Chapter 10-Frankenstein's Alive!
Deep in the forest…
The turtles and humans ran through the forest for another 5 minutes before they decided to stop to rest and catch their breaths.
"I think…we're safe for now…" Van-Helsing said breathlessly.
"Yes, but we can't stay out here in the open for long. I've got a bad feeling that Dracula's minions will be out on the hunt for us by now…!" Anna said nervously after catching her own breath.
"Ya doin' alright, bros?" Raph asked Donnie and Mikey in concern when he noticed how tired and breathless his little brothers were.
"Y-Yeah…T-Tired…" Mikey gruffly answered next whilst on his hands and knees, and still getting his breath back.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine too…I think all that running has…dried and warmed me up a bit…" Donnie answered first as he leaned against Mikey's furry body to catch his breath.
"You did well back there, Mikey; you prevented Dracula from controlling you by focusing on the voices of those close to you, and you saved Donnie's life…" Leo complimented his little brother proudly.
Mikey smiled at his oldest brother before he suddenly winced and felt himself change back to his normal self. This surprised him and the others.
"Michelangelo, you're back to normal already…!" Van Helsing said with wide eyes.
"H-Huh? But the full moon's still out! How am I-"
"It's because the clouds are covering the moon and weakening its power as they float past it, Mikey; Anna told me that this happened before with Velkan back at her castle…" Donnie explained the reason for the early transformation as he pointed at the thick row of clouds that were now covering the moon.
"Oh, shell…I don't like this; changing back and forth into a werewolf out of nowhere…!" Mikey said anxiously whilst wrapping his arms around himself in fear.
"I know you're scared, Mikey, but you'll be alright. Besides, it won't be long until sunrise, anyway…" Leo reassured his youngest brother whilst placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on, we have to keep moving and find shelter for the night…" Van Helsing said before he started walking further into the forest.
The turtles and Anna looked at each other before they too started their walk to catch up with Van Helsing and search for shelter.
/
15 minutes later…
The group continued their walk before they stopped when they noticed something in the distance.
"What's that?" Mikey questioned first as he pointed at the heap of rubble that was located a mile away from the group.
As the group got closer to it, they discovered that the rubble contained broken pieces of a building, which they soon identified as an old windmill due to the partly destroyed propellers found nearby.
"Whoa…what da shell happened here…?" Raph questioned with wide eyes looking at the destruction.
"If I recall, this was the spot where Dr Frankenstein's monster was created and destroyed a year ago…" Anna answered as she looked at the scene herself.
"What!?" "Seriously!?" The turtles said in shock.
"So, this was where the monster of science was destroyed…" Leo said in awe as he took a closer look at the badly-destroyed windmill.
"Yes, it's kind of sad really…being hunted down just because he was a man-made being…" Donnie said sadly.
"Yeah…" Mikey said in agreement.
Suddenly, the full moon reappeared as the clouds moved away and Mikey grunted in pain as he transformed back into his werewolf form and howled.
"Mikey? You still with us, bro?" Donnie asked nervously and worrying about the chance of Mikey going berserk on the group again.
The wereturtle looked at Donnie for a few seconds before he nodded with a grunt, making the purple-banded turtle and the others sigh in relief. Just then, Mikey's nose twitched and he sniffed the air as he caught a strange scent that didn't belong to him or his brothers and human friends.
"What is it, Mikey?" Leo questioned curiously as he watched Mikey move and sniff around on the ground before climbing on the rubble.
"Looks like he's caught a whiff of something…" Donnie guessed.
Then, Mikey begun to dig by shifting and throwing away the rubble.
"Hey, hey, whoa! Watch it, bro…!" Raph warned in annoyance as he and the others dodged the flying debris.
Eventually, to everyone's relief, Mikey stopped digging and he turned to look at the others with surprised but serious eyes.
"Something…down there…" Mikey said gruffly as he pointed at the hole with his paw.
The group looked at each other before they walked up to where Mikey was standing, and when they got there, they looked at what was in front of them in surprise; a gaping hole was found just inches away from their feet, and its structure resembled that of a cave entrance.
"Whoa…Nice find, Mike…!" Raph praised his little brother whilst rubbing his furry head, making Mikey smile and lean more into Raph's hand in affection.
"This looks like a cave entrance, but what's it doing near a destroyed windmill…?" Donnie said in thought with a finger on his chin.
"Well, only one way to find out…Let's go in!" Leo said hastily before he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see that it belonged to Anna.
"Are you sure we should just head straight in there, Leonardo? We don't even know what's down there…" Anna said nervously.
"I know, Anna, but time is not on our side right now; Dracula's minions are on the hunt for us and we need a place to hide and rest, especially since Donnie and Mikey have been through a lot tonight…" Leo explained firmly but with concern on his face as he pointed at Donnie and Mikey, both of whom were showing signs of exhaustion.
Anna wanted to protest again, but after taking a look at the exhaust Donnie and Mikey, she realised that Leo was right.
"Alright then, let's get going…" Anna said with a sigh.
The rest of the group nodded before they entered the cave one at a time.
Inside the cave was very dark, and it was wet and mossy in some areas, so the group had their feet soaked and muddied a few times during their walk within it.
"Man, it's dark in here…" Raph complained as he squinted his eyes to try and see what was around him in the darkness.
"Good thing that Carl had made a couple of torches for us…" Van Helsing said as he pulled out two thick wooden torches out of his bag.
"Ah, that's better…! Remind me to thank Carl when we get back to him!" Donnie said in relief after being able to see again through the darkness, thanks to the torches.
"Shh! There's definitely something here…" Hissed Van Helsing suddenly.
The others looked at each other and then at their surroundings before they walked quietly through the cave whilst keeping their guard up for anything that might jump out in the darkness. It was then that Mikey separated himself from the group to investigate something, confusing the others.
"Mikey, wait! Don't go too far from us!" Donnie warned when he noticed that Mikey was moving slightly further away from the group.
However, the wereturtle was too busy sniffing around more of the cave to take in his brother's warning, because he had picked up the scent from earlier, and due to it being new and unfamiliar to him, he wanted to investigate it further.
Soon, he came to a muddy wall where the scent was at its strongest. He sniffed around it before he saw slight movement in the middle of the wall, making him back away and growl at whatever was hiding in front of him.
Suddenly, a large arm came out of the mud and struck Mikey with an electric-filled punch. Mikey yelped in pain before he landed on the ground and became unable to move.
"Mikey!" "Michelangelo!" The others cried out as they hurried over to the fallen wereturtle.
"He's alright, he's just stunned and knocked out…" Donnie said reassuringly after assessing his little brother for any injuries.
"What da shell was dat!?" Raph questioned.
"I don't know, but we can't let our guard down; whatever that cloaked creature was, it definitely does not like our presence here…" Anna stated whilst upping her guard, unaware that the figure was creeping up from behind her.
"Behind you!" Van Helsing shouted as he pushed Anna to the side and fired his gun at the cloaked figure.
"GET OUT OF MY HOME!" The cloaked creature roared out before he charged at the group whilst dodging the bullets. This caused his hood to fall and reveal his true face.
"No way…that's Frankenstein's monster!" Anna identified the figure when she recognised the man-made features on his face.
"Monster!? Who's the monster here!?" The creature cried out in shock before he stomped over to Anna, grabbed her and raised her up as he angrily spoke again.
"I have done nothing wrong, and yet you and your kind all wish me dead!"
"Frankenstein!? But I thought he was supposed to be dead!" Leo said in shock and disbelief.
"Well, he definitely looks alive and kickin' ta me…!" Raph pointed out when he saw the creature angrily confronting Anna.
"Hey! Are we gonna save Anna, or are we just gonna stand here and debate on Frankenstein's existence while she's in trouble!?" Donnie reminded his brothers in a desperate tone.
Seeing this all happening, Van Helsing decided to take action; he charged at the man-made creature and tackled him from behind, causing him to drop Anna and slam hard against the wall.
This resulted in the top of his head opening up and the left side of his face to fall halfway, revealing the inside of his head and face.
"Urgh, dat's nasty…!" Raph said with disgust showing on his face.
Ignoring that comment, Van Helsing tried to attack Frankenstein again, but he was met with an intense shock wave upon contact with him and was sent flying into a large puddle of water.
"Van Helsing!" Leo cried out before he hurried over to the human man's aid.
"Grr…" Frankenstein growled as he put his head and face back to how they once were and charged after Anna again with a roar.
Anna crawled away as fast as she could to try and get away from him, but she ended up cornering herself against the cave wall. She turned to look at the still-charging monster in fear for her life.
"What do you want!?" She cried out.
The man-made creature froze and looked at the human female in surprise. He had never been asked that kind of question before.
"To exist…" He told her his answer in a whisper, stunning Anna.
Just then, Van Helsing took out a pipe and blew into it, causing a few darts to fly out of it and hit Frankenstein, who instantly started to feel woozy and collapse on his side from the effects of the darts' contents.
"What the-"
"Tranquilisers…he'll be out in a couple of minutes…" Van Helsing explained breathlessly, cutting off a surprised Leo, before he and the others begun to surround Frankenstein.
With the man-made creature now immobilised, Anna hurried away from him and grabbed her gun in an attempt to kill him.
"Anna, no!" "Don't!" Leo and Van Helsing shouted at Anna, lowering her gun.
"We must kill it!" Anna protested.
"Wait!" Van Helsing and Leo told her firmly in unison.
"If you value your precious lives, and the lives of your kind you will kill me!" Frankenstein demanded as he looked at the group with desperate eyes.
Anna was about to do as the man-made creature said by aiming her gun and placing her finger on the trigger again. However…
"No!" Van Helsing cried out as he stopped Anna and lowered her gun.
"If Dracula…finds me…I am the key…to my father's machine…" Frankenstein breathed out as the effects of the tranquilisers started to kick in.
"What kind of key?" "What machine?" Donnie and Leo questioned curiously.
"T-The key to life…Life for Dracula's children…" Frankenstein managed to say before his body had finally succumbed to the tranquiliser and fainted on the spot.
"Ah, great…he passed out before he could say anythin' else…!" Raph groaned in annoyance.
"What do we do now? He said something really important about Dracula just then…It could be vital to our mission…" Leo pointed out in a serious tone.
"You have a good point, Leonardo; we should wait until the creature wakes up and then ask him some more questions…" Van Helsing proposed.
"Fine, but he ain't leavin' my sight 'til he wakes up…" Raph offered to watch the man-made creature voluntarily.
"Alright then, you and Van Helsing will keep watch over him while the rest of us go and have a look around the cave a bit more…" Leonardo said in agreement to Raph's words.
The others also agreed, and they all separated to do their own thing until Frankenstein woke up.
/
30 minutes later…
"Urgh…" Frankenstein groaned as the effects of the tranquiliser darts slowly faded from his system.
"Hey, he's comin' round…" Raph alerted the others as soon as he noticed that the man-made creature had started to show signs of waking up.
Everyone gathered around Frankenstein, including Mikey who had come around from being hit by a shock punch not long ago, and they watched as the man-made creature soon became aware that he had been tied up with rope.
"W-Wha…? W-What is the meaning of this!? Untie me!" Frankenstein cried out in a demanding tone.
"Easy there, big guy…we're not here to hurt you…" Leo reassured calmly.
"Wha-? You! What are you-"
Frankenstein started questioning the group before he froze and cut himself off when he saw Mikey the wereturtle.
"No! The wolfman!" He screamed in terror.
"Whoa, whoa! It's ok; it's only my brother, Michelangelo!" Leo reassured the man-made creation.
Frankenstein moved his arms away from his eyes and looked at a glaring but calm Mikey up and down before he slowly calmed down.
"O-Oh…You are not the dark brown werewolf from before…but what are you creatures? You don't look like one of Dracula's creations…" Frankenstein said, still a bit suspicious of the group.
"Erm…we are mutant turtles, but don't worry; we don't work for Dracula…in fact, we're trying to stop him…!" Leo explained calmly.
"And find a cure fer da werewolf's curse from his place!" Raph added, punching a fist in his hand.
"I…see…" Frankenstein said as he became more settled. He then noticed how tired and cold the turtles and humans were.
"You can untie me now; I will not attack you again…" He then said.
"Ya promise ya won't flip out and charge at us again?" Raph questioned suspiciously.
"You have my word…" Frankenstein promised.
The group looked at each other with faces full of uncertainty and concern over the possibility that Frankenstein might be lying and be ready to attack them as soon as he was untied. However, the group could see that man-made creature was still tired from the tranq darts' effects to want another rematch, and they too were exhausted from their earlier battle with Dracula and his minions back in Dr Frankenstein's castle.
"Alright…Raph, untie him…" Leo commanded with his arms crossed.
Raph did what Leo told him to and carefully untied the rope to release Frankenstein, who then stood up slowly and shakily.
Everyone was on their guard the moment he was untied in case he would attack them out of nowhere, but instead, Frankenstein just stood still and looked at each of the members of the group with a calm expression on his face.
"Come, let's talk more by the fire…" He offered out of the blue before he walked towards the fire pit.
The group looked at each other in surprise when they saw the change in Frankenstein's behaviour before they followed him to the fire pit and took a seat around it to be near the now-lit fire's warmth. Mikey, on the other hand, was so tired from the earlier fight that he laid down next to Donnie's seat and curled himself up before nodding off to sleep. Donnie saw this and stroked his brother's furry head whilst looking at him with a warm smile.
"I'm afraid I do not have any food or drink to offer…Forgive my lack of hospitality…" Frankenstein announced sadly.
"That's alright, we've got our own drinks anyway…" Leo replied before he and the others got out their water bottles and drunk some water.
"What are your names?" Frankenstein asked.
"I am Van Helsing…" Van Helsing introduced himself first.
"My name is Anna Valerious…" Anna said next.
"I'm Leonardo…" Leo introduced himself after swallowing his water.
"Raphael…" Raph said next as he pointed his thumb at himself.
"Donatello, and this is Michelangelo…He looks like this at the moment because he's been inflicted with the werewolf's curse…" Donnie said lastly as he looked at Mikey when he introduced him to Frankenstein.
"Hmm…I am sorry for your brother's predicament; the werewolf's curse is one of the worst curses known to man…" Frankenstein replied, his voice full of sympathy for the turtles' youngest brother. "And I am also very sorry for shocking him earlier…"
"It's alright, you didn't know and you were probably really scared after seeing a bunch of strangers roaming around in your home…" Donnie said kindly in understanding.
"So, Frankenstein, you actually survived the attack from the human mob a year ago?" Anna questioned in disbelief.
"Yes…After I came to from the rubble, I went into hiding after I discovered a cave entrance that was hidden underneath the windmill. I have lived here in the darkness ever since…" Frankenstein explained sadly.
"Why did they want to kill you?" Leo asked curiously.
"Can you not tell? They wanted me dead because I am only seen as a monster in their eyes…I only want to both exist and live a life of my own, and they wanted nothing but death on me…!" Frankenstein answered bluntly, his voice wavering slightly as he fought against his emotions.
"I have seen many monsters in my lifetime, but you are not one of them…" Van Helsing said kindly whilst shaking his head.
"Van Helsing's right; you never asked to be made in this way, and you only attacked us because you felt threatened and wanted to protect yourself and your home…" Donnie pointed out, making Frankenstein smile in relief.
"But tell us one thing, Frankenstein; why do you think that you're the key to Dracula's plans?" Anna questioned in a serious tone.
"Because it is as I told you earlier…I am the only one who can provide the energy needed to bring life back to Dracula's children…" Frankenstein answered gravely. "They are monsters created from the underworld of darkness itself…if they are brought back to life with my power and my father's machine, the whole world will suffer…!"
"How many of Dracula's children are we talking about here?" Van Helsing questioned anxiously but kept a brave face.
"Thousands…" Frankenstein answered, his voice filled with fear and dread.
Suddenly, Mikey woke up and lifted his head from his arms when he caught a whiff of something in the air. He sniffed around before he growled in anger.
"Grr…"
"Mikey? What is it?" Donnie asked anxiously.
"I think he's sensed an intruder…" Van Helsing said whilst preparing his weapon.
"Up there!" Leo shouted as he pointed upwards when he spotted something above him.
As soon as they looked up, their eyes widened when they saw werewolf Velkan on the wall and eyeing them with angry red eyes.
"No! It's him! The dark brown wolfman!" Frankenstein cried out in fear.
"Don't worry, we'll protect you!" Leo said reassuringly.
"NO! That werewolf's eyes are Dracula's eyes! I cannot let him find me here!" Frankenstein shouted, now even more panicked.
"Easy, easy! We won't let him get you…!" Donnie reassured the creature of science.
Sensing that his friends and brothers were in danger, Mikey immediately went into action and charged towards Velkan, much to everyone's surprise.
"Mikey, be careful!" Leo shouted out in concern for his youngest brother's safety.
"Get OUT!" Mikey demanded Velkan with a threatening growl as soon as he was face-to-face with him.
Velkan ignored his threat and instead pounced towards Frankenstein and the others with his teeth showing and his claws reaching out towards him. Seeing this, Mikey dove towards him and grabbed him before landing further to the side.
"Go!" Mikey roared at the others as he struggled to restrain Velkan.
"Wha-? No! We won't leave ya!" Raph cried out, refusing to leave his baby brother behind.
"Come on, Raph! He's biding us some time! Let's get out of here!" Leo commanded firmly as he pulled a reluctant Raph away whilst escaping the cave with the others.
Moments later, the group were able to get out of the cave through the hole from where they first got in, and they all waited anxiously for any signs of Mikey coming out.
Then, to their horror, Velkan burst out of the same hole whilst holding a beaten Mikey by the head with his clawed hand.
"Mikey!" "Michelangelo!" The group cried out in terror.
They could do nothing but watch as Velkan roared and slammed Mikey hard on the ground, making him grunt in pain but was too weak to move.
"Velkan, stop! This isn't you!" Anna begged in desperation to try and stop Velkan from doing the unthinkable.
"Grr…" Velkan only growled his response as he raised one of his clawed hands in the air to prepare a serious blow on Mikey.
At the corner of his eye, however, Velkan noticed the sun rising again, meaning that he would be changing back into his human form within a matter of minutes. With no other choice, he took off and vanished into the forest to head back to the castle and report to Dracula.
Soon, the morning sun was fully in view and Mikey immediately changed back to his normal self again. However, he didn't get back up due to the exhaustion and pain from his fight with Velkan moments ago.
"Mikey, are you alright!?" Donnie asked as he hurried over to his little brother.
"Y-Yeah…barely…" Mikey answered through gritted teeth whilst being helped to sit his sore and bruised body up by Donnie, who allowed him to lean against his plastron for comfort.
Frankenstein looked at Mikey in surprise before he approached the duo and knelt down as he spoke.
"So, this is what you really look like…Even though you have been cursed as a werewolf, you defied Dracula and have saved my life…Thank you..."
"…N-No worries, Frankie…" Mikey replied with a tired but warm smile.
"We're not in the clear yet, though; Velkan has seen us, so he'll be coming after Frankenstein again soon once he reports back to Dracula!" Anna warned.
"Shell, you're right! What should we do!?" Leo questioned anxiously.
"Well, if we can take him to Rome, he should be safe there…" Van Helsing proposed in thought.
"Rome? But that's a long way away from here!" Donnie pointed out worryingly.
"I have an idea…Come with me…" Anna suddenly said after having a brain wave before she walked off.
The others looked at each other in confusion before they all followed Anna to wherever she was taking them, with Mikey being carried piggyback-style by Raph due to being too weak and banged up to move.
/
Meanwhile, in Anna's castle…
Carl was looking at some paintings on the walls within a storage area, and he stopped when he noticed that one of the larger paintings looked a bit strange.
When he looked closer, he saw that there were two knights, one on each side of the painting, literally moving towards each other as if to strike one or the other down. As they got closer to each other, however, they suddenly changed forms; one knight was a werewolf and the other knight was a vampiric monster.
"A werewolf fighting a vampire…What does it all mean?" Carl said to himself in thought. The whole scene was like a riddle in his eyes.
Just then, he heard a door opening downstairs. He rushed to the top of the stairs and saw Leo by the door.
"Carl, are you there?" Leo called out in an urgent tone.
"Yes, I'm up here! What's going on, Leonardo? Is everything alright?" Carl responded as he waved at Leo, who immediately spotted him before he answered his question.
"Hurry down here and come with us! We're going to Rome!"
