Hi everyone, thanks again for your patience. Last we left off, the heroes are getting a better idea of how and why the Enchanted Forest was closed off, and Shredder is getting closer to his own recovery. But we're not quite there yet, here we get a glance at one of the evils that the heroes must defeat, as well as an encounter with the remaining elemental spirit. This will be far different from the canon episode, mostly because I want this story to stand out on its own and not just feel like a carbon copy of either TMNT Season 4 or Frozen II. So anyways, with that being said, let's get started.
Crystal and Stone
"A secret chamber?" Elsa questioned as she, Leo, Raph, Karai, and Anna spoke with Splinter over the blue-clad Turtle's T-Phone, with the rodent master relaying what he and the Mutanimals had learned from their recon mission in Arendelle.
"Yes." Splinter confirmed. "From what we can gather, it would seem that Runeard was obsessed with the forest. This looks as though he was planning an attack."
"An attack…?" Anna muttered in disbelief. "But… but the dam… it was supposed to be a gift of peace. Why would he…?"
"Did you find anything else, sensei?" Leo asked. "Like a journal or something."
"No, this was all we could find before Falco and the forces of the Foot attacked." Splinter replied, causing the group to wince.
"So, he is here after all, huh?" Karai muttered with a scowl as Leo put a hand on her shoulder.
"Not only that, but he's close to Arendelle…" Elsa didn't even try to hide her fear. "We're trapped in here, and he's out there… so close to our home…" Even Anna looked more than a little scared.
"Hey, it's not like your kingdom is defenseless or anything." Raph put in. "The Mutanimals are there, and this is Master Splinter we're talking about! If anyone can take down buckethead again, it's him."
"You need not worry about your kingdom, Elsa." Splinter assured. "I promise, the Mutanimals and I will keep it safe."
"Thank you, Master Splinter…." Elsa felt a huge weight off her shoulders with that, sharing a smile with her younger sister. While they both knew just how dangerous Shredder was, they also knew that Splinter can and will defeat him if and when they encounter each other again. Their faith in the man they've come to see as a second father was unshakable.
"Let's get back to the subject at hand." Leo said before speaking to Splinter. "Is there anything else you found, Sensei?"
"Yes, actually." Splinter revealed. "Elsa, Anna, does the name Ahtohallan sound familiar to you?"
That took both sisters by surprise as they looked toward each other with shocked expressions. "Ahtoha-what?" Raph questioned.
"Ahtohallan… our mother told us about it." Anna began. "It's a magical river that is said to hold all the answers about the past. But… we thought it was just a story."
"While we have no proof of this, it would seem your grandfather was convinced it was real." Splinter explained. "It lies north of the Dark Sea and supposedly guarded by the Water Spirit."
"Which would explain why nobody has ever returned from there…" Elsa said with realization. "Did you find anything else?"
"No, this is all we could find." Splinter answered.
"Thanks Sensei." Leo said. "We'll contact you once we find something."
"Please continue to watch over Arendelle. Hopefully we'll get this figured out soon." Anna said.
"Of course, watch over each other." Splinter replied.
"We will, Father." Karai said before Leo hung up and the group let this new information sink in.
"Guess as your grandpa wasn't as diplomatic as you thought." Raph commented. "Yeah, I can totally see the whole xenophobia thing right here. Magic forest? Scared of magic?"
"We get it, Raph." Anna said, sounding a little irritated by that remark. "But that doesn't explain why he built the dam. Why strengthen their waters if he was planning to attack the forest?"
"Maybe to get cozy with the Northuldra? Get them to let their guard down?" Karai assumed. "It's actually a pretty clever tactic."
"But it seems like a waste of resources just for something like that though." Leo said. "I've got a feeling that there's more to the dam than we originally thought."
"Well, this does bring us closer to discovering what these evils we're supposed to face are." Elsa summarized. "I mean, we can all take a wild guess and assume the evil of hatred is Shredder. And… whatever our grandfather did… is probably the evil of deception."
"That just leaves hunger." Anna said. "So, what are we supposed to do next?"
"I think we should keep what we learned about Runeard to ourselves for now." Karai said, when it looked like Elsa and Anna were about to ask why, she gave her explanation. "We don't have a solid answer yet, just theories. There's not much we can do with that. Plus, even though we got that truce going on, the Northuldra and the soldiers are still on edge with each other. If any of this gets out, it could lead to paranoia, and these guys might just go back to fighting each other."
"You make a good point, Karai." Leo agreed. "We'll tell the rest of our team, but nobody else. I'm sorry Elsa… but with everything going on right now… not to mention the Northuldra and the soldiers are still recovering from Tiger Claw's attack…"
"It's alright. I get it." Elsa understood. "Come on, we should get back to the campsite and see how everyone else is doing."
Back at the Northuldra campsite, while Casey, Kristoff, and Sven joined Ryder to patrol the area and keep an eye out for the three Foot mutants; Mikey, Donnie, Olaf, Shinigami, and April helped the Northuldra and Arendellian soldiers get back up on their feet. Mikey and Shinigami had also helped Honeymaren up after receiving a Northuldra-made antidote to counter the poison from Fishface's bite.
"You sure you okay, Honeymaren?" Mikey asked. "Fishface's bite can get pretty whacky. Just ask Raph."
"I'll be fine…" She said as she sat down on a log.
"I'm honestly surprised." Shinigami commented. "I had a feeling your people would make something from the environment here to deal with illnesses and even poisons. But that was venom from a fish not even from these waters, and a mutant fish at that."
"Nature is full of wonders." Honeymaren replied. "We've always been grateful for her bounty and the natural gifts she provides." A humorous smile fell on her face. "But I'd rather not be bitten by a mutant fish again. Of flirted with." This resulted in chuckles from the pair. "So… are you two together as well?"
"Excuse me?" Shinigami questioned as Mikey gasped with a blush on his face.
"Well… it's not hard to figure out." Honeymaren began. "You're always together, and you seem to have a similar vibe toward Leonardo and Elsa, as well as Anna and Kristoff, and even Donatello and April."
"We are not a thing!" Shinigami quickly stated, causing the orange-clad Turtle to develop comic puppy dog eyes before melting like an ice cream cone.
"Ya know, the more you try to deny it, the more I know it to be true." Honeymaren smirked, causing Shinigami's face to turn red before storming off. She then looked toward the emotionally deflated Mikey. "Hey, perk up. I think you got a shot with her."
"Ya think so…?" Mikey asked, still sounding depressed.
"Totally." Honeymaren said with confidence, which seemed to perk up Mikey a bit.
Meanwhile, Donnie and Yelena finished bandaging up Matias in a tent, most of the bandages wrapped around his chest as Olaf watched with concern. Though he winced slightly, he looked toward them with a grateful expression.
"Thank you." He told them. "Both of you." He cast a glance towards Yelena, showing that he meant it.
"You were injured protecting those we had welcomed into our tribe." She replied, trying to act coy. "This was the least we could do."
"So does this mean Lieutenant Mattias is gonna get all better soon?" Olaf asked eagerly.
"Three of his ribs were broken in the last fight." Donnie explained. "They'll recover, but it'll take some time."
Mattias couldn't help but sigh. "It's one of the issues with being old. You don't heal as fast."
"Maybe I could help." April suggested as she walked into the tent. She placed her hand on his bandaged chest and closed her eyes as she began to channel her power directly onto the injury. Her Aeon crystal began to glow, as did Mattias' wound, much to everyone's surprise. When she stopped, the pain he felt before was gone.
Donnie even checked the wound himself. "I… I don't believe it. His ribs are healed…" He said as Mattias stood up on his own two feet with no issue, looking at his body and April in amazement. "No fractures… no cracks… nothing!"
"Yay! Lieutenant Mattias is all better!" Olaf cheered.
He then looked with a grateful expression toward the girl. "Thank you, April."
"Just happy I could help." She smiled.
"I was not aware she had healing abilities." Yelena said, particularly toward Donnie.
"Well, she hasn't had them before." Donnie replied before looking toward the crystal around her neck. "April, how long have you been able to do that?"
"Honestly… just now." April guessed. "This was the first time I ever tried something like that."
This caused Donnie, Mattias, and Yelena to look in surprise. "Well… glad to know your first attempt was such a success." Mattias said in an uneasy tone.
"Oh! I think I know the answer!" Olaf raised his stick hand. "It must be her crystal!" He pointed toward the Aeon crystal, which caused April to look toward Olaf with a slight glare as she held the crystal in her hand. "Her powers have gotten way stronger with it! Those Aeon guys we got it from had powers like hers, right?"
"Hmmm." Donnie began to think. "That's actually a pretty sound theory, Olaf. So… why don't I take a look at it?" He offered a hand to April, only for her to smack it away, much to everyone's surprise.
"No! Get away from it!" She held the crystal away from them, while giving them a glare.
"What is the issue here?" Yelena questioned. "Your friend is only trying to find a better idea of how that crystal works. I remember sensing strong energy in it before, that's not to be taken lightly!"
"I said back off!" April exclaimed in an overly hostile tone, which surprised even her. She looked towards everyone else as Donnie and Mattias looked with concern, Yelena had a suspicious look on her face, while Olaf seemed especially worried.
"April…?" The innocent snowman wasn't quite sure how to respond. That look of uneasiness seemed to calm her down slightly.
"Okay… " She rubbed her hand down her face as she took the crystal in hand. "It's… It's just a crystal…" She tried to take it off, but it seemed incredibly difficult for her, even more so than when she took it off for Yelena to look at just yesterday. "No… big… deal!" She practically forced herself to take it off before handing it over to Donnie.
A minute later, Donnie had retrieved a bag full of portable scientific devices from the tent that housed all the supplies the Turtles and their friends brought with them into the forest. Among them was a portable microscope, which he used to scan the crystal.
"Wow… I'm seeing particles and structures I've never seen before!" Donnie looked nothing short of amazed. "It's a shame we're not at my lab. I could perform a few experiments."
"Experiments with what?" Elsa asked as she had just walked onto the scene.
"Your highness." Mattias bowed formally, while Olaf ran up to give her a hug, which she returned.
"Glad to see you're up and about, Lieutenant." Elsa smiled before looking toward what Donnie was studying. "Isn't that April's crystal?" She asked, but the mention caused April to twitch slightly, something Yelena noticed.
"Yeah… in fact, I can use your help with studying it, Elsa." Donnie said as he placed the crystal on a stand to keep it upright. "I need you to cast just a tiny little bit of magic into it. Just like a little drop."
"Are we sure we should be doing this?" Yelena asked. "Magic is always something to be cautious with, and I think we can assume the same with whatever's inside that crystal."
"That's why we're doing this." Donnie replied. "This is how we learn. We study and experiment, and even if they don't work out exactly like how we thought, we still learn something. That's how science works; studying the unknown."
"Hey, did you guys know that science actually used to be considered magic?" Olaf asked. "Some people thought other people who studied science were actually wizards and witches."
"Yeah Olaf, we did know that. Thank you for the history lesson." April replied in an agitated tone of voice, not liking being separated from her crystal.
Elsa then pointed her finger at the crystal and shot a tiny bolt of magic into it, which seemed to be absorbed into the crystal. At first, nothing happened. But then, suddenly, the crystal began to glow a bright white, much to everyone's surprise. The glow then began to shine outward as what appeared to be a massive cloud of pure light energy emerged from the crystal and hovered above them.
"Whoa…" Olaf looked up in awe.
"What… what is that…?" Mattias questioned.
"Trouble…!" Donnie said in a frightened squeak.
"Uh… Donnie… some science words that I don't quite understand would be helpful…!" Elsa urged, getting bad vibe from this entity.
"I… I don't… I just don't know…" Donnie stuttered.
"It's… alive!" April stated. But, to everyone's surprise, this entity took the form of a smaller sphere of light and began to fly away from them and deeper toward the camp.
The rest of the Northuldra people in the camp, as well as all the Arendellian soldiers, took notice of this entity of light that flew around the camp, almost as it if were observing them. While the people looked with curious expressions, the few deer that were around the area looked either nervous or apprehensive toward it, as if they could sense something malevolent from it. This entity also drew the attention of Leo, Raph, Anna, Karai, Mikey, Shinigami, and Honeymaren.
"What the heck…?" Leo questioned.
"Is that another spirit?" Anna asked Honeymaren.
"No… I don't think so…" She replied as they saw the entity fly out westward, just as the rest of their friends came in.
"What the heck was that thing?" Raph questioned.
"It… it came from April's crystal." Elsa answered. "But where's it going?"
"It looks like it was heading west." Karai said before realization set in. "That's where the others are supposed to be! On patrol!"
"Come on! Let's go!" Leo stated, prompting Elsa, Mikey, Donnie, Raph, Honeymaren, Karai, and Shinigami to follow him. April waited for a moment as she looked back to her crystal, which began to pulsate. She then held out her hand and telekinetically drew the crystal back toward her, which she put back around her neck before following everyone else.
"Anna!" Olaf stopped the princess before she could join her friends. "Something's… not right with April. She… she seems really… really protective of that crystal."
The princess of Arendelle seemed to understand the concerns of the living snowman, but that was something they can worry about at a later date. "We'll figure it out later. Our friends might need our help." She ran to catch up with her friends. Though hesitant at first, Olaf followed.
As the group vanished into the forest, Mattias looked with a concerned expression as Yelena walked up toward him. "You know it too, don't you?" She asked the lieutenant. "Whatever that crystal is… it's not natural. At least… not with us."
"Good, so it's not just me." Mattias commented.
Meanwhile, in a separate part of the forest, Kristoff, Casey, Sven, and Ryder continued to walk around the area with a small group of reindeer joining them, even the Fire Spirit, Bruni, was on Casey's shoulder.
"So... this patrol… it's where you go around, looking for the bad guys?" Ryder asked.
"Well, yes and no." Kristoff tried to explain it. "Basically, your job is to keep an eye on things, and make sure your home is safe. But yeah, you're also looking for the bad guys."
"Didn't the Northuldra ever do anything like that?" Sven asked Ryder. "Keeping an eye out for soldiers or even the spirits?"
"We had a few guards around the camp, but that's about it." He replied.
"Man, life in this magic forest actually sounds… kinda boring." Casey pointed out. Suddenly, Bruni's body lit on fire, alerting Casey. "Whoa! Sorry! You're not boring!"
However, Bruni didn't appear to be paying attention to Casey as he hopped from his shoulder and glared in the east direction. Before any of the guys could ask what was going on, the reindeer began to act up as well, followed by a gust of wind and an irritated whistle, which appeared to come from Gale, who was acting agitated for some reason. Even as Kristoff stepped backwards into a puddle, he was suddenly thrown out as the full horse-like body of Neptune appeared and gave an aggressive neigh as it looked in the same direction.
"The Spirits… They're angry…!" Ryder stuttered as Kristoff pulled himself up.
"Yeah, but I don't think it's at us!" Kristoff replied.
"Guys… something's coming!" Sven's own instincts could feel it as the reindeer in the area ran in the opposite direction. "And I don't think it's friendly!"
The entity made of light suddenly appeared before the group as Bruni, Gale, and Neptune became even more agitated by this entity's presence, glaring and growling at it, or in the case of Gale, the whirlwind picked up even more, almost like a small tornado while Bruni's flame began to glow brighter.
"Uh Ryder-dude… what the heck is that? Another magic spirit or something?" Casey questioned as he nervously pulled out a hockey stick.
"No idea… I was hoping you guys knew!" Ryder replied.
The entity glanced at each of them for a moment before setting its sights on the three spirits as they continued to act defensively around it. Suddenly, the entity appeared to take shape as it generated a body, followed by long arms and legs with claws, bat-like wings, and even a demonic looking face with blank and hallow eyes. Thought it still glowed a bright white and appeared semi-transparent before it roared toward the spirits.
Bruni was the first to attack as he shot himself in a stream of pink flame toward the tree behind the entity, lighting it on fire before bouncing from tree-to-tree to try and encircle and trap the demonic-looking entity. It then shot into the air to avoid the flames, only to be engulfed in Gale's tornado form. However, the creature only expanded itself to escape from the tornado and fly back downwards, when it was suddenly struck in a side by a stream of water that surrounded and engulfed the creature in a water sphere, Neptune was attempting to drown it. But this entity appeared to phase through the water with little issue.
As all three spirits tried to fight this entity; Kristoff, Ryder, and Sven's expressions couldn't be described with mere words.
"What… exactly are we looking at?" Kristoff questioned.
"Well don't just stand there, bros!" Casey exclaimed. "Let's get in there! Goongala!" Casey shouted as he charged in.
"Casey wait!" Sven tried to stop him, but Casey was already swinging his hockey stick at the entity, only to phase right through it, as if it weren't even there.
"Huh? What?!" Casey questioned and was suddenly struck by the entity's clawed hand to send him crashing into a tree. It then directed its attention toward the others as it shot itself toward them, only for Bruni to rush past them and create a wall of flame to halt the entity's path as Gale and Neptune attempted to capture it in-between their respective elements, but the entity seemed to phase right through them.
Kristoff, Sven, and Ryder ran around the wall of flame as they continued to watch the confrontation, only to have their attention caught by familiar voices calling their names.
"Kristoff! Sven!"
"Ryder!"
They turned around to see the rest of their friends rushing toward them, only to stop as they saw the flames, streaks of water, and miniature tornados ravaging the area, along with the white silhouette of the mysterious entity.
"What in the actual hell is going on here?!" Raph exclaimed.
"No idea!" Kristoff replied. "This… this white light thing showed up out of nowhere… then the spirits just started acting all crazy!"
Elsa got a good look at the fight and could recognize the entity as the same thing that emerged from April's crystal. She could sense it as well, the same thing the spirits were sensing: a malevolent presence.
"We have to help them! Whatever that thing is, it's not friendly!" Elsa stated, only to be caught off guard as the entity unleashed a white wave of psychic energy to blast back Bruni, Gale, and Neptune; prompting Elsa to raise a large ice-wall to act as a makeshift shield for herself and all her friends.
"No! Bruni! Neptune! Gale!" Olaf called out.
"Alright! Everyone, surround and attack from all sides and directions! Let's go!" Leo ordered as he leapt toward the trees, followed by his brothers, sister, and Shinigami. All six ninjas leapt from branch-to-branch in different locations to surround the entity from above; while Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, Ryder, and Honeymaren surrounded it in a similar manner along the ground. Everyone drew their respective weapons or picked up a large stick from the ground in the case of Honeymaren and Ryder, while Sven just readied his fists.
"Attack all at once! Go!" Elsa ordered as everyone came in from all directions.
However, the entity shot itself upward before morphing into a shapeless mass again, just as it shot out six beams of white light upwards, hitting each of the Turtles, along with Karai and Shinigami to send them flying and crashing into the trees and onto the ground. It then shot itself toward the ground and tried the same thing; which was successful in knocking back Anna, Kristoff, Ryder, and Honeymaren. Elsa, however, erected an ice-barrier while Sven just crossed his arms to take the impact before trying to grab it in the form of a bear-hug. But, his arms phased through it like it wasn't even there before the entity took its demonic shape again to grab Sven in an invisible telekinetic grip and send him flying through the trees.
"No! Everyone!" Olaf looked in clear shock at all his friends getting thrown around like ragdolls.
Elsa placed her hands to the ground and shot a series of ice-spikes up from the ground around it, but the ice-spikes phased through it as well before flying to lash out at Elsa and knock her back. It was about to pounce at her as well, but April suddenly appeared in front of her and held out her hands to telekinetically hold the entity back, which appeared to work.
"April…" Elsa was more than a little surprised.
"Wait… you're using the crystal?!" Olaf questioned. "But that thing came from your crystal, didn't it?!"
"It's mine!" April exclaimed. "I need it!" She then tapped into the crystals power and forced the telekinetic power around the entity, keeping it in one place. All the heroes recovered to see April crush the entity into oblivion before it vanished completely.
"What… what just happened…?" Anna asked as everyone regrouped. They however appeared startled as Neptune suddenly appeared out of a puddle near them. Most of them were about to reach for their weapons when Elsa stopped them.
"Guys wait! I don't think they're going to hurt us!" Elsa quickly said. Her statement proved to be true as Gale flew back in and circled around Leo in its usual playful manner. Even Bruni reappeared and climbed onto Raph's shoulder.
"Looks like someone's calmed down." Sven said.
"So… what in the world was that thing?" Ryder questioned. "I've never seen the spirits so… agitated before."
"Whatever it was, it came from April's crystal." Donnie said as everyone turned their attention toward her, who held her crystal defensively.
"April, why didn't you say you could do something like that? That was wicked!" Casey stated.
"Uh Casey, in case you've forgotten, that 'wicked' thing just tried to kill us!" Kristoff pointed out.
"Hey guys…" Karai's eyes slightly widened. "That thing… looked a lot like an Aeon… like how they used to look like when they were corrupted by the Black Hole piece."
"Yeah… actually it kinda did." Raph also recalled.
"Okay, I think we should take a closer look at that thing." Shinigami said, reaching out to take the crystal, only for April to draw her tanto and point it at her, much to everyone's surprise.
"Don't you dare!"
Mikey and Karai quickly put themselves between April and Shini. "Whoa! You're acting like it's your 'precious'." Mikey said, briefly putting on a Gollum impression before getting serious. "You're addicted to that thing, April!"
When it looked like she was about to lash out, Elsa put a firm hand on her shoulder as she looked at the younger girl with a serious yet concerned expression. "April, we're not trying to steal from you. We're trying to help you. Just let us look at that thing so we can better understand it and avoid stuff like this again."
This seemed to calm April down a bit as she saw the concerned glances of everyone else around her; and even some agitated stares from Bruni and Neptune, with Gale's wind blowing a little harder. With a deep sigh, April spoke.
"Okay… but not here. Let's… let's just head back."
"Alright, come on everyone." Leo said as the group slowly made their way back toward the camp. Ryder, however, cast one more glance toward the spirits to see Neptune melt back into a puddle, Gale flying off into the wind, and Bruni lying on Raph's shoulder. Even though he didn't quite understand the spirits, he recognized the look of relief in at least the eyes of the Fire and Water spirits. It was almost as if the spirits were afraid of whatever April's crystal was. Soon, an idea formed in his head.
Later that evening; once everyone had gone to sleep in their respective tents around the Northuldra campsite, Ryder stuck his head out of his own tent to make sure the coast was clear. Once he saw it was, the young man tip-toed his way across the campsite and straight toward a tent just a few feet outside the main area. This was a special 'tent-lab' as Mikey designated it where Donnie kept his science-gear to better study the crystal, or any other mysterious object they may have located.
Ryder peaked his head into the tent to see Donnie was asleep, muttering scientific words that Ryder couldn't possibly understand. He tip-toed even quieter toward a small log where the crystal was held on a pedestal before quietly taking it and stepping outside.
"What are you doing?"
He gave a surprised gasp as he turned around to see his sister looking at him with crossed arms and cocked eyebrow with a stern frown. Before she could say anything else, Ryder quickly covered her mouth and pushed her further away from Donnie's tent, as well as the campsite, so their conversation couldn't be heard.
"Honeymaren, aren't you supposed to be asleep?" He questioned in a whisper.
"So are you." She replied before noticing the crystal in his hand. "Did you just steel that from Donatello?"
"I'm only borrowing it!" Ryder replied. "Not sure what this thing is, but maybe we could use it to keep the spirits back. You saw what happened with the Fire, Water, and Wind Spirits; maybe it could do something similar with the Earth Giants?"
"Oh, I saw something, alright." Honeymaren began. "I saw a monster made of light come out of that thing and then attack the spirits, and all of us! The spirits weren't scared of what came out of it, they were angry at it! What, you wanna tick off the Earth Giants so much they'll demolish our home?!"
"But we have a chance to save our home! Isn't it worth it?!" Ryder questioned.
"Whoa dudes… I was just thinking the same thing!" Mikey said as his head popped down from the tree above them, hanging upside down, startling the siblings. And he wasn't the only one.
"Oh, hey guys, are we having a secret meeting or something?" Olaf asked as he walked onto the scene as well.
"What are you two doing here?!" Ryder questioned.
"Same thing you are dude." Mikey said. "Borrow the crystal, use it to try and talk to the Earth Giants and be cool with them. I mean, we managed to chill out Bruni, Gale, and Neptune, right? Why not go for the fourth dude?"
"I was just sleep walking when I heard all of you talking." Olaf said before he noticed the crystal in Ryder's hand and gave an accusatory gasp. "Ryder! Did you steal that crystal?!"
"Borrowed!" Ryder put extra emphasis. "I'm going to give it right back once I'm done."
"Do you even know how to use it?" Honeymaren questioned. "I don't understand why this has to be done right now. Why not wait till the morning where everyone's awake and just ask them about this? That way if something goes wrong, we have everyone to back us up."
"You saw how close the Earth Giants came last night. What if they're on their way right now?" Ryder responded. "I don't want to take any chances."
"Well why not just ask Elsa or even April? Or someone else who might have an idea how that thing works?" Honeymaren continued to question. "Do either of you know how to use it?" She asked Mikey and Olaf specifically.
"No idea." Mikey shrugged.
"Same here." Olaf shrugged similarly. "But I'm willing to learn!"
Ryder gave a sigh before speaking. "Look, I'm grateful for everything they've done here." He briefly turned to Mikey and Olaf. "Seriously, you guys have done so much for us; you tamed three of the spirits and helped fight off those villains who attacked us. Thank you."
"No problem, bro." Mikey said with crossed arms and a confident expression.
"Yeah, saving people is what we do." Olaf mimicked Mikey's body expression with his own.
"But, this is still our home." Ryder continued. "The Northuldra have defended this forest forever. We used to live in harmony with the spirits. Shouldn't we be the ones to help fix everything? Honeymaren, I know you feel the same way here. If we have a chance to finally quell the spirits and free the forest… shouldn't we take it?"
Honeymaren's expression softened, but it still had a skeptical look in her eye. "There's still a possibility this could go horribly wrong."
"That's why we're here dudes." Mikey said. "We can pull you out if things go south."
"You'd really help us?" Ryder asked with an elated smile.
"Of course. We're all friends here, and friends should help each other." Olaf said.
"So, let's go save your home, bros!" Mikey shouted.
Honeymaren gave a sigh. "Fine. But if things go wrong, we get help as soon as we can. Deal?"
"Deal." Ryder smiled. "Thanks sis."
"Then let's head out. Booyakasha!" Mikey threw down a smoke bomb, which engulfed the whole group in a flash of purple smoke before they vanished. However, their entire conversation had been listened to be a certain black cat, who leapt into the air before vanishing in the form of a flock of bats, which flew north.
But that cat wasn't the only thing listening in on their conversation. From a distance, three certain mutants had heard everything.
"So, they want to free the forest, eh?" Rahzar said mockingly. "Isn't that cute?"
"Eh, perhaps we should let them." Fishface suggested. "I mean, we are still technically trapped here, and I don't want to be stuck in this freaky forest for the rest of my life."
"They say that crystal may have an effect on the spirits of this forest." Tiger Claw began. "If were to obtain it and discover its secrets, we may have a chance to control the spirits ourselves. We could use their power to easily overwhelm the Turtles and their allies, even the ice queen wouldn't stand a chance."
"We might even use them to help rebuild the empire of the Foot! Stronger than ever before!" Rahzar stated.
"So, take the freaky crystal to control the freaky spirits of the freaky forest it is then." Fishface said with reluctance, knowing these two would go ahead anyway even if he disapproved.
Ryder and Honeymaren led Mikey and Olaf to the edge of a large cliff that surveyed a massive part of the forest. Though it was difficult to see much of anything at night, the two Northuldra siblings believed it was the best spot to be.
"You sure this is the right spot?" Mikey asked.
"This usually is the best place to catch sight of an Earth Giant." Honeymaren said. "I still don't think this is a good idea."
"Some things are worth the risk." Ryder said as he pulled out the crystal.
"Oooh, I wonder what these Earth Giants are like." Olaf said excitedly. "Are they like Bruni, Gale, and Neptune? I bet they are!" As Olaf laughed, Honeymaren heard a stomping noise and quickly shushed the snowman.
"Ssshh. Everyone quiet." She whispered. Once the group quieted down, they heard the noise of several stomps coming closer and closer. The quartet quickly hid behind a pair of large rocks on the cliffside as they glanced over to see two large figures walking their way.
"Whoa…" Mikey looked in awe as the two Earth Giants walked closer and closer. "Rock and Roll look pretty intense up close."
"Rock and Roll?" Ryder questioned.
"Yeah… it's a music thing." Mikey said.
"What does music have to do with rocks?" Ryder asked.
"Oh, it's actually a musical genre called 'Rock and Roll'." Olaf tried to explain, only for Honeymaren to clamp his mouth shut.
"Keep quiet!" She said in a hush whisper as the two Giants, aptly named Rock and Roll, practically loomed over them, evident by the massive shadow that had completely eclipsed their own.
Ryder took a deep breath as he held the Aeon crystal before slowly stepping out, much to his sister's dismay. "Ryder…!" But he was already out there, standing face-to-face with both Rock and Roll, both of whom looked curiously at him as his face turned pale. He's never been this close to an Earth Giant before, let alone two. Soon, Mikey and Olaf joined him, the former looking nervous with a forced smile while Olaf looked obliviously happy as usual.
"Uh… Hey dudes. Having a nice night…?" Mikey said.
"Hi Rock. Hi Roll. My name is Olaf and I like warm hugs!" The little snowman introduced, while Honeymaren just face-palmed.
Taking a gulp, Ryder held out the Aeon crystal toward the Giants, who focused their attention on the tiny relic. The one on the left slowly reached out his finger toward them, causing Mikey and Ryder to wince before the Giant gently tapped the crystal. However, the second the crystal was touched, it began to glow again as a large light shined out to completely envelop both Earth Giants. The second the light vanished, something completely unexpected happened….
The Earth Giants fell apart! Much to the shock and borderline horror of the quartet, all the rocks and boulders that made up the bodies of the two Earth Giants broke apart into their individual pieces as they fell and piled onto each other at the bottom of the cliff. In that instance, Mikey, Honeymaren, Ryder, and even Olaf looked with circular eyes and unhinged jaws.
"What… what just happened…?" Honeymaren stuttered.
"Dudes… did we just kill Rock and Roll?!" Mikey practically screamed.
"Oh no! Not Rock and Roll!" Olaf screamed.
However, the one who appeared the most horrified was Ryder who looked to the crystal in his hands in clear shock. "I… I didn't… I wasn't trying to…"
"So, this crystal is capable of killing spirits." They all turned around in shock to see Tiger Claw, Rahzar, and Fishface looking at them with smirks. "We can most certainly find a use for that." Tiger Claw continued.
"Ah man, the terrible trio!" Mikey squealed as he pulled out his nunchucks, while Honeymaren and even the still-horrified Ryder, grabbed onto the nearest sticks while Olaf just hung behind them.
"Seeing as to how you don't really know how to use that thing, let us take it off your hands." Rahzar snarled before he and Tiger Claw leapt toward the heroes.
"Even though we don't know either, but whatever." Fishface shrugged before joining in.
Tiger Claw first landed in the middle of the group before swinging out his machete to knock them all back. Mikey tried to get up, only to be pounced on by Rahzar who pinned him to the ground and attempted to bite down onto him, when suddenly Olaf appeared and clamped Rahzar's jaws shut with his stick-arms.
"No! Bad evil dog mutant!" Olaf scolded as Rahzar pulled himself up, along with Olaf, and shook him off to send him flying into a nearby tree.
Fishface then appeared in front of the recovering Ryder and Honeymaren, performing a handstand and double kick to knock them both down. Tiger Claw then picked up Ryder by his shirt; when Honeymaren picked herself up to try and help her brother, Fishface leapt in front of her to knock her down and keep her occupied.
"I'll be taking that crystal from you, boy." Tiger Claw said as he yanked the crystal from Ryder's grip.
"No!" Ryder exclaimed as he tried to take it back, only for the mutant assassin to throw him onto the ground and pin him down with his foot before pulling out one of his energy pistols. Tiger Claw sneered as he was ready to finish his prey, only for a pendulum to shoot out from the forest and hit his back, forcing him to drop both his pistol and the crystal, the later falling off the cliffside.
"That's a bad kitty. You need to learn some manners." Shinigami said before she threw a series of crescent-moon shaped shurikens at Tiger Claw, who shielded himself with his arms before jetpacking away to get some distance as the kunoichi/witch quicky ran to help Ryder to his feet.
"Shinigami!" Mikey exclaimed with joy.
"You came to help us!" Olaf cheered before Rahzar attempted to slice at him, which Mikey defended by using his nunchucks to not only parry Rahzar's claw-strike, but even strike him across the face.
"I had a feeling something crazy was going to happen, so I followed you here." Shinigami commented as she and Ryder stood together to face Tiger Claw. "I imagine the Turtles and their friends won't be too happy with you for this."
"I'll accept the consequences." Ryder said. "Just help us here, please."
A playful grin formed on Shini's face. "If you can keep up with me, deer-boy." She charged at Tiger Claw first, with Ryder charging in next.
However, what none of them appeared to notice, at the very bottom of the cliff, the crystal had landed on the top of the pile of rocks and boulders that once made up the bodies of Rock and Roll. Once the crystal touched the seemingly lifeless rocks, the crystal shined once more as its bright glow enveloped all of the pieces of earth. Then, one-by-one, each of the pieces of stone slowly began to rise upward along with the crystal, completely ignoring the laws of gravity.
At the top; the fighting between the heroes and Foot trio came to a halt as they saw the hovering boulders, rocks, and stones coming together with the crystal in the very center; several rocks covering it as it began to take a new shape and form. Already it was twice the size of the Rock and Roll, which made sense considering this form was made of the combined stone of both Earth Giants, but it was certainly no-less intimidating. It took a familiar shape to the demonic-like entity made of light that had previously came out of the crystal. Long legs made of rock and stone, followed by a large body with long arms and clawed hands. It even had wings that seemed almost skeletal, with a demonic looking face and even sharp fangs.
"What in the world…?" Fishface muttered as every single individual looked with circular eyes and open jaws.
"The bodies of Rock and Roll… have combined into… into… Stonezilla!" Mikey screamed as the massive stone-monstrosity gave a roar that seemed to echo throughout most of the forest. Once it laid its eyes on the group of heroes and villains below it, the monster that was named Stonezilla raised its hand to bring it down toward them. Though they tried to run for it, it seemed like none of them could escape it as the impact alone crushed the entire cliffside.
The sound of a massive rockslide, as well as the enormous roar that followed, awoke everyone in the camp as several children of the Northuldra began to panic, prompting the parents and elders to calm them down.
"Do not panic! Nobody panic!" Yelena tried to calm her people down as the heroes all awoke as well and ran outside. Anna, Kristoff, and Sven soon joined her in the effort as well.
"What the hell was that?!" Raph exclaimed.
"It sounded like a mountain collapsing!" Leo stated.
"Could it have been the Earth Giants?" Elsa asked Mattias.
"In the decades I've spent here, they've never made this much commotion." The lieutenant said.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a loud crashing coming from Donnie's tent, prompting the purple-clad Turtle to quickly make his way to the tent and look in surprise to see April was practically tearing it apart as she threw all the equipment in every direction in a frantic fit.
"April…?"
"Where is my crystal!?" She exclaimed as she angrily looked toward Donnie. "I gave it back to you, now you've lost it!"
"Um… April, there's some bigger things going on right now." Donnie tried to tell her, but she didn't seem to be listening.
"I don't care! I want my crystal!" She literally tore the tent down as she began to search underneath the cloth, ripping it apart to desperately find the alien relic. The more she looked however, the more and more she seemed to grow crazy.
"April…" Donnie tried to reach out to her, but she turned to him with a rage-filled expression.
"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"That's enough!" Elsa quickly grabbed April by the shoulder, pulling her back to see the firm expression in not only the queen's eyes, but also that of Leo, Raph, Karai, Sven, and Kristoff; while Anna, Casey, and Mattias seemed more concerned and worried. "April, you have to get a grip!" Elsa told her sternly.
"But… but my crystal…" She stuttered.
"We don't know anything about it!" Elsa continued. "Just one little experiment created some kind of monster. It's way too dangerous. We'll find it, if only to get rid of it."
"It's not dangerous!" April stated. "It's just… very important to me… and now it's missing!"
"Well, none of us took it." Kristoff said. "And we're all here except…"
"Mikey." Leo groaned as he smacked his forehead.
"Olaf's gone too." Anna also said.
"So's Shini." Karai added as Yelena walked up.
"Aside from them, Ryder and Honeymaren have vanished as well." The elder of the Northuldra revealed.
"What? Are those guys having a secret meeting or something?" Casey guessed, when suddenly, Leo's T-Phone rang. Once he saw the caller ID of his younger brother, he quickly answered.
"Dudes! We need help asap! Stonezilla is on a rampage!" Mikey's distressed voice sounded on the other side of the line, followed by Olaf.
"Kaiju in the Enchanted Forest! Kaiju in the Enchanted Forest!" Olaf also screamed.
"Stonezilla? Kaiju? What are you guys talking about?" Leo questioned as he put the T-Phone on speaker for everyone else to hear.
"We borrowed April's crystal…" Olaf began.
"You stole my crystal?!" April exclaimed, only for Elsa to quickly pull her back as Shinigami spoke next.
"These guys thought it was a good idea to use an alien crystal to tame the Earth Giants, but it only caused two of them to merge into some kind of giant Earth demon way bigger than before!" Shinigami gave a brief explanation. "Ryder and Honeymaren are with us and we're barley hanging onto the monster's side as it's making its way north from the camp. Oh, and Tiger Claw and the others are here and in the same predicament so if you wouldn't mind lending us a hand, that would be great."
"Well, at least we know where they are." Anna said with a wincing smile.
Leo sighed before speaking. "Mattias, Yelena, you guys stay here and look after the camp. Everyone else, we're going to catch this 'Stonezilla'."
"How are we supposed to catch a giant stone monster?" Sven questioned.
In response, Elsa walked forward as she waved her arms out to create four winged Ice Dragons before them, right as she created her own set of ice-wings. "Everyone, mount up! We're heading north!"
Leo, and Anna mounted one dragon, as Raph and April mounted the second, Kristoff and Sven took the third, while Donnie, Casey and Karai got on the fourth. Without a second of delay, Elsa shot into the air with the four Ice Dragons flying after her before heading west; leaving Mattias and Yelena to stare off in the direction they flew.
"You know, we live pretty strange lives if we stuff like all of that and have normal responses to it." Mattias commented, to which Yelena nodded in agreement.
The gigantic beast that was known as Stonezilla appeared to wonder aimlessly throughout the forest. Along its right side, Mikey, Shinigami, Ryder, and Honeymaren struggled to hang onto whatever piece of rock was sticking out, with Olaf hanging onto Mikey's dangled right leg.
"This is not a safe place to be!" Olaf exclaimed.
"Oh gee! You think?!" Shinigami shouted sarcastically.
"Ryder, I don't want to say I told you so…" Honeymaren told her brother with a glare.
"How about you tell me after we get down from here!?" Ryder stated.
"And how about after we escape the climbing bad guys, bros?!" Mikey questioned as they all looked down to see Tiger Claw propelling himself upward with his jetpack, while Rahzar scaled the rocky side of Stonezilla rather easily with his claws as Fishface leapt from one jutting rock to the next.
Shinigami dropped from her spot as she fell down towards Tiger Claw, wrapping her legs around his neck as he tried to shake her off while she delivered a series of punches to his face. But he quickly caught one of her fists before using his superior strength to pull her free of him and throw her away. Fortunately, Shinigami threw out her chained pendulum toward the side of Stonezilla to pull herself to the nearest ledge to stand on as Tiger Claw flew himself toward one that hung above her just before he pulled out one of his energy pistols to shoot at her.
Mikey and Olaf both gulped as they saw Rahzar climbing closer and closer toward them. "Hang on tight, snow dude!" Mikey said as he let Olaf climb onto his back before letting go to let both of them past Rahzar, right before Mikey threw out his nunchuck, which extended into a kusarigama, and hooked onto Rahzar's left foot, causing him to fall down before he dug his claws into Stonezilla's side. Mikey then swung on the chain to propel himself and Olaf up toward a ledge that was higher than Rahzar.
"Thanks for the help, Brady brad." Mikey stuck his tongue out.
"Yeah, thanks for the help." Olaf repeated in a more sincere tone, which Bradford took even more offense to.
"I'm gonna chew you both out and spit out your bones!" He exclaimed before leaping at them to give chase as Mikey leapt with Olaf to another piece of stone.
"Um… I don't have bones." Olaf pointed out as the chase continued.
Meanwhile, Fishface had actually managed to leap himself closer toward the struggling Ryder and Honeymaren before the girl attempted to kick him back as he got close, but he leapt to the spot that was higher than them.
"So, what's your story?" Fishface said in a flirtatious tone toward Honeymaren. "What's a pretty girl like you doing around these parts?" He asked, much to her disgust.
"Keeps your hands off my sister!" Ryder pulled himself up before jumping upward to pull on Fishface's tail and pull him down. Though Ryder landed on the ledge he jumped from, Fishface fell a bit before pulling out his butterfly knife to dig into the side of Stonezilla before glaring at the man.
"Nobody likes an overprotective brother, amigo." Fishface told him.
However, all the commotion drew the attention of Stonezilla as it looked down toward its side to see all the fights, which came to a sudden end as everyone saw the giant monster looking down at them. Stonezilla then raised its claws to slash at its own side and knock all the heroes and villains off and send them falling and screaming toward the ground.
Tiger Claw was able to use his jetpack to fly and catch Rahzar with one hand and Fishface with the other before propelling all three of them toward the nearest tree for safety, where they would watch as their enemies didn't appear to have any means of stopping them from plummeting to a painful end.
Suddenly, a giant ice Pterodactyl flew in to catch Mikey, Shinigami, Olaf, Ryder, and Honeymaren. The ice dinosaur flew upward to join the pack of four Ice Dragons being led by the flying Elsa.
"Dudes! You totally came!" Mikey cheered.
"Thank you for saving us!" Olaf also cheered.
"Glad you're all okay!" Anna called to them.
"Because we're gonna kill you guys!" Raph exclaimed in anger.
"No! It was my fault! I'm the one who took the crystal!" Ryder quickly said.
"Then I'll be sure to kill you personally!" April growled.
"Let's play the blame-game after we destroy this thing?!" Leo questioned.
Elsa glanced up to see the glaring face of the giant Stonezilla before it raised its both of its massive claws. "It sees us! Everyone scatter!" She ordered as she and the pack of flying ice creatures flew off in separated directions to avoid the crushing blow of Stonezilla.
Meanwhile; Tiger Claw, Fishface, and Rahzar continued to watch from their vantage point on the tree as the flying heroes regrouped before swarming around the massive beast.
"Well, better start planning the funeral arrangements." Fishface commented.
"Those reptiles have gotten out of similar situations before." Rahzar said. "So, I don't see them dying here."
"Agreed." Tiger Claw also said. "We'll fall back for now." He ordered before flying away, with Rahzar leaping after him.
Fishface sighed. "This place is insane…" He said before reluctantly following his comrades.
Elsa, the four Ice Dragons, and single ice Pterodactyl, flew around Stonezilla like a swarm of insects as the giant monster tried to swat them away. Though the heroes were able to evade the strikes, it was far too close for comfort as the thing moved much faster for a giant made entirely out of stone.
"We need to keep it off balance!" Leo ordered. "Elsa, you go for its face! Everyone else, attack the bottom! Try and trip it up!"
Following his lead, Elsa flew directly toward Stonezilla's face before unleashing a powerful blizzard right at the face, causing the front half of it to freeze solid, blinding the creature and allowing everyone else to attack however they could with whatever they had and thought might do damage. Beforehand, Casey had given everyone a series of his explosive pucks and firecrackers, which he was the first to attempt to throw at Stonezilla's right leg, which Anna followed with a bombardment of her on at the left leg as both Ice Dragons flew in the lower area while Kristoff and Sven's ride came in from behind to throw their bombs at the back of its knees.
However, this didn't appear to be doing much at all as the monster was barley even stopped. It even attempted to swat at Elsa, forcing her back before it shook its head and extended its jaw to break the ice off its face.
"We're not making any headway here!" Karai exclaimed. "And these puny firecrackers are barley gonna scratch the surface!"
April tried to reach out with her own psychic powers in an attempt to locate the crystal, which she found at the center of the monster's chest. She then used those same powers to take control of the Ice Dragon she and Raph were both riding on and flew directly at it, much to the red-clad Turtle's shock.
"Whoa! April! What are you doing?!"
"He's got my crystal! It's mine!" April exclaimed in near-insane determination. Raph tried to pull her away to shake their intended trajectory, only for him to look in terror as he saw the right hand of Stonezilla moving to intercept them.
"Pull up April! PULL UP!" Raph screamed, but April didn't seem to pay attention, or even care.
This action was noticed by not only Elsa, but also Donnie as he directed the Ice Dragon he, Casey, and Karai rode. "Donnie!" Karai saw what he was trying to do and tried to get him to change course, but it was too late. Their Ice Dragon collided with the one April and Raph rode, knocking them out of the way, but also letting Stonezilla swat away the one Donnie, Casey, and Karai rode; shattering it and having all three of them fall.
Having already flown in as fast as she could. Elsa created a pair of large ice-hawks to fly in and grab Karai and Casey by the shoulders and fly them to safety as she tried to reach out for Donnie, who was coming closer and closer toward the ground.
But suddenly, the ground below them opened up in the form of a crevice as Donnie fell in with Elsa flying after him less than a second later.
"ELSA!" Leo, Olaf, and Anna all cried out.
"DONNIE!" Mikey, Raph, Casey, Kristoff, Sven, and Karai all exclaimed while Honeymaren, Ryder, and Shinigami gasped in shock.
Elsa had created a massive pile of snow to cushion herself and Donnie upon landing. Though the impact wasn't fatal, it did hurt them quite a bit as they struggled to pull themselves up with Donnie holstering Elsa's arm over his shoulder.
"Are you alright, Donnie?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah, shell took most of the impact." The purple-clad Turtle responded. "Thanks for the save… but what are we supposed to do now? It's like crystal has turned the Earth Spirit rabid."
"I don't think that's the Earth Spirit." Elsa said, catching Donnie by surprise.
"Say what?"
"I… I don't know how to explain it but... When we met the other spirits; Gale, Bruni, and Neptune, I felt… a connection with them." Elsa tried to explain as best as she could. "But… now, there isn't one. I don't know what that thing is, but I don't think it's the true Earth Spirit."
"So… what is it? And how are we…?" Donnie however found his attention, as well as Elsa's caught by a bright purple glow that illuminated itself before them.
The source of the glow appeared to be a large, hovering, and shining crystal in front of them. It had two long and pointed crystal tips at the top and bottom, with a series of smaller crystal points around its sides and pointing diagonally, which appeared to rotate rapidly. Both Donnie and Elsa looked to this phenomenon in awe as it began to shine brightly on and off in rapid succession, almost as if it were communicating with them in some way. And somehow, they understood as the Ice Queen and genius Turtle looked toward each other with knowing smirks.
Back on the surface, Stonezilla appeared to have the flying heroes on the run. Without Elsa to keep it distracted, the monster could more easily focus on the insects that continued to swarm at it; forcing them to fly away and get some distance. The ice-hawks carrying Karai and Casey were dropped off at the Ice Dragons carrying Anna and Leo, and April and Raph respectively before joining the one carrying Kristoff and Sven, and the ice Pterodactyl still carrying Mikey, Olaf, Shinigami, Ryder, and Honeymaren
"We can't beat this thing like this!" Karai exclaimed. "We gotta fall back!"
"What about Elsa and Donnie?!" Anna questioned. "We have to help them!"
"I know, I know!" Leo stated. "We just…" However, his as well as everyone's attention was caught by the ground below them that began to shine a bright purple color, illuminating most of the forest. This also drew the undivided attention of Stonezilla as it observed the strange event taking place right in front of it.
The glow at first appeared to be all encompassing before the trees in the area appeared to move by themselves. However, at closer glance and one could see that it wasn't the trees themselves that were moving, but rather the ground below them. The earth itself was what was moving. The trees, still somehow remaining rooted into the ground, were moved into a position where it appeared to take the outline of a massive humanoid figure, which was further shown by a bright line of the same purple glow, making it look like a silhouette of a humanoid.
Then the entire valley began to shake as the earth split at the glowing line and a giant humanoid made of stone, rock, dirt, and other forms of earth began to rise up from the ground, much to the heroes' amazement, before coming face-to-face with Stonezilla. Unlike the monster in front of it, this creature looked far less malevolent and more natural. It seemed one hundred percent humanoid in form with long legs and arms, a strong body, and a single head with holes for eyes that carried a purple glow to them.
Standing on its right shoulder were none other than Donnie and Elsa as they each had their own confident expressions.
"Aw yeah… now that's what I'm talking about!" Donnie exclaimed with a grin.
"So, what do you wanna call this one?" Elsa asked. "I know Mikey usually names stuff, but he's already named three of the spirits so…"
"Hmm, how about, Fuji." Donnie suggested.
"As in 'Mount Fuji'?" Elsa thought about for a minute before she smiled and nodded in approval. "I like it. Fuji it is." She then regenerated her ice-wings as she picked up Donnie before flying to meet with the others. "Go get em, Fuji!"
Stonezilla glared at the giant named Fuji before it roared challengingly at it. Fuji, however, did not make any sounds; but it did respond to the challenge by charging forward at Stonezilla, who charged back in response. Once they got close enough, Stonezilla lashed out with its right claw, which Fuji intercepted by raising its right arm to block it before decking Stonezilla across the face with its left fist, knocking Stonezilla off-balance before Fuji continued with a right hook to knock it further back, followed by a powerful kick to knock Stonezilla down and send it crashing to the ground.
"Whoa…" Raph looked in awe while everyone else around them was nothing short of shocked and amazed, looking with dropped jaws and circular eyes.
"That is… so… freaking METAL!" Casey shouted.
"We got Kaiju brawl here! Cowabunga!" Mikey also shouted.
"What… what is that…?" Honeymaren stuttered.
"That is the true Earth Spirit." Elsa said as she flew in with Donnie before setting him on the Ice Dragon carrying Kristoff and Sven.
"Guys! You're okay!" Anna exclaimed with joy.
"Whoa… back up! That giant thing is the Earth Spirit!?" Raph questioned.
"Not exactly…" Donnie said. "We'll explain later. But the giant humanoid is on our side!" He said as they saw Fuji block another strike from Stonezilla and deliver a hook across its face.
"So… if that's the Earth Spirit, then what's the other one?" Leo asked.
"An abomination." Elsa said with a glare. "We need to pull out the crystal to stop this fight."
"Got it." Leo said as he took the lead. "We'll fly around and keep it busy. Donnie; you, Kristof, and Sven get to that thing's chest and yank out the crystal."
"Wait, let me help too!" Ryder quickly said. "This whole thing is my fault! You have to let me help to fix it! Please!"
"Alright." Kristoff nodded. "Hop on." He gestured, prompting Ryder to leap from the ice Pterodactyl he was riding to join Donnie, Kristof, and Sven.
"You guys watch out for my brother!" Honeymaren told them.
"Don't worry, we will." Sven assured.
"Let's go! Now!" Leo ordered as the group flew closer towards the monolithic battle.
Fuji tried to lash out with another punch, but Stonezilla leaned back to avoid the fist before raised its left arm to grab Fuji by the shoulder while doing the same with its right arm. It then began to push back against Fuji, tearing up much of the forest below. However, Fuji's legs appeared to merge with the ground itself and halt Stonezilla's attack. Before either could push back however, Elsa flew in and froze part of Stonezilla's face, while the other Ice Dragons and ice Pterodactyl came in as their riders threw their remaining bombs and firecrackers to get Stonezilla's attention, causing it to turn around and roar at the insects that dared to strike at it.
"Grab it from behind!" Elsa told Fuji, who seemed to understand their plan as it grabbed Stonezilla form behind, wrapping its arms up to lock its shoulders and keep it still, causing the monster to thrash and roar as it tried to escape its grip.
With the creature immobilized; Donnie, Ryder, Kristoff, and Sven rode their Ice Dragon straight toward the glowing point on the chest where the crystal was buried. The Ice Dragon landed and locked its claws in place to keep its passengers from falling off. Getting up, Donnie spun his staff to gain the necessary momentum and bring the stone-axe portion of it onto the rocky surface, cracking it and partially exposing the crystal.
"Pull it open!" Kristoff shouted as he, Sven, and Ryder reached to grab each end of the broken stone, while Donnie wedged his staff into it to further break it apart. They each pulled up with as much physical strength as possible before the stone fragments finally broke off, exposing the Aeon crystal embedded inside.
"It's open!" Sven exclaimed. "April! Take the crystal!"
Raph's Ice Dragon flew as close as it could as April reached out with her telekinetic powers, grabbing onto the crystal as she tried to pull it back toward her. The crystal wretched itself free from the stone and Stonezilla altogether, causing it to roar in distress, before the crystal reached April's hand.
The second it was in her grip again, April breathed easily as her eyes glowed for a brief moment before turning to normal. "Finally. Back where she belongs."
With the crystal removed, Stonezilla's body became lifeless again as it began to break and fall apart into the pieces of rock and boulders that made up its form, falling apart in Fuji's grip as it stood up straight. The Ice Dragon that Donnie, Ryder, Sven, and Kristoff rode on flew away as fast as it could; joining everyone else as they made their way toward the nearest cliff.
Once they all landed to safety and dismounted, Elsa waved her hands to cause the Ice Dragons and Pterodactyl to vanish with her wings before the heroes cheered in celebration, sharing hugs, hive-fives, and shoulder-bumps. However, the celebrations came to an end as the giant form of Fuji slowly walked toward them, causing most of them to look nervous.
"Guys, it's okay. He doesn't mean us any harm." Elsa said.
"So… this is the true Earth Spirit?" Karai asked.
"But… I thought the Earth Giants…" Honeymaren began.
"All the Earth Giants are really just an extension of it." Donnie explained as Fuji's form began to turn into sand and dirt before slowly and gracefully merging with the ground below as well as the cliff in front of it. Its head descended and opened up to show the glowing purple crystal from underground, causing everyone to look in awe. "This spirit right here, is connected to all the earth and ground in the Forest; like how Gale and Neptune are connected to the air and water around the area. The Giants were like its… multiple heads… so to speak. Everyone, meet the Earth Spirit, Fuji."
While everyone else continued to look in awe, Olaf walked up with a friendly smile. "Hi there Mr. Fuji. I'm Olaf, nice to meet you."
"You named it Fuji?" Raph asked before a smirk fell on his face. "Alright, I like it."
"Ah man, I wanted to name it something." Mikey sulked.
"You already named the two Earth Giants we saw, and that monstrosity we fought; not to mention the other three spirits." Shinigami pointed out. "Don't get all pouty."
"Well, Fuji's a good name I guess." Mikey commented.
Ryder sighed before speaking. "Guys… I'm sorry for all of this. I didn't mean for things to go so far… you guys have helped us so much… I just… wanted to prove to you.. and maybe to myself… that we… I… wasn't so helpless. That we could help save our home too. But I guess I just carried away."
Sven put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, your heart was in the right place. You just wanted to help your home."
"You're a good guy, Ryder." Kristoff also said. "But next time you get an idea, please talk to us first. We got a lot of experience in the insanity department."
"Plus, if we're going to work together, we need to be willing to communicate with each other." Karai added. "It's part of being a team."
"Yeah… I think I get it now." Ryder said with a humble smile before being nudged by his sister.
"Still the idiot brother that I know and love." Honeymaren teased.
"Reminds me of someone else we know." Raph smirked, glancing at Mikey and Olaf, both looked playfully bashful.
However, when the group turned around to look at Fuji again, they were surprised to see the glowing and sentient crystal that was the Earth Spirit merge with the ground and disappear.
"Where'd it go?" Casey asked.
"Into the earth, where it belongs." Elsa answered.
"Hey guys, I just realized…" Anna said with a smile. "With his, we've tamed all four of the Spirits!"
"It's not quite enough to free the forest though." Leo said seriously. "We still gotta defeat those three evils."
"Well, it's still a victory an important victory for all of us." Elsa said with a smile as she took Leo's hand, which he returned with a smile of his own. "Come on everyone, let's head back."
As the group turned around to head back, Donnie noticed April was barley paying attention to all that had happened just now, and more focused on the crystal in her hands. Anna noticed it too as they approached her.
"April, after what just happened… I think we can all agree that crystal is way more dangerous than we first thought." Anna said.
"Yeah, we really should find a way to get rid of it." Donnie agreed.
However, April looked at them with a glare before turning her back to them. "No. That's not going to happen."
The pair couldn't help but notice the hostile tone in her voice. "April… are you okay?" Anna asked with concern.
"It's my crystal…" She said as she looked at it with a dangerous glint in her eyes, the crystal glowing ominously in her hand. "I'm never going to take it off again anyone or anything… ever again!"
Done.
So, what did you all think of that?
I'm sure you noticed I changed a few things from both sides of the story. From the TMNT side, I took out Wingnut and Screwloose because it didn't seem to fit with what I was doing with this story. Plus, I wanted to show what kind of effect the power of the crystal was having on the Enchanted Forest and the spirits within. Yeah, all the Spirits know that the crystal, or rather what's inside it, is seriously bad news. All the heroes are beginning to notice it too the power is beginning to corrupt April.
From the Frozen side, I also changed the thing with the Earth Spirit. Instead of it being multiple giants like in the cannon, the Earth Spirit is a single entity that can control the ground and earth of the forest; like how Gale controls the wind and air around the area, and Neptune can interact with the all the water, even that of the Dark Sea. But the earth isn't a shifting form of mass like how water and wind are; it's a solid, so instead of fluent forms like water and air, it takes up a more solid state, which is often manifested in the form of giants to keep an eye on things on the surface. The true Earth Spirit is the glowing crystal that Donnie and Elsa discovered, and have aptly named Fuji (the name being an idea my friend Amaya-chan07 suggested. She also suggested the idea of naming two of the giants Rock and Roll when we first begun talking about this story, because we thought there were two Earth Giants in the movie, when there were more than that).
I hope you don't mind this change I made; I'm actually rather pleased with it.
And with that, all four spirits have been named and tamed, but the heroes' work is not done yet. As they get closer to discovering what the evil of deception is, another of the evils rears its ugly and hateful head toward them in the next chapter and I'm sure we all know what it is. Things are going to get darker going forward here as the Turtles, royal family, and allies, new and old, face their most dangerous opponent yet.
Take care of yourselves. Love you all.
Booyakasha!