Disclaimer:…. I obviously do not own Ninja Turtles. Peter Lair and Kevin Eastman do.
Moth and Quinn were side-to-side as they entered the Shredder's chambers: Karai, the Shredder, sat on a throne in full armor, while her loyal Elite Guards stood in front of her. Well, Kai was missing, he told his parents he was feeling 'under the weather' when in reality he was somewhat hung over and needed to sleep it off. Actually seeing Karai and Leonardo made rage and nervousness stir deep within Moth, but she opted to ignore it for now, silently she vowed harder to destroy these two.
"Greeting disciples." The Shredder coolly greeted them, her voice was so cold, metallic and… familiar in a way, that Moth shivered on the inside a little. "Kneel.". Moth and Quinn quickly dropped to their knees and bowed with their hands on the ground as well. "It has come to our attention that you are both highly skilled, and are ready to become front line fighters."
"Hai, Mistress Shredder." Moth and Quinn chorused politely, it made Moth want to puke, but if course puking in the presence of her 'mistress' would call for her immediate execution.
"Very well, Marlowe, Quinn you shall now receive your new weapons." The Shredder then gestured towards Mashimi and Stockman, who retrieved cloth-wrapped weapons from the side lines, which they then placed in front of the two new Front-Line fighters.
They rose from their hands and stayed on their knees as they unwrapped their weapons; Moth wasn't surprised to find that again she had twin swords, but this time they were ninjaken instead of katana, ninjaken was the literal ninja sword while katana were samurai stock. But Quinn had received twin sai's with twenty-three inch blades; it was strange to change her weapon from long-range to close-combat, but jumping roofs with a long staff with a long blade attached to it was always a bit awkward, especially for Quinn who despite being skilled didn't have the best balance.
"Thank you, my lord." Quinn and Moth said at the same time; they took out their former weapons and placed the items in front of them before sheathing their new weapons in their place. They stood up and nodded.
"You two will receive larger food portions and living arrangements immediately, you will be given time to pack before your rooms are assigned to you." The Shredder continued to drone "Oh, and your uniforms will also change; these new uniforms are slightly modified from your current ones, but they will be more comfortable and will include weights in the wrists, forearms, thighs and ankles, which will make you stronger." They nodded and Moth somehow knew that Quinn made a face behind her mask; it made Moth smile behind hers.
"Now, you may go." The Shredder said, they rose and bowed respectfully before leaving.
"The Shredder scares me." Quinn whispered to Moth when they were out of earshot "I know 'our kind' can be cold, but I could have sworn she was just a talking, cold metal suit." By their 'kind' she had meant their gender. Moth nodded, something about that brief encounter with Karai had left her shaken.
"I know." Moth said; she thought to Jade… Oh god, that was Jades mother! It never really fully hit Moth that Karai was the mother of Jade until now. Huh, that kind of made sense…. Maybe that's where Jade got all of her creepy-ness. Speaking of Jade, she hadn't seen her ghost friend in her dreams ever since she joined the Foot.
"Marlowe? Are you okay?" Quinn asked, sounding concerned. Moth realized that a moment ago her face must have drained of color agree.
"Yeah… Just a little fever spell." Moth said simply, Quinn looked at her strangely.
"Fever spell?" Quinn asked "Is that why you sometimes get faint and pale sometimes?" Moth nodded "That is strange, why is that?"
"When I was little, I got really sick one winter, I got so bad that my father had to carry me to the hospital, and it took a while to recover. But it left my immune system a little weak." Moth answered; she didn't know why she told that to Quinn, she never told anyone (not that she had anyone to tell). Probably because Moth was ashamed of it; years of ninja training made her nearly indestructible, yet she could easily be brought down by a chill. Sure, over the years she found ways to elude sickness in the mountains such as staying close to the fire during winter and chewing herbs a lot, but she wasn't granted that at the Foot clan, all of the way across the country in NY where lighting fires was illegal and there weren't any mountain herbs.
"That sucks." Quinn responded "Maybe you should try putting cough medicine in your drinks or something, it might help."
'What's cough medicine?' Moth wondered – if it could help, she would try it, but she did not know what it was "Could you…. Get some for me? I uh, don't like going into public you know?" It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.
"Sure thing, what kind do you want?" Quinn asked, Moth just shrugged. The two Foot soldiers departed to their separate room to gather their things.
Moth didn't have much, so she was done packing in about two minutes, but she wouldn't be told her new room in another hour. She checked her shellcell; she had a message from her father, telling her to go to a certain rooftop, along with coordinates. It also told her she would find a cardboard box in the middle of said rooftop.
Slipping the shellcell under her belt, Moth snuck out of Foot HQ and hit the rooftops. The place her father wanted her to go was only a few miles away, so she should get there and back with plenty of time, but she quickened herself anyways, it was better safe than sorry after all.
Once she arrived at the rooftop, she could see the cardboard box, which was small and had her name written on top of it in bold marker and was in Master Michaelangelo's handwriting. Sighing in disappointment that her sensei was not here after all, she approached the box and picked it up. Seeing as half an hour had already passed, she quickly returned to Foot HQ.
When she got there, her feet had barely hit the floor when another front-line fighter came into the room and told her it was time, she meekly nodded before following the other soldier to her new room, the rooms for the front line fighters were in another wing of the headquarters so it took a while to get there.
Her new room was bigger than her last, had a walk-in closet full of the new uniform she was to wear, a queen-sized bed, a TV, a loveseat, a mini-fridge, a coffee table and even a computer (not that Moth would use it).And a bigger bathroom with a nicer, bigger shower and tub. "Nice." She commented the front-line fighter who had already left. Moth closed the door, took off her Foot mask and set her stuff down.
Moth placed the cardboard box on the wooden coffee table and opened it; she blinked in confusion, it was a cake. She pulled the cake out and placed it on the table as well; it was circular and frosted in orange icing (orange was her favorite color) and in bright red icing was a bold message; HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY!
Moth was bewildered; it was her birthday? She flipped out her shellcell and checked the date; July 15. So July fifteenth was her birthday? She was sure to remember that. Moth put the phone back and beamed; "Thank you sensei." She whispered, then licked her lips; cake!
There was a knocking at her door "Marlowe! You in there?" It was Quinn "I got some cough medicine!"
"Come in!" Moth called back, Quinn entered. "Would you like some?" Moth asked when her friend entered.
"Sure, thanks." Quinn said and put the brown paper bad down on the paper "So how do we cut this thing?"
Moth brought out her swords and sliced it into six "That answer your question?" She asked as she grabbed a piece and shoved it into her mouth.
Quinn laughed and grabbed a slice for herself "Whoa, calm down, chew before you swallow…." Moth only rolled her eyes.
"I do not understand…." Leonardo said to Karai "It has been months, yet there had been no sightings of Michaelangelo or the mysterious mutant. I thought for sure he would return to New York for revenge. But our Foot ninja have turned up with nothing!"
"They have combed every inch of the sewers…." Karai told him "But they have yet to find any clues of him. But our Foot ninja did find something interesting three months ago..." Karai dug up a file and handed it to her husband "Read it."
Leonardo eyed the paper; it appeared to be two sets of DNA, the codes were identical "A DNA test?" He rose a ridge "What does this prove?"
"Our Foot ninja came across some blood after a shooting, but no body, they collected the blood and ran some tests on it." Karai explained "And I compared it to yours; now, unless if you bled out recently, the DNA in that blood could have only have come from one individual."
Leonardo grinned when realization hit him "Venus DeMilo…. My dear twin." He chuckled; they were indeed twins, but because of the temperature their eggs were incubated at they were born different genders.
"So they are here." Karai finished "But they are hiding well…."
"We'll send out scores of our Foot ninja on a witch hunt." Leonardo decided "They will search every inch of New York until Michaelangelo, Venus DeMilo, and the mysterious mutant are all bagged and tagged, and ready to be put down."
"I'll have the parties organized." Karai said.
Short chapter; but next one will have more action, promise