Calli's Pov...
I hummed softly in the dimly lit bedroom while rocking softly in the rocking chair with my foot, I was feeding Julietta her bottle while everyone was off doing their own things during the quiet late morning before training. As I continued to rock softly while Julie nursed quietly, I smiled down at her giving her a gentle kiss on her forehead, then I heard the sound of the door creaking open and looked up to see my eldest Ellie come walking in the room. "Hey Green Bean", I said, with a smile
"Hi Mama", she said, walking over
I set Julie's bottle down beside my foot and brought Ellie into a one arm hug as Julie cooed, giving her shell a few gentle pats. "What are you doing Mama?", she asked, looking up at me
"I am just feeding your sister her breakfast", I said
"Like how you did with me?", she asked
"Just like how I did with you when you were a little hatchling", I said, with a smile rubbing her head
She smiled and looked to her little sister, who gurgled spitting up a bit of her milk that ran down her chin. "Julie you got milk all over your face, like a milk mustache!", she said, with a giggle
Julie began to babble as milk dripped off from her chin, as I wiped her face gently with a cloth. "Well sissy you were just as messy as Julie here", I said, with a chuckle
"I am not so messy now", she said, sticking her tongue out
"Well in some things you still are", I said, as we both laughed
Julie began to coo and wriggle in my arm as she reached out her little arms. "I think she is still hungry Mama", Ellie said, pointing to her bottle on the floor
"Hey I have an idea, you want to try and feed her?", I asked
"Can I?", she asked, with a bounce
"Of course, here get on the bed and I will let you finish her feeding", I said, as she moved around me going to our bed
I carefully got up carrying Julie in my arms as Ellie tried to climb up on the side of the bed. "Here honey", I said, trying to help her by pulling her up by her shell
"Oh I got it Mommy", she said, crawling up as she made it to the top
"Okay, just here for support", I said, with a smile "Get comfortable"
Ellie got comfortable against the pillows at the back of the bed. I placed a support pillow right on Ellie's legs and placed Julie down in front of her, as she wriggled around cooing. "Hang on Julie, Mommy's getting your bottle", Ellie said, stroking her head softly
I shook the bottle up as I sat down beside the girls. "Alright, hold it like this", I said, showing Ellie how to hold the bottle as Julie started to nurse "Not too high okay otherwise too much is going to go down too fast"
"Okay Momma", she said, as she started to feed her sister
"There you go, you got it sis", I said, kissing her temple
"I learn quick!", she said, with a grin
"That you do my love", I said, with a warm smile
Seeing my girls together right now, it just makes me so happy, it warms my heart. It makes everything that we have been through worth it to see precious moments like this. "You love her?", I asked, stroking her shell
She nodded looking up to me with a smile. "That's sweet, you excited to be able to play with her soon? Help her with training when she gets to be a kunoichi like you?", I said
"Yeah Mama! We can both kick butt like you and Daddy!", Ellie said
"It will be a little while before she can like you Green Bean", I said, with a giggle "But I know she will be just like her big sister, strong and brave, she is my little best, but you will always be my big best"
"And you are the best mommy in the whole world", she said, with a smile
I couldn't help but smile and give her a loving kiss to the head as Ellie finished feeding Julie. "She is all done Mama", Ellie said
"Ada girl, alright let me burp her and get her ready for her nap, you should go get your weapons and do your stretches you got that lesson with Daddy in a few minutes", I said, picking up Julie from the pillow
"Oh yeah he is going to teach me the nerve attacks he learned from the Ancient One that make your whole body into jelly", Ellie said, jumping off the bed before running out the door "Can't wait!"
I chuckled softly to myself as I burped Julie, patting her shell softly. I always loved Ellie's enthusiasm when it came to doing Leo's training, made my confidence grow on how I know how well she will lead the team when the time comes. After I finished putting Julie down for her nap, right before I left the bedroom noticed the sword that was stolen from the history museum by the dragons during our last encounter resting on a sword stand in the corner of my room. Leo and I kept it in our room for safe keeping and I honestly kind of had forgotten about it in the process, during these last few months dealing with our daughter being born premature.
Thinking back to the moment when it was first used on my husband and myself I wondered on what caused such a weapon to have that immense amount of power, I had never seen anything like that before. Not in all my years of being in Ninjitsu, never did I heard such a sword that could send someone flying with an electric wave of shock. Maybe Splinter might know what might this weapon be, I picked it up with my hand and sheathed it behind my shell along side my other one and walked out of the room.
As I reached the dojo I heard the sound of a match in process and closing the doors behind me, I barely had time to turn around as I saw a kunai come flying towards my face. I caught the blade in between my hands just in time before the tip of it could touch my snout. "Hey mind the throw whoever did that!", I said
"Sorry sis!", Donnie called out
With Donnie being distracted, Leo was able to sneak in a sweep kick to his ankles, making Donnie do a backwards flip in the air before Leo roundhouse kicked him away a distance. "One thing you learn from the Ancient One, never let your mind wander during a match, not for a second", Leo said
Donnie was quick to be back on his feet as their matched continued and I looked over and saw Mikey was balancing on the bamboo poles practicing flips and katas, and I heard loud grunting seeing Raph at the wooden practice dummies, attacking and blocking at the swinging arms that spun around. As the arms spun faster and Raph's moves got faster, suddenly he back flipped and side kicked the wooden dummy sending it flying off from its spot straight towards me.
I gasped and reached desperately behind my shell, grabbing my sword intending to slice the dummy before it would crash into me. As I gripped the handle I swung out my weapon but what I didn't realize is when I swung the sword forward it began to glow brightly and electricity surrounded the blade. I had grabbed the wrong sword! As the blade came into contact with the dummy, intense power burst from the blade sending the dummy back in Raph's direction in high speed. "Raph look out!", I yelled
"Yipe!", Raph yelled, diving for the floor
The wooden dummy collided with the wall causing a small explosion against the dojo wall, causing the whole room to shake making everyone lose their balance. Once the dust had settled, I coughed sitting up as I fanned some of it away from my face. "Everyone okay?", I called out
"We are good!", Leo called out
"A-okay compadre!", Mikey called out
I turned my attention damage had been done, there was now a huge hole in the concrete wall that went in a few feet into the structure, also sent spider cracks up and out the side of the wall. The others had gotten up from the shock and looked towards the damage with horror. "Uh oh", I said, softly
"Not good!", Raph said, looking behind him
"What is going on in here?!", someone said
I gulped hard hearing the person I didn't want to see for this moment and saw Splinter had come out of his room looking greatly upset and gasped seeing the damage to the dojo, he then turned his attention towards us. "What has happened?", he asked, stepping forward "Who is responsible for this?"
"Splinter I am so sorry, I can explain! I didn't mean-", I said, sounding panicked standing up while still holding the sword in my hand
He gasped softly looking at the weapon and he started walking to me. "Callista, what is that you hold?", he asked, with a surprised tone
"I was hoping you would know sensei, this was the sword that was stolen from the museum from our last encounter with the dragons, we were meant to ask you of its origins but it was neglected due to what happened", I said, holding out the sword with both hands in front of me
Being careful of not wanting the sword to surge with power again, I carefully laid it on the palms of my hands as Splinter took the sword into his paws as he studied the weapon with deep thought. Nothing was said as he looked at each detail and without anyone else noticing I saw his pupils in his eyes dilate to a degree. "Splinter what is it?", I asked, softly
He shook himself from his thoughts and looked towards me then to the rest with an intense look. "I want this mess cleaned up my children, I need to meditate upon this matter further", Splinter said, softly taking the sword with him into his room
The doors slid shut as we were left in silence. "Leaving without explanation, never a good sign", Donnie said, shaking his head
"What gave you the first hint numb nut?", Raph asked
I couldn't help but feel a guilty feeling come down in my stomach as I looked towards the quietly lightly lit doors which quickly became dark. I then looked towards the damaged wall of the dojo that was caused by my swing and winced at the sight as a piece of wood fell off from its support landing on the floor. "Jeez I think I am starting to lose my touch, but then again not a bad place to put a new door", Mikey said, resting his arm on my shoulder "You Calli are now the new queen of destroying things!"
I grumbled throwing my head back. "Ugh, I will go grab a broom", I said, turning around leaving the dojo
It took awhile to do the clean up from the damage but on a positive note, the hole in the wall we decided to make it into a quiet area for meditation or reflection that provided extra privacy and silence from the thick concrete walls. So all in all, I guess my move was bittersweet. After the cleanup, Splinter still hadn't come out from his room from his meditation after the incident and all my mind could wonder about is what he was thinking about about the sword.
Most of us were in the living room doing our own thing and I was resting on the couch in lotus position, with my sword in my hands as I began to sharp the blade to keep it from going dull that I do weekly. "What's up with the big cheese? He has been zooning out in there all day", Mikey said, munching away on some chips in a bag while reading a comic
"It's the sword from the museum we retrieved, it has gotten sensei all weirded out", I said, sharpening my sword with a stone "I only hope that's its not as bad as I think it might be"
"Well the wise saying goes, no news is good news", Donnie said, typing away on his laptop
"Sounds like someone has been drinking my cup of tea of wisdom this morning", Leo said, with a chuckle as he flipped a page in his book
Just then we heard the doors of the dojo slide open and Raph come stepping out. "Yo Leo, Calli, Splinter wants to see you both, now", he said, pointing behind his shoulder "It doesn't sound too good"
"Oops guess you spoke too soon on that one D", Mikey said
"We better see what's going on", I said, turning my head to Leo
Leo gave me a nod before we got up from the couch, and walked past Raph to the dojo and walked up to sensei's room straight ahead. Stopping right before, Leo pulled the doors open slightly peeking inside the darkened room. "Father?", he called out, softly
"Enter my children", Splinter said
"You wanted to see us Master?", I asked, as we stepped inside to the bedroom
"Yes, I wanted to talk to you both about this sword that you had retreated after your last encounter with Dragon Lord", Splinter said, lighting a few candles with a match on the floor "Please come, sit"
Leo and I both walked into the room with me closing the doors as we walked up to Splinter, sitting in lotus position in front of him on a woven mat. "Is everything okay Father?", I asked
"Leonardo, Callista I call you in here because one of my worst fears have been realized. The encounter that you last had with the dragons they had stolen this, the Sword of Tengu, the most powerful created weapon in Ninjitsu history", he said, holding the sword in his paws
"What is the Sword of Tengu Master?", Leo asked, as we sat in lotus position across from him "I haven't seen or heard about this particular artifact in all my studies in sword wielding"
"This sword my son is different, an ancient secret that very few knew, many years ago after I was forced to flee Japan a number of sword smiths had crafted a blade out of a metal that had such power that no one knows of its origins, once the sword was completed, the handle was attached electrifying it, creating a weapon that caused mass destruction. Some have said that the weapon was so powerful that it had fallen from the heavens above and attacked the ones who had created it", Splinter said "The weapon was used to conquer Japan, destroy vast villages, bring an clan to power and take many innocent lives, that was the day that Orkou..."
Soon as I heard that word, my breath had hitched getting caught in my throat, I held up my hand interrupting Splinter before he could finish.
"Wait Oroku?...No", I said, shaking my head in denial "Please don't tell me who I think it is"
"Yes Callista, Oroku Saki...the Shredder", Splinter said, with guilt written in his face
"Oh dear god...", I said, covering my mouth with my hands
"Callista", Leo said, trying to reach for me
But before he could even touch me I quickly rolled up to my feet, walking a few feet away, trying to process the whole thing. My heart was pounding in my chest so hard that I could hear it in my ears. As I held a fisted hand over my chest trying to control my breathing, I never would of thought that I was carrying a weapon made by my own blood enemy that had caused so much damage and who knows how many lives it took. Even though he was vanquished, it felt like an old wound was beginning to tear open again. "Not again...not again", I said, softly to myself "Why him? Out of all people why him?"
I turned around to face my father and my husband. "You mean Shredder made that sword?", I asked
"I am afraid so my daughter, but seeing how you were able to retrieve the sword without injury proves to me that we have an advantage", Splinter said
"Wait without injury? What do you mean Master?", Leo asked, as I came back to sit down
"The sword is very powerful Leonardo, wielding it is almost impossible, it can even be lethal to the one who tries to so much as grasp it, only two ways can be done to wield the sword, by using a customized protective glove or being a true master of Ninjitsu, whose powerful will enables them to wield the sword", Splinter said "And with seeing how you two were able to grasp the sword without injury..."
"We are true masters...?", I asked
Leo and I looked to each other with quite surprise, the fact that we were able to escape injury of this all mighty powerful weapon proved to us that we were stronger than what we thought. "This is insane", I said, softly looking down "So you are saying master, if weren't true masters, this sword could potentially...kill us?"
"Yes, but seeing how you and Leonardo, masters of katana wielding were able to grasp this sword, shows that you both have the advantage of using this artifact to stop our enemies once and for all. Because I fear that Dragon Lord will not stop until he has retrieved what he desires", Splinter said "And use to destroy not only of us, but the world"
"What should we do master?", I asked
"My daughter, I believe now that this is the time where the war has to come to an end, that we have to take matters into our own hands and vanquish our enemy...in our final battle with the dragons", Splinter said
After our talk with Splinter, it was late evening and I was preparing dinner in the kitchen by myself and I was left in deep thought hearing the fact that we would soon be facing our final battle with Dragon Lord. We have been at war with these immortals for many years now and as much as I wanted this war to be over, I couldn't help but feel a nervous feeling growing in my stomach knowing the end was drawing near. The fear of having an enemy of mine using something that my old enemy had once used before, laying just in front of me on the table, made me stop my actions of mixing the salad together and my eyes just locked on to the deadly piece of steel. As I stared into the blade I was starting to hear the familiar dark laugh of Shredder enter my ears and could see part of his scarred face image starting to form reflecting back to me. "Calli? Calli? Calli?!"
I snapped out of my trance and looked up to see Raph standing right in front of me, I looked down to see Shredder's reflection no longer in the sword. "You alright sis?", he asked
"Sorry I was just lost in my own thoughts", I said, as I continued on mixing the salad
"That sword really has got you on edge hasn't it?", he asked
"Its linked to Shredder Raph and he was my blood enemy, of course its going to have me on edge", I said, chopping a few cucumbers on the cutting board "As much as I don't want it to be"
"Should just destroy this piece of junk so it doesn't bother you anymore", Raph said, reaching for the handle
I then remembered Splinter's warning about the brutality and power of the sword about touching it, dropping the chefs knife in my hand I tried to run around the table. "Raph wait! No!", I said, trying to reach for it myself
But it was too late as he gripped the handle and the sword began to surge up with power and a huge wave of electricity shocked him and sent him flying into the fridge leaving a huge dent from his shell as he fell to the floor. "Raphael! Oh my god!", I said, running to his aid and helping him sit up "Are you alright?"
"Ow! That hurt", he said, with a wobbling head
I grabbed the sword from his hand tossing it away before I opened the palm of his hand to see smoke rise from the burnt flesh that was already red and raw. "Oh god Raph, your hand!", I said, sounding horrified
He shook his mind straight till he looked down at the damage the sword had caused. "Holy shell! That is sick, worse than when I got that road rash on my bike last month", he said
"Here come on, let's get that treated", I said, helping me to his feet as he groaned
I helped him to the table as he sat down just as Mikey came in. "Sheesh who cut the cheese? Something reeks!", he said, fanning his face
"Raph burned himself with the sword, turns out only a true master can hold it without injury", I said
"Yeah you could of mentioned that before my hand turned into a sizzling BBQ", Raph said, letting his fingers barely graze over the burnt flesh with a groan
"Raph don't touch, you don't want it to get infected", I said, slapping his wrist away
"If only I had my iron stick I could roast some sausages right now!", Mikey said, licking his lips
"I will roast your head if you don't but out numbskull!", Raph said, getting up but I forced him back down in the chair
"Raph, enough! Hey fish breath, make yourself useful and go get the first aid kit", I said, pointing towards the lab with an annoyed look
"Fine sheesh, try to make light out of a situation", he said, with a grumble
As he walked by me, I heard him snickering to himself and I slapped him in the back of his thigh with the back of my hand. "Ow!", he said, jumping a little as he held the back of his leg walking on
"Bad luck meathead", Raph said
Mikey suddenly came back and took a hold of Raph's wrist and dunked it in the salad that I had prepared for dinner causing some of it to tip over on to the table. "Bad luck boulder head!", Mikey said, before running off with a laugh
"Ugh romaine and croutons! Mikey!", Raph said, a groan
"Michelangelo!", I yelled out, after him
All we could hear is Mikey's laughter and Raph grumble, grabbing a hold of a salt shaker on the table he was about to throw it at him, before I grabbed a hold of his arm. "Not worth it Raph", I said "Not worth it"
"Arrgh someday he is gonna spike up my blood pressure I swear", Raph said, putting the shaker down with a bang
"Remember my lessons Raph, self control is strength, calmness is mastery", I said, softly rubbing his shoulder
"Ugh remind me again why did I let you talk me into your lessons of control?", he asked, looking up at me with an annoyed look
"Because I love you and I don't want to see our brother being beaten to a bloody pulp by you", I said, giving his head a sibling like kiss
When Mikey came back with the kit, I grabbed some of the disinfectant spray and sprayed a light coat over the burnt flesh. Raph hissed in pain but I gently began to blow on it making the pain subside as he relaxed. Taking some aloe vera I began to carefully wipe the palms of his hand, covering every bit of the wounds that the sword had caused. "And to think all this after holding it for a few seconds", I said, starting to wrap his hand in linen bandages
"Jeez Shredder is even more whacked in the head than I thought", Raph said
"Don't even mention that name around me, makes me wanna vomit", I said, with disgust in my voice
"Sorry...", he said, softly
"Don't be it is what it is, okay this should do it", I said, putting a metal clip at the edge of bandage clipping it "It's gonna burn awhile but after a few aloe treatments it should heal fine"
"Thanks sis, looks like you or fearless are going to have handle that beast of a weapon for now on", he said
"Unfortunately I don't have much of a choice in it", I said, picking the sword up in my hand and resting it on a sword stand on the coffee table "I can't believe it, that he actually made this weapon and destroyed so many lives with it, probably caused way worse damage than what he did to my family. I am surprised he didn't use it on me"
As I sat down on the couch my brother followed me, sitting down beside me with concern in his face. "Who knows why he didn't? But you are lucky you were spared from that", Raph said, resting his hand on my knee
"I wouldn't call myself lucky in that regard", I said, shaking my head "Cause I can't speak for those who became a fatality to that monster"
"But what gets me is how did the dragons even know that artifact was there in that museum?", Donnie asked
"Yeah what would a Chinese dragon dude want with a Japanese artifact?", Mikey asked
"An enemy will try to steal anything that can work to their advantage, even if it means stealing it from another line of heritage", I said, shaking my head "And unfortunately in this case it was from our own. They are not going to stop until they get this sword back, guys I am afraid there is no getting out of this one, it's time..."
"You mean...?", Donnie said
"Yes, the final battle", Leo said, softly stepping forward "Look however they found out about the sword and its power is a clear message that the dragons are trying to intimidate us with our line of heritage of Ninjitsu, but it won't work"
"But Daddy he nearly killed you and Mama, what if he does it this time? What if he kills all of you?", Ellie said
"We know the risks Ellie, but if he is going to far as hurting a child like you, who knows what he might do to someone else", I said, resting my hand on top of her head "Sooner or later, he is going to do something worse"
Ellie looked down for a moment with a sigh before looking back at us. "How are you going to stop him?", she asked
A frown came to my face as I looked behind to view the sword. "To be honest...I am not so sure this time", I said, sounding uncertain
"What? Did I hear what I think I just heard?", Mikey asked, shocked
"Callista? What are you saying?", Raph said
I took a hold of the sword and stared down at my reflection seeing the uncertainty etched in my face. "I..I need time to think, I am going to meditate upon this further, until then Donnie I need you to find out everything about the hideout, I am sure April can help with that, down to the last crook and cranny", I said, softly "They are going to be ready for us"
I left my family in the living room and went to my bedroom and shut the door behind me. Letting out a sigh I climbed on top of the bed crossing my legs into lotus position resting the sword in my lap. Looking down at the blade, I saw now ghost blood dripping and rushing down smudging my image and began hearing screams of the innocent lives that were taken in my ears. A quiet scream escaped my mouth as I shut my eyes tightly and covering my ears cursing to myself internally till the screaming finally stopped. I relaxed slowly opening my eyes before seeing Shredder's reflection staring back at me with wickedness and evil in his eyes. "Of all people why did it have to be you?", I asked, quietly
I grabbed the handle of the sword quickly and was about to throw it across the room, but I stopped myself not wanting to cause destruction to my own home. I growled in anger, before tossing it beside me resting my face in my hands. I heard the sound of the door opening and few gentle knocks on the frame, pulling my face out I looked up to see my husband.
"Hey", Leo said, softly
"Hi", I said, quietly
"Are you okay?", he asked, coming in and sitting down right beside me on the bed "What's wrong? You know ever since we had that talk with Splinter, you seem...lost, what is it?"
I kept silent for a few moments till I looked sideways towards my husband. "Knowing the fact that this sword was created by the horrid man who took my family in cold blood, and...now that we have to use it to defeat another enemy, it just doesn't settle right inside for me", I said, looking down at the sword beside me "I know its foolish for me to say this, but the fact that this weapon was used to lay waste to villages, destroy a clan, and taken innocent lives, now when I hold it, it makes me feel like I am just as bad as him. I know its stupid, I shouldn't have said anything"
I sighed heavily and hid my face in my hands, then I felt Leo's hand touch my shoulder. "Callista, look at me", Leo said "Look at me"
I slowly pulled my face out of hiding and looked up to him. "You are nothing and will never be anything like Shredder, I know you have had a very painful experience with that monster, but this maybe our only chance of defeating Dragon Lord for good. I know this hits closer to home for you, but with if this is the advantage that what we need? As horrible as it sounds to me too, believe me if I was in your position I would feel the same that Shredder took out a clan with this weapon, we can use this for its true purpose to restore peace and stop another disaster like before from happening"
After hearing what Leo had said, it really made me think, you know what if this weapon that even though this has a connection to my traumatic past was the answer that we needed to stop another destructive clan to destroy our home and take more innocent lives, like our enemy before had done. To prevent from someone from going through the traumatic event like I had. Although it does sicken me that I would be using this, cause I don't want anything to do with that horrible monster, but if it meant to keep our family, home and innocent lives safe from this evil, then that is how it was going to be.
I sighed softly and nodded with agreement. "I don't like this one bit, I won't sugarcoat that, but I understand, we have to take that chance for our sake and everyone else's", I said
I couldn't help but let a few tears escape from my eyes as he brought me into a tight caring hug. "You can do this Callista, you are the strongest woman I know, don't let a dead man control you", Leo said, softly rubbing my shoulder
I pulled away slowly from his embrace, wiping my eyes dry. "I will try", I said, nodding
Leo smiled sadly and took my hand into his own intertwining his fingers with my own before bringing it up to his lips giving my knuckles a deep kiss, which slowly allowed me to smile a little. "I believe in you, always will", he said
"Hey guys", Donnie said, knocking on the rim of the door "You are going to want to see this"
We quickly left the bedroom and joined the others at the desk monitors and found our friend April typing away. "What did you find guys?", I asked
"We were able to hack into the dragon's system and we got a whole view of their headquarters", April said
"They have a security system now?", I asked, sounding surprised
"Looks like it, probably from last encounter you had with them, they have been doing some upgrading and taking stronger measures", she said, continuing to type away
"Remember my children, the battle we face tonight will be most odious, we must all be prepared", Splinter said
"Well I am ready to kick some dragon tail!", Raph said, twirling his sai around his fingers and doing punch in the air
"Think there is a bit more meaning to his words big brother", I said, with a cocked eyebrow to him
Master Splinter chuckled. "I believe the time has come, to stop these immortal demons once and for all for taking over what is ours", he said
"Now you are talking!", Raph said, walking over to the sword
"Raph! Unless you want to send your shell flying into the fridge again, I would avoid touching that", I said, gripping his wrist before he could touch the handle
"Oh right, uh maybe you should have the honor of carrying the sword sis", he said, as I picked up the sword "I mean after all you are the sword lady"
I stared down at the sword for a moment and felt some uneasiness come over me, soon I was starting to hear the familiar dark sinister laugh of Shredder enter my ears. Before I could hear it any louder, we heard Donnie calling out from the monitors drowning out the laughter. "We are in! We are in!", Donnie said
I shook my head from my thoughts and sheathed it behind my shell joining my own sword, before I walked back to join the others. "Turns out this hideout of these dragons has become complex than I thought, given the fact that they are over ten thousand years old they managed to rig a pretty strong security system from the help of that whacko doctor that they kidnapped, but we managed to get a full 3D view", April said
"Great, but can you get us inside?", Leo asked
"Never mind that can you get us to Dragon Lord?", Raph asked
"Getting inside is the easy part, getting to the Dragon Lord...that's going to be a challenge", April said
"What concerns me is going to be everything in between, who knows what kind of traps that they have set up for intruders", I said "Meaning us"
"I can coordinate the security system from this end", April said, putting on a pair of headphones around her head
"Great, Ellie?", I said
Ellie came up as I knelt down putting my hands on her shoulders. "You are going to stay here and help with Aunt April get us through the hideout, we know you got what it takes to protect her and your sister", I said
"Don't worry Mom, I got it! No one will get pass me!", she said, slicing out one of her tessens
"That's my girl", Leo said, rubbing the top of her head with a proud smile
"We are gonna be a five turtle wrecking crew!", Mikey said
"Hey!", Ellie said, crossing her arms with a pout
"Oh sorry five turtle wrecking crew, plus one on the side!", Mikey said, with a sheepish grin
"Much better", she said, with a nod
I couldn't help but giggle, but then a serious look came to my face. "Guys are you ready for this?", I asked "There's no going back if we do this"
"Let's hit it", Leo said, putting his hand firmly on my shoulder
I gave him a confident smile, we then left the lair geared up for one of the toughest battles of our lives to face in only a matter of time, I slid on a pair of headphones and adjusted the mouth piece along with Donnie to keep in contact with April on what to do and how to get through the hideout. Even though we have been in the hideout on numerous times before only this time they had the rigged security and they were going to anticipate us seeing as we had the sword that they intended to take our lives with. They were going to expect us but not if we snuck in without their knowledge, so we took another way inside.
"Are we there yet?", Raph asked
"Patience brother, we are almost there April says its another two hundred feet ahead", I said
"Man either these pipes are getting smaller or I am getting bigger", Mikey said, all the way in the back squeezing through
"Probably both", Raph said, with a snicker
I quickly kicked my foot back from behind me getting him in the shoulder. "Ow! Hey! What did I do?", he asked, annoyed
"Stay focus ninjas, we are getting closer", Leo said, as he continued to lead us on
Soon we got to the end of the pipe and stopped at a thick metal portion of wall. "Alright baby cut it open", I said
He gave me a wink and flipped out a butterfly sword from his waist and sliced a perfect circle through the wall and with one swift punch he knocked it clean through. We slid out one at time landing on the ground quietly as I looked around getting a clear view of our surroundings. "Alright April, we are in, stage one complete", I said, speaking into my headset "Let's move!"
We quickly ran down the hall finding the door that we were looking for as Donnie started to type away at the lock pad. "All commlinks should be shut down now!", April said "What's next?"
"Houston we have a problem I am having trouble getting in", Donnie said, as he tried typing in a few codes but the door was still shut "Can you pick up an access code?"
"Yeah but it's not going to be easy it looks like Quease changes the codes on an hourly bases", she said
"Uncle D, try an almost obvious idea for a combination", Ellie said "Maybe that might work to open the door"
He hummed himself for a moment and punched in another code and sure enough we heard a beep and the door slid open. "Well what you know it worked!", he said
"Whatever code you did bro great work!", I said
"Well actually I punched in was my birthday", he said
We couldn't help but laugh. "Great thinking Princess, I guess my teachings are finally paying off", he said
"It was a little bit too easy", Ellie said
"Good job baby girl, put Aunt April back on, we got to get to the next part of our plan", I said
We ran through the door into the next room with weapons drawn, where several dragons came out from the darkness surrounding us immediately and more came running down from tall ramps of an upper level deck. Some with sharp spears, swords, and some with just their sharp claws and firing breath. "Now that's a lot of dragons", Mikey said
The dragons charged at us as we went on the attack each taking a section. I ducked out of the way on to my knee avoiding a swipe attack and punched up at the dragon's jaw and punched upward into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. One attacked me with blowing fire from his mouth and I tucked my head back into my shell before popping it back out. I gave a hard punch to the gut before spinning on my foot kicking him in the throat with the side of my foot, causing a nose bleed. I danced backwards avoiding multiple stabbings from a spear, I flipped backwards kicking the spear up to the ceiling below the upper level. Jumping up I gripped the handle and kicked him away, sending him flying into another dragon to the one Leo was busy fighting with.
"Thanks tenshi!", Leo said, with a thumbs up
"You're welcome!", I said, with a smile
I then saw out of the corner of my eye, Donnie and Raph running in the same direction charging another group of dragons. "Here comes the old 5:15 Tartaruga Express!", Donnie called out
As he ran he stabbed his staff into the ground and spun off from the ground, and begin to spin around his bo staff before releasing following behind was Raph doing the same as they each took out dragons with powerful kicks. "Right on cue!", Raph called out
"Hey sis! Flying Pinball!", Mikey called out running to me
"Going in for the high score!", I yelled
He came running faster till he jumped flying to me I gripped on to his hands as I spun him around with all the strength that I had to hang on to hold his weight. Soon as I got to a good speed I release him as he went flying spinning in the air. Tucking himself inside he landed on his shell and went spinning around and knocking dragons out at the legs bouncing off one another like a pinball. "Alright score one for the girls back home!", I said, with a fist bump
Mikey started to slow down as he popped his limbs and head back out before sitting up with a dizzy head. "Woah what a ride!", he said, with a victory laugh
"Well that was refreshing", Raph said, as he tucked his sai's away, seeing the many dragons that littered the floor that laid unconscious
I saw one was about to get away but I saw a long tail grab him around the ankle before held up in the air upside down before being knocked out with a walking stick. "But more will be on the way my children, we must move", Splinter said
"April we are going to need another way out", Donnie said, into his headset
"There is another ventilation shaft that's located south end of the room", April said, as I hear her on my end
"Let's go!", I said
Mikey roundhouse kicked the opening of a vent and climbed up the ladder inside. Following behind we came to an opening in the floor and climbing out we found ourselves into some kind of garage being lit with torches on the walls with some crazy looking vehicles surrounding us on cold cement floors. "Woah, it looks like our dragon buddies have been busy", I said
"I am not siding with them but, what they built is nothing I could of even thought of", Donnie said, admiring one tank with a large cannon "A turtle could really use some of these bad boys!"
"Looks like they picked up a few modern tricks", Leo said, resting his hands on his hips
"Guess even an ancient lizard isn't so much of a mook after all", Raph said
"What do you think this one does?", Mikey asked, holding some kind of metal device in his hands
Pulling the trigger, he shot out a thick high flame from the chamber barely giving me enough time to pull my head into my shell to avoid having my face melt off. "Yeah you want to be a little more careful about what you touch, Sam Spudhead", I said, popping my head out of my shell with an annoyed look "You about almost made my face a smore"
"Heh heh oops sorry sis", Mikey said, sheepishly
"Come my children, we must keep moving", Splinter said, pointing ahead with his walking stick
As we continued on, I followed behind everyone else and I slowly came to a stop as I felt my kunoichi sense's heightened and felt a pain come to my head, making me grip it with a groan. The others stopped as Splinter and Leonardo rushed up to me. "Callista? What's wrong?", Leo asked
"Guys I feel like we are being trapped!", I said
Suddenly out of nowhere the floor went out from underneath my feet and I went falling through and my family was quick to join me, screaming as we went plummeting down into a dark abyss. Using my senses again, I sensed what we were heading straight for and gasped. "Guys! Hidden Turtle! Splinter! Furball!", I called out
The boys hid into their shells as Splinter rolled up into a ball, I hid into my shell just in time before we hit the bottom into a pool of water with a hard landing. One by one we broke through the surface, before swimming to the edge resting halfway to recover from the shock. Coughing up water I helped my father Splinter up on to the edge as he groaned in pain. "You okay master?", I asked
"I am alright my daughter, thank you", he said, as he put his walking stick on the stone floor in front of him
"Everyone okay?", I asked, looking beside me
"I am fine", Raph said, panting softly
"All good Calls", Mikey said, giving me a weak thumbs up
"That hurt, but I am alright", Donnie said, resting his head on the edge
"Good call honey, you saved us from serious injury", Leo said, resting his hand on my shoulder
"Thanks love", I said, giving him a smile "What in the shell was that?"
"Booby trap, typical", Donnie said "A good one to be precise"
"Not helping Donnie", Raph said, crawling out of the water hitting him on the back of the head causing him to moan
As we climbed out I shook free from the water, the trap doors above us suddenly closed leaving us in total darkness and then torches began to light up our way of a stoned path. "Seems that you turtles are not as clever as I thought you would be! Falling right into my trap!", a voice boomed
I recognized the voice immediately and shoved my way forward to the front. "Wouldn't let your tongue get the better of you you leather-faced miscreant!", I yelled out
He began to laugh. "How fitting for you to say kunoichi, you mortals are so overconfident", Dragon Lord said "With my clear advantages, I shall dine on you all and we will become the ultimate clan and take back what's ours!"
"I should of broke your neck when I had the chance, but no matter, justice will be served tonight!", I said
"That is if you can make it to me first...alive", he said, with a dark laugh that slowly disappeared "That is if you can even protect the ones you love"
As anger boiled up inside me I stomped a few feet ahead, clenching my fists so hard that I couldn't even feel the blood rushing through them. It wasn't so much as the taunting that made me angry, but the fact that he thought I couldn't protect my own family sent me over the edge. "Evil monster! We are not afraid! You will perish!", I screamed
I panted feeling every ounce of aggression leave my body as I felt a pair of hands grip my shoulders. Turning me around I felt a pair of arms hug me close as I sunk into the embrace. "We are going to stop him Calli", Leo said
I looked up to face him as he gave me a sincere look. "I promise", he said, softly
I sighed softly regaining my composure and slowly pulled away. "We need to go, this looks like our only way", I said, looking towards the stone path
But before we could even take a few steps on to the path, the ground began to shake causing bits the stone cave above our heads to fall. "What now?", Mikey asked
Suddenly we heard a loud roar of an engine and a huge tank came rolling in, large mechanical arms extended out from the sides of the tank with a cannon extending out in the front. "Oh boy...", Raph said
"Duck!", Leo screamed
Missiles started to come flying towards us as we barely had enough time to move out of the way before it struck the wall of the abyss. Dragons started to appear out in front of the tank with weapons drawn and the arms of the tanks started to come reaching out at us. "Get to the tank's controls! We can stop them there!", I yelled
We went charging out to the small army and I pulled out my sword from behind my shell and sliced it through the air getting it caught with a sword being held by another dragon. I grunted loudly being able to circle my arms around in a tight fast circle getting out from under the grip, knocking the sword out of his hands before kicking him in the back to the ground. But was quickly met by three other dragons coming at me in all different directions followed by more. I swung my sword blocking as many attacks as I could till I felt myself being forced on to my knees trying to keep their attacks at bay.
The sound of the tank coming faster quickened my heart pace as it fired a missile towards my brother Donnie who was spinning on his shell taking out three dragons by sweeping them off their feet with his staff. "Donnie ricochet!", I yelled
He spun up to his feet as he spun his staff around in front of him and stabbed it forward as soon as the tip of the missile made contact with his staff, he forced it up and did a low roundhouse kick sending it up to the trap doors causing it to explode into fragments of metal. "You know not a bad idea, a skylight is just what a dark cavern needs!", Donnie said, right before he was kicked away to the ground by another dragon
I headbutted a dragon in the head and went running to help but I was quickly by my leg by a mechanical arm of the tank, before being jerked upside down losing my grip on my sword. I squirmed trying to get free till I heard the yelling of Raph coming in as he jumped in the air and sliced one of his sai's into the sleeve of the arm causing an electrical shortage to spark as he sliced down with his other breaking the arm free from the tank. I landed on the ground with a thud. "Who says I never cut you a break?", Raph said, with a laugh
"Not a soft landing, but I will take it", I said, jumping to my feet
More dragons were starting to appear from the tank as we continued on with our fight. "Guys there is too many of them!", I yelled
"Where's Leo?!", Mikey yelled, as he ran up a dragon doing a backflip before body slamming one to the ground "We lost him!"
As I saw Splinter fighting a pair of dragons with his walking stick, one was sneaking up behind him with a spear about ready to strike. "Splinter!", I yelled
Right before he could have time to turn around, something shot through the air and destroyed the spear. More shots were fired as I heard the sound of a rumbling engine. "What the shell?!", I said, turning around looking up
I gasped as I saw my husband Leo maneuvering a hovercraft that was from the upstairs garage as he started to shoot lasers down at the dragon soldiers one by one, sending some into the water. "Leo! How did you figure out to work the thing?", I called out
"It's remarkable what you can do when under pressure!", he yelled
He started to shoot at the tank as the tank fired back in retaliation with missiles. Leo was able to maneuver the craft around each blast and Leo fired back shooting at the mechanical arms exploding each one out of commission. "Yes go Leo!", I cheered
Another missile was shot straight towards Leo and missed him once more shooting up into the ceiling of the cavern causing huge pieces of rock to come crashing down. Leo jumped from the hovercraft and it went into a wild frenzy bouncing off the walls and went flying in a shaky direction straight towards the tank. "Brace yourselves!", I yelled
We took off running and as we were about to jump into the water the vehicles exploded causing a huge explosion. As we swam down deeper against the wall of the pool we saw many pieces come splashing down, soon the pieces stopped coming in and the water calmed once more. I pointed up to the surface as we swam up to the top to see the carnage. The trap doors were blasted through and the tank and hovercraft was now a crumble mess of twisted metal with fire and smoke rising. "Talk about a bad case of heart burn", Mikey said, jokingly
"Look the doors! They are open!", Donnie said, pointing up at the ceiling
"Alright vote, going back the way we came or going through a tunnel with busted machines blocking our way?", I asked
"Way we came!", the boys said, simultaneously
"Smart choice!", I said
I took out a grabbling hook gun from my waist and shot it up till it hooked at the top. "Going up! First floor, freedom!", I said, as I pulled the trigger and began to fly through the air
Everyone got up to the top as I placed my gun back beside my waist. "Alright April we just got our shells nearly turned into minced meat, anymore signs of trap doors to be aware about?", I asked, into my headset
"Negative, I wasn't able to see the one you all fell through, it must of been rigged with an untraceable control", April said "Head in the direction where you all were going"
"Copy that", I said
Soon as we made it through the doors Splinter stopped us sniffing the air as his whiskers twitched. "We are safe", he said, as we approached inside
It was a room we were not familiar with not since we have been here before. It almost brought back a terrible experience when I was kidnapped by the clan and was nearly drained of my blood while I was pregnant with Eleanora, that nearly would of cost both of our lives. There were many tables with things you would see in a lab, some had some torturing devices that made me shiver in disgust. "What is this place?", I asked, softly
"April can you get the building schematics to see what you can tell us about the room we are?", Donnie asked, speaking into the headset
"All I can tell you is its on the main floor of the hideout, can't tell you much more information", April said "I'll keep trying"
"Sheesh what's he got cooking in there?", Raph said, looking at three huge glass cylinders
They large in size and were filled with some kind of green liquid and inside were dark shadows that made it impossible to see what was inside. "Whatever it is, I don't want to know", I said, shaking my head
"Looks like its some kind of genetics laboratory", Donnie said, as he went to a desk where there was a few papers scattered on top
But something caught my eye and it looked like to be a scroll hidden underneath some science books. I pulled it out from underneath and saw it was indeed a scroll, similar to the ones Yani had shown me when I was younger about the legends of Ninjitsu history. As I opened the scroll flattening it out on the desk I began reading what was written in Japanese, reading the message I was met with a grimacing tale that made me quickly slam the scroll shut together. "Calli? What is it?", Mikey asked, concerned
"He knows...he knows that Shredder was my enemy, look at this", I said, opening the scroll open as the others joined behind me "This scroll tells of how Shredder took out the villages in Japan, how he used a powerful sword called the Sword of Tengu to lay waste to the valley and according to this on his destructive path, Shredder somehow had lost the sword and wasn't able to recover it. He had intended to use it to take his revenge and destroy one of his many enemies...Angelo and Marie Sorrento...my parents"
"So by finding this information in the scroll, Dragon Lord thought that by connecting to your past it would prove to be a weak spot on our behalf and was able to find the sword himself somehow", Donnie said, as I covered my mouth with horror
"Well he ain't going to win this, I'm prepared to make him into the world's ugliest pair of boots!", Raph said
Suddenly the room went dark red and a loud security alarm went blaring. "I didn't do it!", Mikey said, holding his hands up innocence "Honest!"
One of the cases suddenly broke open and releasing all its fluid all across the floor following along with the other two revealing to us what was inside. Three enormous size familiar figures that looked close in resemblance to Dragon Lord came stumbling out to the floor before one slowly stood up with a growl. "What in the world? How did they?!", Leo said, as he pulled behind him
"Wait! The blood, from Calli's abduction, they used the mutagen in her blood to make mutant clones!", Donnie said, gulping nervously as the first monster stepped forward growling with six razor clawed arms
The second one had stepped forward showing its long spiky tail and long snapping turtle like jaws snapping at the air, and the last one stepped out with a protective like huge shell covering most of its body on four legs roaring. "Hey Donnie you got anything in your bag to deal with this?", Mikey asked