Chapter 17

Shattered Mirrors

Leo gasped as he sat up, sweat drenched and feeling weak.

His vision was blurry, but he could feel the coldness of the pallet beneath him, the strange, mystical air of the Battle Nexus filling his nostrils. As his vision cleared, he saw the concerned expression of his father.

Splinter, kneeling by his son, asked in concern," Leonardo, what did you see?"

Leo shook his head, still disoriented as he gasped. Donatello suddenly coughed, gasping for breath as he sat up, words spilling from his mouth," Don't go!"

Splinter looked, from Leo to Don, perplexed slightly as he knelt by Don," My son, calm yourself. Focus."

Don took a deep breath. Leo, though he still hadn't said anything, was now calmed, as he looked around," Father, what has happened?"

"The building which you had discovered, it vanished. There is no trace of it anywhere. My sons, this sleep was induced by-"

"The Hybrid witches?" Donatello guessed," Father, something is massively wrong!"

Splinter's head jerked up and his staff left his hand as he threw it.

The staff was hurled away, and a tall, evil looking young woman stepped forward. Leonardo, his mouth firmly set, stood up, still trembling slightly but growing stronger as adrenaline flooded his system.

The woman smirked," It's too late to defend yourself. You have chosen an ill fate, warriors."

Splinter had stood to his feet, glaring at the vampire-like woman.

Leo growled," Release Raphael and Michelangelo!"

"I am not holding them," The specters laughed," They have succumbed to limbo." She tsked as as she added with a snide glare," They were not strong, like you and your pathetic brother. They chose the path you should have taken; an easy death."

Leo and Don both leapt to the attack, both with a fury unmatched.

Splinter retrieved his staff, staying back to guard his two sons who slept on. Somehow, he could sense a falsehood in the serpent's words. He knew his sons better then that…

Didn't he?

The young woman smirked as she pulled out twin swords with jagged edges, her eyes narrowing as she fought them off with inhuman strength.

Suddenly twin puffs of smoke appeared and from the vapors, came two hulking monsters, gray-skinned beasts with single eyes in their foreheads and large clubs in their hands.

Leo and Don stopped short as the monsters roared at them.

Leo growled," Looks like we have our work cut out for us, Don!"

8~8~8~8~8

Alala hissed quietly as she approached a building. It seemed to be vacated. her nostrils flared slightly as she looked at her new friends.

"I sense evil here. But I do not know if this is where the Witches themselves have taken refuge."

Usagi bared his teeth," Let's go!"

"We will, my friend, but caution!" Alala gestured, completely unaware of the fact that traximus had backed up and then ran at the building, using his shoulder to break down the door.

Alala jumped, her eyes taking in the sight, she sighed," On the other hand…" Usagi quickly followed Traximus, looking around with sharp, wary eyes.

Alala slid into the building, her nose crinkling with disgust," Ugh, black magic… it is heavy here."

"Do you dapple in magic?" Usagi whispered.

"Not much. I know some healing incantations," Alala murmured back as she glowered," But it is not hard to sense evil when it is this heavy…"

Then, they heard it. Deep, repeated words that resonated from below.

Alala suddenly hissed, her back arching and her eyes dilating.

Traximus turned around and saw the cause of her sudden abhorrence; The door had opened, from an inner room, and a disgusting looking creature had stalked forth. it was similar to a hyena, but much bigger, with blue fur and… no teeth in it's mouth. It's eyes were wicked yellow, it had a long, snake-like tongue.

"Leukemia!" Alala hissed, as Usagi drew his swords his brows furrowed at the sight of this monster.

Traximus growled as another monster, a huge, centurion creature, came from behind the toothless hound.

Alala reached into her hair and pulled out twin, sea-shell-like weapons, her eyes narrowed as she growled," Someone has opened a portal here. And now, they summon the demons of my world into this one!"

Usagi didn't answer. Because at that moment, the two creatures charged… along with a horde of other monstrosities.

8~8~8~8~8

The Ultimate Daimyo, meanwhile had made a discovery. The War Staff had been stolen. At first, he had not believed his own eyes. One moment, it had been in his hands, the next, it was gone.

He remained perfectly still, as it all came crashing down on him, his spirit growing chilled. He turned around, slowly. This was a nightmare.

Beyond belief.

Before him stood a bad memory. A midnight specter, a mistake, hovered in the air, the spirit looking both composed and unhindered as she gazed back at him her fangs glistening with blood not her own.

"Hello, Milord," she smirked, the War Staff glowing menacingly in her hands.

"Lilith," he greeted coldly, sweat dripping down his back.

She laughed, the sound hitting him like a harsh rain," It's been so long."

"You know how I feel about you… where you and I stand," The Daimyo returned grimly," We broke fellowship long ago."

She smirked, floating in the air as she spoke," Oh, Milord, I know it well. As do my poor daughters. You would not take them as your own… and you rejected the true nature of our son."

The Daimyo stiffened as he responded coldly," MY son… and I never rejected him."

"You had him reborn, purged of whatever he had of me in him," she hissed, now growing angry.

The Daimyo stood, powerless, as he responded coldly," Now what do you intend to do?"

She smiled wickedly," I'm going to kill you… and remind your son of who he really is."

And with that, she pointed the War Staff at him, exercising it's power with precision, she knocked The Daimyo to the ground.

He struck the wall opposite of her, falling to the ground.

She was suddenly at his side, whispering" For the record, I really wish you could have been my one and only. But it seems I'm destined to be one and lonely," before uttering an incantation, holding up a crystal bottle, she gathered the Daimyo's spirit within it, smirking as she corked the bottle and hung it on her belt. The daimyo's body lay, prone and bruised.

She turned, just as the doors flew open. Ue-Sama burst into the room," father! There is a portal opened to our world and the Hybrid witches have-" he stopped in utter horror as he saw the tall, strange woman, standing over his dead father.

He whispered," No…"

She smiled at him," Hello, my son. It's been a long time."

8~8~8~8~8~8~8

Nariko snarled. She was bleeding from multiple wounds. This warrior, by the gods, he was as full of fire as she was. And something drove him, just like she was driven. She snarled," You made a deal with the devil, didn't you? You sold your soul to her! What did she promise you, Demon?"

"What the SHELL are you talking about?" the turtle warrior roared at her. He was bleeding too, from her claws and teeth. After fighting, they were now both exhausted, but still energized by anger.

She growled," Don't patronize me, fool. No one just willingly works for that witch!"

"WHY do you want to kill her?"

"Because she made my life hell! She put me under a curse! She made my own people despise and hate me! THE ONLY MAN WHO WAS BRAVE ENOUGH TO LOVE ME WAS BRUTALLY KILLED BY HER OWN CLAWS!" Nariko screamed.

She held up her claws," And now, I am trapped in the very form I hate the most! Is that good enough for you?"

There was an utter silence.

Then, a low sob from behind them.

"She's lying to you. Please, don't let her torture me any longer!"

Nariko could have cried. Her doppelganger was milking this situation for all it was worth and Nariko seethed. Oh, how she hated black magic and those who used it!

Raphael growled as he backed up," I don't believe you."

Nariko gave a bitter laugh," No of course not. Why should you? I look like a monster. I suppose my hellish temper doesn't help either. And the fact that I attack that little trollop who simpers and moans behind you like a pansy."

Raphael then realized something. The girl from his dream… wasn't acting anything like he had expected. In fact… she was cowering behind him. What happened to the girl who had warned him not to screw up? That he was her last chance… her last chance for what?

The dragon-like girl finally walked to him, slowly though, and fell to her knees," Go ahead and kill me. I can't stand my life any more."

With bitterness, the dragon girl called from around him, to the pale red haired maiden," You can start laughing now, Ratri! You've completed your mission in life. I am fully broken, utterly humiliated and driven to the point of insanity, I'm sure!"

Raphael hooked his sai into his belt. This, bazaar as it was, had just gotten even more so. Since when did a villain just give up?

He growled," Ok… so what if I did believe you?"

"Don't toy with me. I'm sick of this. I'm sick of always being beaten down. I'm sick of-"

Raphael hadn't the faintest idea what drove him to this madness. He fell to his knees in front of her and kissed her. Violently so. And it was then he realized something. The chocolate scent wasn't coming from the woman behind him.

It was coming from the creature in front of him. The one who's blood now dripped onto his arms. The one who's lips now melt against his. Her form seemed to melt, to change. And when he opened his eyes, he was staring back into a pale face with emerald eyes. The lips curled back. Her eye-teeth were longer then is usual, like a vampire, but he realized that they had always been that way, he just hadn't noticed before.

She seemed to be trying to figure out what just happened. Like she didn't believe what he had just done. Come to think of it, he didn't believe what he had just done...

"You're an idiot, you know that, right?" she growled, but she was smiling.

Raph shrugged," It's nothing I ain't heard before," as he reached out to touch her face, still confused.

At this moment, a blade sprouted through the woman's chest. She didn't even flinch.

Behind her, the nightmarish form that Raphael had confronted at first, glared down at both of them. A venomous mouth hissed," You both will die!"

The red haired vision rolled her eyes as she choked, blood starting to dribble from her lips as she told him," By the way, I'm Nariko. It's nice to meet you."

And then, he woke up, with a roar," NARIKO!"

There was a still pause in the room. Raph looked around, realizing he had escaped from one hell to wake in another.

Leo and Don were both beaten severely, by two weird monsters. Splinter was in front of both him and Mikey, staff raised as he watched Leo and Don both do their best to defeat the monsters. With a growl, Raphael got to his feet, staggering slightly.

At this moment, there was a piercing scream. It reverberated throughout the entire citadel. And it also caused the two monsters attacking Leo and Don to scream in pain. Holding their heads, they cowered, giving Leo the opportunity to finally slash their throats.

Raph took a breath before whirling, following the direction of the scream.

8~8~8~8~8

Rabi's idea hadn't worked. But it had been worth a try.

Nariko had finally waken, screaming as she did so.

Taima rolled her eyes, grimacing as the piercing sound seemed to go right through all of them. Nariko screamed louder, using the sound, she empowered herself, driving the drug from her system.

Taima felt the drug leave her system as well, as the sound manipulated her physically and grinned as she froze her chains before armoring herself with ice, breaking her chains at last. She picked up her weapon, a long, silver sword, which was dumped in the corner and cut her sisters loose. Elysia was the last one who remained asleep. And Nariko hissed," I'll look after her. Go. Kick witch ass!" She growled as she cut Elysia loose, holding her sister's head in her lap, she closed her eyes, using sonar power, she played a tune that was familiar to her sister.

Rabi and Taima broke loose from their prison.

The world they found themselves in was different from any place in their own wold. But they saw a problem, a clear and honest problem that needed to be fixed…

If, of course, they could get past Ratri, who descended on them like a harpy.

Taima shouted," We may be cursed, but we will not succumb to despair!" as she and Rabi attacked the tall, draconic woman,

8~8~8~8~8

Mikey finally drove the monster to the sand, pinning her down, he growled," Now… mind telling me why you're keeping me from helping her?"

"Just kill her!" Came the voice from the pit.

The blonde vampire spat blood into the pale sand and snorted quietly," At least I'll die in the place I love best… near the ocean."

He raised an eyebrow," Vampires like beaches?"

She shook her head," Naw, they don't. I'm not a vampire… or, at least, I USED to be a butt-kicking mermaid-elf hybrid," she glared at the pit," until SOMEONE stole my body and I want it back!"

He dropped her, getting creeped out," What the shell are you talking about?"

She looked at him and smiled in a timid manner," Well, you see… I'm not what I look like. Of course, you're probably seriously doubting that… but it's true."

She scowled as she added," Little ole' Hecate though seems to envy my good looks and charm! And the guy of my dreams! No wonder she was so desperate to get me out of my body."

A shrill growl came from the pit as the plaintive cry came," That's not true! Not entirely!"

Dead silence… except the lapping of the waves on the beach.

Mikey swallowed.

"So… you're telling me the truth?"

The blonde vampire nodded," I usually only lie when I'm pulling a prank… but I'm not very good at it. I smile too much."

There was a shrill cry, a cry of hatred and defeat.

Mikey whirled as the ground shook beneath him.

A haunting melody played, somewhere from deep inside. The air all around them rippled in a dazzling and cataclysmic effect.

The blonde vampire smiled ruefully as she walked up to him, speaking wonderingly," You were in a dream of mine… I'd almost forgotten it."

Mikey looked back at her, with a sudden violent fury, he grabbed her by the shoulder and growled," I don't know what I'm supposed to believe, my eyes or my brain."

"How about your heart?" she whispered.

And her image rippled slightly as her words. The melody playing all around them swirled desperately.

Mikey let her go, confused, asking, "So… now what?"

She shrugged, asking a little shyly," Can… well, I, uh…"

For some reason, she was despicably cute at that moment. And before Mikey could stop himself, he had bent down and kissed her cheek.

Her image rippled, falling from her true self like scales. The beach girl was unveiled before him. She stared blankly before breaking into a brilliant smile, her cute, upturned nose slightly sprinkled with freckles, her hair completely crazy and speckled with sand.

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back, declaring in her own voice," I don't care you're a turtle, you're cute!"

And with that, Mikey woke up.

He looked all around. There was utter chaos.

Splinter moved, as Mikey sprang up, growling," There's gonna be shall to pay!"

Ok, moving along now... yes, there shall be shell to pay...

Ahem. Thank you all who have reviewed, i know this story isn't the best, but... it's still interesting, right? *bawks at silence and chirping of crickets* uh...right!