusing hard, Donatello used the vines attached to his body to lift Raphael above the ground, before hitting him hard against the earth, pinning him in that position. Saringai gave his nod of approval and Raphael was eliminated from the match.
Michael grinned and threw a flame in Donatello's direction, setting alight one of his vines. Don panicked and furiously tried to blow the flame out. Leo frowned at Michael and extinguished Donatello. He then drenched Michelangelo with water as pay back. Michael screeched in disgust. Being a feline, he wasn't fond of water anyway, but after acquiring his power of fire, he quickly began to hate it.
A strong gust of wind surged across the land. Saringai looked upwards to see a heavy storm brewing. He was quite surprised at how quickly it had come. He called off the match and ordered everyone to go inside.
The wind whipped through the trees that made up their home. Lightning flashed and sparked across the dark sky. Rain soon came afterwards. Venus stared up at the sky and sighed. The rest of the family was huddled in the dining room, but it didn't take long for someone to find out where she was.
"Why are you in here all alone?" Leo asked, stepping into dark and lonely bedroom.
"I just needed time to think, that's all," Venus said softly, yet loud enough over the wind. She continued to stare at the lightning. Leo followed her gaze before sitting down beside her.
"What about?" he pressed.
"Nothing really," she said.
"Tell me. I know you too well," Leo said. Venus smiled knowing it was all too true.
"I feel left out. All of you guys have your powers now, and, I just don't feel…"
"Needed?" Leo asked. Venus nodded.
"I used to feel special having my Shinobi powers," Venus admitted.
"But you are special… You are to me," Leo said softly. Venus looked him in the eyes, causing Leo to look away nervously. "Cool storm tonight," Leonardo pointed out, changing the subject. Venus agreed while deciding to let the previous conversation drop, just glad that her best friend was by her side on this lonely night.
*****
The snow had melted away and the temperature had risen considerably compared to the previous week. Spring had finally come. Shere Khan smiled at the view from his balcony window. Within minutes, his army was assembled at the bottom of the main staircase in his fortress. Every lion and tiger was there, including last Spring's litter of cubs. Shere Khan smiled at the many-trained faces in front of him. All were quiet, awaiting the leader to speak.
"As you are aware, Spring has finally come. We must attack immediately, if we are to catch Saringai and his students off guard. We must destroy them all, especially the Shinobi, if we are to succeed in taking over Ikhaya Labantu, Lesotho, and hopefully soon, South Africa. As you know, we don't know where they live. That is why we must start our search now, starting with the local village. Every hut, tree and cave in this country must be checked. To do this, we will form a line and walk simultaneously across the land. No one will escape or pass us. We will succeed!" Shere Khan ordered, his voice reverberating across the room. The army agreed and cheered for Shere Khan's decision.
"Let's march and conquer!" Shere Khan roared, before leading his army out of the fortress' grounds and on to victory.
*****
Screams were heard throughout the village. Zareb ran outside from his hut only to watch Shere Khan's army stampede through. The mutant lions and tigers knocked down everything in their path; stalls, crops and fences. They checked every hut, making sure that the locals weren't harboring any of the State Mutants.
Shere Khan himself walked over to Zareb. They glared at each other for a second before the tiger shoved Zareb aside, and ordered two soldiers to check the hut thoroughly. Zareb growled at the unwanted intrusion. "What are you doing?" Zareb snarled.
"Something I should have done a long time ago," Shere Khan responded with the same attitude.
The two soldiers returned and signaled that the hut was clear. Shere Khan gave Zareb one last snarl before continuing on his warpath. The leopard cross lion watched in worry as the army headed out towards the open hills. Zareb wanted to warn Saringai about the ever-growing threat, but he knew there would be a high risk of being followed, especially when the army was heading in the same direction. Not knowing what to do, Zareb decided to seek out an old friend.
*****
Raifu sprinted over the rocky landscape, hoping to be able to warn his brother and sons. The leopard had been warned by Zareb, and could only hope that he wasn't too late already. He stopped in his tracks when he looked what was up ahead and quickly sought cover from a nearby bush. A line of evil mutated lions and tigers spread across the countryside, blocking Raifu's path to Saringai. The leopard encountered the same the problem Zareb had. Raifu sighed angrily in defeat. There was no way he could pass unnoticed. He rapidly thought of an alternative solution. Raifu grudgingly headed back to Ikhaya Labantu, hoping that Saringai would be okay in the meantime.
*****
Venus' eyebrows furrowed as she tried to understand the Shinobi spell she was reading. She had been looking at it for the past half-hour, and still couldn't perform what the book was describing. Frustrated, she slammed the book shut and tossed it onto her bed.
Saringai looked in the room. "Are you alright?" he asked, slightly concerned.
"Fine," she murmured. Saringai knew that her answer wasn't the truth, and entered the room to sit down on her bed. The leopard gestured for her to sit beside him, which she complied immediately. Saringai looked at the discarded book.
"You don't need to stress yourself over this. You are a natural. You'll figure it out," Saringai said with a comforting tone.
"What if I don't? How do you know?" Venus questioned while crossing her arms.
"I know because it's in your blood to figure things out. You're naturally inquisitive and experimental. Just remember that it's okay to fail the first couple of times," Saringai said in encouragement.
"I know it is. It's just that I'm not sure if I'm those qualities you mentioned. If it's in my blood then… I just feel so different from the boys. I… don't feel like I'm part of their family, like I don't have those qualities. I just wish that I was as close to Leo as I was before," Venus confessed, head down and cast in shadows. "I felt like I could accomplish anything before…" she trailed off.
Saringai felt as though his heart was going to break upon hearing those words. He sighed. Saringai knew that Raifu didn't want him to confess that whole truth to her and the others. But he couldn't bear to see her like this anymore. He took a while to respond, trying to find a way to word the sentence without it sounding like a famous Star Wars quote.
Saringai took a breath in before beginning. "Venus, what I'm about to tell you is very important. It concerns your father," he started. Venus looked at him, surprised by the mention of her unknown parent.
"My father?" she repeated quizzically. Saringai nodded and took another breath in.
"Venus… I am your-"
"-Master! Kuthixo says that Shere Khan's army is just on the other side of the hill! We're going to be surrounded!" Michael interrupted, bursting into the room. Saringai stood up in shock and took a few seconds to register the report. The others had heard Michael's outburst and had rushed into the bedroom, wanting instruction.
"Quick! Raphael, collect the weapons. Don, take the electronic gear. Leo, gather up some food and fill the empty bottles in the dining room up with water. Michael, grab what you can from the Storage Tree. Take anything that's worth taking," Saringai ordered swiftly. The boys bolted off in different directions. Saringai turned to look at Venus. "I'm sorry. I'll have to tell you at another time," the leopard said with a tint of sadness in his voice, but Venus understood completely.
The boys were fast and had fulfilled their orders in what seemed no time at all. They stood outside while Raphael ran ahead to see where Shere Khan's army was. He returned with bad news. "They're all across the land, Master. There's no way we can pass them undetected!" Raphael reported.
Kuthixo cantered to stand beside Michael. He gave a whinny in communication. "Kuthixo says he knows another way. There is a narrow path that travels on the side of the mountain. We can pass them that way," Michael interpreted, even though the others knew what the zebra was saying. Without having time to discuss the options, they followed Kuthixo after giving one last glance towards their home.
*****
Raifu stood in the centre of Ikhaya Labantu's courtyard with Zareb by his side. Most of Shere Khan's followers were out searching for the State Mutants, leaving the village and locals alone for some time. The citizens stared at the two carnivorous mutants in silence, wondering what they were going to say. Raifu cleared his throat and began.
"As you know, Shere Khan has terrorised and controlled this village for quite some time. He has committed hideous deeds including rape, torture, slavery and murder. It has been some time since this town has been free and most of you have probably forgotten what it was once like. My job today is to remind you of the past.
We are the largest mutant city in the world. We are free from human influence and prejudice. We have an economy, yet we are not free as individuals. Shere Khan has made sure of that. Life was peaceful before his time. Some might say uneventful. But everyone must admit that life has been horrific and fearful since he and his family arrived in Ikhaya Labantu.
Shere Khan had three brothers; all of them have been defeated. Shere Khan is the only one left; the only one stopping us from being free. Three years ago we revolted against him and his family. We wiped out most of his army, and we will do it again. This is our last chance; the final confrontation. It's all or nothing. Will you help us in defeating this beast?" Raifu roared. The citizens nodded in hope and agreement. A cheering roar was heard amongst the locals. Raifu smiled. "Then let's make history repeat itself! Tomorrow morning we will march up to Shere Khan's army and end it all, for our freedom," Raifu finished off.
The leopard walked over to Zareb's hut, where he would be staying for the night. On the way he bumped into a friendly face. "Saringai!" Raifu said in happiness, glad that they evaded Shere Khan's army. The two leopard brothers hugged in greeting as the cheetahs watched from behind. After a quick catch up, they all made their way to Zareb's hut.
"So, we are going to fight tomorrow?" Michelangelo asked Zareb when they arrived. He nodded in response.
"The locals need to collect and manufacture some weapons. They need time to prepare and build up their spirits," Zareb commented. There was silence amongst the group.
"You know, it's been great fighting with you guys. I've had heaps of fun growing up with you all," Raphael said truthfully, as though it was the last time that he was going to see them. Everyone frowned.
"You have to be pessimistic, don't you?" Michael commented dryly.