Chapter 31:
Leonardo sat in a lotus position across from Splinter in deep mediation. The dojo was empty as Splinter had been a bit lenient on training for the day. Splinter had confided in his oldest son that there was something that was unbalanced about the day and they had better train their minds to be more alert than their bodies. Leonardo had a feeling that it had to do with Edmunds, but didn't want to voice it. Not until he had a better sense of the feeling growing on the inside of his stomach.
Donatello was still hard at work on completing the last of the amino strains in the lab. He was close to the end of the long process. If his sleeping habits were of any indication, the night before would be the last one he would have to sacrifice before he reached the end of the process. Donatello sighed and leaned back from the vile that he held in his left hand. He swished it delicately in his grip and smiled as the concoction turned from a deep violet to a bright green.
"Finally," he breathed out. With a stretch and pop of his neck he moved from his lab and toward the hallway to the dojo. He took a breath to yell out to Leonardo, but someone else beat him to it.
"Leo! Don!" Raphael's voice belted as soon as he and Michelangelo dropped from one of the ceiling entrances. They both looked around the immediate area and saw Donatello.
"Donny, where's Leo?" Michelangelo asked and swiftly jumped the railing to land in the center of the lair.
"He's mediating with Splinter," Donatello explained and used the hand not holding the vile to pat Michelangelo on the shoulder, "What's going on?"
"Just what I would like to know," Leonardo walked briskly into the center lair and eyed the upset Michelangelo and the seething Raphael. He noticed the now large voids next to his brothers where their girlfriends usually were.
"Hun… and Edmunds," Raphael growled and took a deep breath, "They took 'em, Leo. They took them both."
"How do you know?" Leonardo asked as a spike of fear shook his body.
"The bastard left a calling card on our wall," Michelangelo said and turned from Donatello, "I want this over with, Leo. I don't want to look over my shoulder for Hun or Edmunds for the rest of my life. Ana deserves better than that. We go after them, we make sure that Hun and Edmunds don't get back up."
"Oh, I can guarantee that," Raphael nodded sharply and turned to Leonardo, "We need your help, bro."
"Of course, you have it," he nodded and turned to Donatello, "Let's get our bag of tricks together."
"I have one more to add," Donatello held up the almost forgotten vile and showed it to his brothers, "It's our ticket back to our old selves. It will reverse anything that Edmunds has ever done."
"Did you make more than that?" Raphael nodded his head toward the small looking amount.
"Not yet," he shook his head, "And I don't think that I will have enough time to make more from the sound of it. Stating that, it is a single dose. If we are going to use it, we have to make it a good call."
"Let's get ready," Leonardo turned toward the dojo where Splinter had already laid out dark ninja suits with their weapons ready to use.
"I have an idea on where Hun has taken them," Splinter said quietly.
"How did you know, father?" Leonardo asked.
"They are now part of our family. They are my students," Splinter smiled in his mysterious way and looked to each of his sons, "They are in need of our help. Know it or not, they reached out to me. And as family, we will not fail them."
"No, we won't."
The boys followed the directions that their father and master had given them and lead to a larger warehouse with more than enough space and electricity to keep Edmunds experiments going. Leonardo put the black mask over the bottom of his face and signaled to his brothers to do the same. All four slipped in through one of the skylights and kept a good eye on all the Purple Dragons that patrolled the inner sections of the warehouse.
They landed outside a grouping of doorways where they knew one of them led to the new lab that Edmunds and the girls must be in. Leonardo signaled to Donatello and Michelangelo to take the left where he and Raphael would take the right. All four nodded and turned the corner only to be face to face with Hun and more than half of his whole gang.
"I didn't think that you reptiles in human clothing would be able to resist coming to the rescue," Hun smiled and chuckled to himself.
"Didn't want to disappoint you, Hun," Raphael held on to his sais and narrowed his eyes at the large man, "Where are they? The girls? Where is Deidra?"
"Probably half mutt by now," Hun said with a sadistic smile.
"Where is she?" Raphael screamed through his mask.
"Come and find out," Hun held out one of his arms and folded his hand down. The Purple Dragons around him rushed forward and around the brothers.
"Raph! We got to know where to look," Michelangelo shouted through his mask as he knocked out a dragon as soon as they came in striking distance, "Don't kill him until we know."
Raphael didn't answer. He jumped over the few dragons that rushed at him and landed in front of Hun to kick him right in the jaw.
"Not bad," Hun said in an angry tone and took a swing at Raphael.
"Arg," Analise groaned as her eyes tried to flutter open against the dim lighting. She could tell that her arms were tied to whatever surface she was laying on. Even without the physical restraints she would not have been able to move much anyway. Edmunds must have pumped her with some kind of sedative since her arms and legs felt as heavy as dumbbells.
"Ana?" Deidra asked from a table only a couple of feet away, "You finally woke up. Are you okay?"
"I feel weak and my limbs are heavy," she spoke slowly and took a few dozen deep breaths, "Where is he?"
"I don't know," Deidra growled at the answer. She hated being in the dark about these kinds of things. The machines next to them held a soft beeping temp that matched their heartbeats. There were a few bags suspended from stands connected to their beds. Small tubes were already stabbed into their arms, awaiting the mutagen that would make them into only God knows what.
"I have to admit," a voice snaked out from the darkness and both girls saw the now human looking Edmunds step out from the shadows around the lab looking area he had cooked up. He smirked at them both and began to check their straps around their feet and wrists, "You two have to be the strongest women I have ever had the pleasure to change."
"Don't begin to brag before this has all played out, Alfred," Analise murmured, still trying to get over the slowing effects of the sedative.
"Yes dear- oh my mistake," he paused to put a hand in front of his mouth to stop him from making another mistake, "We ended quite a while ago, didn't we? A little too early, though. I was hoping that you would have been my first change over."
"Why aren't you in wolf's clothing?" Deidra asked and slightly nodded her head toward his human appearance.
"It's easier to work without all the fur getting in the way," he smiled and began to connect some tubing to the mutagen in the bags above their heads, "I was wondering what traits to use for you two. With how strong you two are, I had a plethora of ideas to try out. You two should survive. You're much stronger than anyone else I have used."
"Then what?" Deidra asked, "You know we won't follow you."
"Ah, my love, that's why I put something special into this batch," he chuckled and began to connect her tube to that of the concoction above her, "I want you to keep that fierceness that you already have, but still be loyal to me and my male prowess. I put in an alpha female wolf into this batch."
"That won't keep me from killing you," she said with gritted teeth.
"Won't it, though?" he chuckled again and turned to Analise, "And for you… I always love your timid ways and your moments of gracefulness. I put a dose of white tailed deer into your bag. I hope it transfers well with the other dominate traits I have included."
"Figures," Analise whispered and then turned to Alfred after drawing in a deep breath, "I'm not as timid as you remember, Alfred. Loosen the ties and I can show you just how vicious I can become."
"Well, you have grown a back bone," he straightened his back after connecting her bag and looked over his shoulder to Deidra, "I am assuming that it is from your presence in her life."
"Among others," Analise said and watched the serum trail down the tubing to her arm.
"I hate to hear screaming, especially with my sensitive hearing," Edmunds walked away from the tables and toward the only door in the room, "I will be back after your voice boxes begin to shift. It will allow for some silence so that I can work. Until then, ladies."
He flourished a bow and then exited through the door.
Analise again eyed the thick serum running toward her and then to the different colored liquid in Deidra's tubing. Her breathing hitched for a moment and she heard the shift in her heart monitor as well.
"Just keep breathing, Ana," Deidra said to try and calm her friend. She also heard the shift in heart tempo.
"I'm trying, but for the first time I am actually really scared," Analise turned her head to Deidra, "I know that Mikey and Raph will come after us. I know they will. I just don't know if they will be fast enough."
"Have faith in them," Deidra looked her in the eyes, "They owe us, remember? That first time they tried to save us, we saved ourselves. They owe us."
Analise chuckled a bit awkwardly, "Yeah, I guess so."
"Ah!" Deidra tried to move her body away from the liquid mutagen that had finally reached her arm. Her arm was being frozen and set on fire at the same time. It shifted and contoured in her limbs as it blended with her blood stream. She could hear Analise gasp as the same effects hit her through her tubing.
'This can't be it,' Deidra gritted her teeth and shook her head, 'After all this time. This cannot be the way that I go out. Unable to protect my best friend or stop a mad man. I refuse.'
Her eyes clenched shut and she focused her mind's eye as Splinter's teaching came back to her.
"Once you find your calling, your sign, you can overcome anything and everything."
"How will we know our sign or what style we are to master?"
"It will find you in the most unthinkable ways…"
She didn't know if it was the teachings, or if the serum that now pumped in her veins tried to claw through to her subconscious, but a howl echoed through her mind. A deep, longing howl that resonated from her heart and flowed along with her blood.
"I will not allow this to be the end," she growled and felt a surge of strength pound against her muscles. The straps that held her down snapped against her wrists and she chewed on what was still tied to them as her feet ripped off from the table. She tore the tube from her arm and made sure that it didn't tear out her arm.
"Ah!" Analise yelled from her table as her legs kicked violently in the air. The deer DNA in the serum may have given her the power to tear the straps through just the force of her kicks. Deidra pulled the tubing from her friend's arm before it could do any more damage.
"Ana, Ana, calm down," she yelled to her friend.
Analise took deep breaths and opened her eyes up to her friend, "Did it change me?"
"Not physically, at least," Deidra shook her head, "Me?"
"Not that I can see," Analise shook her head.
"Good," Deidra pulled her friend up, "We got to get out of here before they trap the boys."
Analise's eyes shot to the door and she tilted her head a little, "I don't think that's an option anymore."
"What do you mean?"
A body suddenly flew through the door of the room and headed toward the two women. Deidra's reflexes went into overdrive and she took hold of Analise and threw both of them to the floor and to the side of the room. They hit the wall as the body, now recognized as Hun, landed the two tables they were on.
"I've never seen you move that fast," Analise look up at Deidra.
"A new instinct," Deidra shrugged and looked back at Hun. Knowing the Purple Dragon leader, he was usually back up on his feet by now. She sniffed the air and her mind connected a smell she knew very well. The smell was death and it was all over Hun.
Both Deidra and Analise looked at Hun's body on the tables and saw a large slice over his jugular and a long, sharp sai sticking out from his chest.
"Well, Raph's here," Analise said with nonchalance, "I am also guessing that most of the dragons are taken care of or on the run if Hun is down."
"Michelangelo may not be that far behind if Raph is here," Deidra grabbed her friend by the hand and began to walk carefully toward the doorway.
"Ana?" a voice came through the door before the figure came into view. Michelangelo held his nunchakus in his hand while she saw her kusarigama in his belt. Even dressed in complete black, Analise could spot Michelangelo in a heartbeat.
"Mikey!" she said in a loud whisper and ran toward him as soon as he came through the door. She jumped into his arms and he hugged her tightly to him, his hands in her hair and against her back.
"My God, you okay, baby?" he asked and felt her nod against his suit. He pulled her away just slightly to look her over, "What did he do to you? Am I too late?"
"He tried, but Deidra and I were strong enough to hold it off," she showed him the dot on her arm where the tube was inserted.
He hugged her tightly again and closed his eyes as he took in the scent in her hair, "Never again. Never again will someone hurt you."
Deidra smile at the two of them and turned to find Leonardo and Donatello enter to room to quickly check on Hun to make sure he wasn't getting up. Leonardo spared a glance at her and she nodded with a smile in his direction. He nodded back and knew that it wasn't his place to check on her. As both Leonardo and Donatello checked over Hun's vitals, Deidra turned back to the door and saw instead Raphael's eyes boring into hers. For a second neither of them said or did anything. Just as quickly as she could, she leapt into his chest and her head fit immediately into the space right under his jaw. His hand settled on the back of her head and his other arm went around her waist.
"I knew that you wouldn't abandon me," she whispered and quickly kissed his neck.
"Never," he whispered back and shifted her face so he could kiss her passionately. Toward the end of the kiss he jerked back just slightly and put a finger to his mouth.
"What?" she asked in a near panic.
"One of your teeth bit into my lip," he said as he tried to lick the wound.
"Then at least part of the serum took effect."
The group of six turned quickly to the large animal now fully encompassing the doorway to the lab. It looked over all four men and then the two women.
"I see that my fight to make you four human back fired," Edmunds smirked and began to walk on all fours, "You still maintain your training. All the dragons are either knocked out cold or have fled once you killed their leader. I was hoping that Hun would be more of an asset. Seems like I underestimated you."
"The heart of the ninja cannot be changed, even if the body of the ninja has," Leonardo said and drew out his katanas.
"Poetic," Edmunds sneered, "But if I remember correctly, said ninjas couldn't beat me the last time. What makes them think that they could do so, this time?"
At that Edmunds leapt for Leonardo and Donatello to begin the battle. He quickly swiped Donatello to the side, sending Donatello's bag of tricks out of his reach. Leonardo began to swipe at Edmunds with both katanas which the wolf-man dodged with precision. Donatello tried for his bag again, when Edmund's tail swept it out of his reach once again. Leonardo took the chance at the distraction and pulled Raphael's sai from Hun and threw it at Edmunds. It nicked his shoulder, but then bounced off to the side.
"They're going to need our help," Raphael growled and pushed something into Deidra's hands before he ran to pick up his sai and join the fight.
Michelangelo pulled the kusarigama from his belt and put it carefully in Analise's hands. He kissed her on the cheek before he began to ready his nunchakus, "Don't use that unless you have to."
"But, Mikey-" she began before he ran into the fight with his brothers and the monster against them.
"This is bull shit," Deidra growled and looked down at one of her personal katanas that Raphael had brought with him, "We should be able to fight."
"They have the experience," Analise mentioned.
"And it's failed them before."
Michelangelo jumped the side just in time to deflect one of the large paws that came down toward him. All four of the guys ran and jumped onto Edmunds, hopeful to tackle him to submission. Unfortunately, the large monster only pushed against them and sent each of them into a separate corner of the room. Edmunds looked over each of the four men and then looked over at Deidra and Analise.
"Now, where were we?" he asked and straightened up as if trying to play off the small battle.
Both girls readied their weapons and got into a defensive stance, ready to fight. Both of their eyes traveled to the guys at the sides of the room, but didn't see any movement from any of the four. They heard a deep animalistic chuckle from the thing ahead of them which quickly turned into a loud boisterous laugh.
"Really now, ladies?" he stalked around them now on all fours and sized them up, "If your men couldn't take me down, do you think that you could?"
"If nothing else we can defiantly make some marks for you to remember," Analise said and began to swing the sickle side of her kusarigama.
"Nothing could be more pleasurable right now than to cut off that grin of yours right off your face," Deidra smiled at the thought.
"Such fighting spirits," Edmunds seemed to shiver in pleasure, "What days we have ahead of us. We will need you two beautiful girls back on the tables so we can continue. You are nowhere near perfection."
"Speak for yourself, dude," Michelangelo spoke from his side.
Edmunds turned ready to tear a hole in him when he got a face full of Raphael's foot and a slice across the face by a single sai.
"You will regret that greatly," Edmunds barked at the two of them and noticed Leonardo out of the corner of his eye, trying to get a jump on him. He caught the leader by the collar of his ninja suit and swung him into Raphael. He then grabbed Donatello from the other side and swung him into Michelangelo who went into the far wall next to Donatello's bag. Donatello was launched toward the two girls and took Analise down to the ground.
"Sorry Ana," Donatello groaned from her side after they landed on the cold ground.
"Not your bad, Donnie," she rubbed her head and looked back up to Edmunds coming at them.
"Oh no you don't," Deidra shouted and jumped on his back. She plunged the katana into his back, through the thick fur and earned an ear splitting howl from the monster. Deidra chuckled a little to herself in the small victory, "I have enough of a fighting spirit without your 'improvements', you bastard."
"Not enough, love," he growled and grabbed Deidra around the waist in one large paw and threw her into Raphael who was just getting up off the floor again.
Deidra hissed as she hit the floor on top of Raphael. He looked up at her and then noticed the blood around her waist.
"The bastard keeps taking chucks out of me," she groaned.
"I will take more than that at the end of this night," Edmunds towered over the two of them and pulled out her katana as if it was a splinter in his skin. He threw it to the side and growled down at the pair of them, "I hope you enjoyed your time with him, love. After tonight I will make sure that he is nothing but spare meat for our dinners to come."
"Not so sure about that, dude."
Edmunds snarled and turned toward Michelangelo when he felt a large needle jab into his large bicep. Michelangelo smiled triumphantly and pushed the plunger on the syringe to deliver the concoction.
Edmunds growled loudly and waved his arm to throw Michelangelo. Though it did push him back, the force of the arm didn't toss him as easily as it had before. Edmunds noticed the lack of momentum and looked down at his hand paws.
"What did you just do to me?" he asked and looked up at Michelangelo.
"I am giving you back what you took from all your victims," Michelangelo threw the syringe that held the last of the anti-mutagen to the side, "I am giving you back your humanity."
"No!" Edmunds shouted as his structure began to break down and he felt his muscles shrink back into his human form. He ran to the lab and tried to find the right vial to save his mutated self. Arms pushed and slid over the counter space in a futile attempt to bring back what he was quickly losing.
"Nice thinking, Mikey," Raphael nodded with a smile.
"Eh, I have my moments."
"Mikey!" Analise screamed.
Everyone turned to Edmunds who had a hand gun in his hand pointed straight at Michelangelo, Raphael and Deidra.
"You took away everything I have ever worked for," Edmunds pulled the hammer back on the firearm and shook with the exhaustion and rage that had finally caught up with him, "It's only fair that I take something of equal importance…"
The gun shifted positions toward Analise next to Donatello.
"No, don't!" Michelangelo took a running start toward Analise with Deidra right behind him.
Analise looked up at the gun muzzle as if it was stopped in space and time. She barely registered Donatello as he tried to push her out of the way of the possible bullet. All she heard was Edmunds voice telling her that she would never achieve her full potential.
Then there was the sound of metal flying through the air- metal piercing and slicing through skin- blood dripping to the ground. Analise felt the impact against the side of her body and let out a breath of astonishment.
The gun clattered to the ground, the bullet still in the chamber and a hand still wrapped securely around the handle. A clean cut at the wrist made by a sharp and swift katana finally began to bleed from the disconnected appendage. A sai protruded from the neck on the once self mutated man. His voice unable to talk over the loud gurgling of blood filling his throat. The body fell to its knees and then crumpled to the floor, eyes unfocused and staring blankly in the direction of the girl now securely in the arms of her love.
Michelangelo held Analise closely and began to run his hands over her hair and shoulder to make sure that the gun didn't go off. Leonardo stood next to the now dead man's corpse, blood still fresh on his katana. He looked over at Raphael whose body still leaned forward in the momentum from his sai throw.
"Good call," Leonardo said softly and walked to his brother to help him up off the floor.
"No one hurts our family," Raphael shrugged and gripped his brother's forearm.
After Michelangelo squeezed most of the life out of Analise, he looked at Donatello and quickly hugged him almost as fiercely, "Thanks for pushing her out of the way."
"What else could I have done?" Donatello chuckled good naturedly and patted Michelangelo on the back.
Deidra knelt in front of Analise and looked at her in the eyes, "I thought that your flight reflex would have kicked in at a moment like that."
"Yeah, you and me both," she chuckled a little in spite of the adrenaline still running through her system, "Damn overload of deer DNA made me go deer in the headlights."
Deidra lunged forward and the two women hugged each other tightly. Within a few seconds there was every chance that they could have lost one another to the ultimate monster. Deidra chuckled with her despite the situation, just happy to know that her friend was still alive. Analise was alive, Raphael was alive… her new family in one piece.
Leonardo and Raphael looked back when they heard a sound behind them. They still saw Edmunds body, but at the far end of the room the tables that had held Hun's body were empty.
"No one could have survived that," Raphael shook his head and looked down at his other sai that had been in the man's chest.
"We can never tell with Hun," Leonardo said through gritted teeth. Leonardo looked over at Deidra and Analise with Michelangelo and Donatello getting up from the floor. He patted Raphael on the shoulder and nodded to their family, "Let's get home. We got to get the police in to clean this up."
"Yeah, that in itself is going to be an interesting explanation to Seeper," Deidra smiled as she helped Analise up until Michelangelo swept her into his arms in one quick move.
"We'll figure it out," Raphael smiled and opened his arms. Deidra stepped into them without hesitation and looked over his shoulder at the dead man on the ground. She took a deep breath through her nose and knew that he was gone. He wasn't coming back. It was over.
She put her forehead against Raphael's chest, "Don't forget your sai."
Raphael chuckled a little and nodded above her head, "Yes, dear."