So, this story is winding down. Probably only more more chapter after this. Warning: I'm rating this chapter M for implied violence and thematic suggestions (no worse than my earlier chapters, but still very much adult themes hinted at). Anyway, this is rather a monster of a chapter since I couldn't figure out a good place to split it. I actually ended it earlier than I intended to, but I'm not sure how long it would have gotten if I hadn't just stopped. Anyway, you y'all enjoy.
Finally, everything was ready to go. Bishop called everyone together to go over the battle plan one last time.
"Okay, let's cover this one last time and make sure we haven't missed anything," Bishop said. "For the sake of speed, we are sending only two people down to the surface: Shadowblade and myself. We will be responsible for placing the power source for the system in the core of the planet. Thanks to Ms. O'Neill we now have a holographic projector that will make me appear to be a Chi'Tarri. This will, hopefully, permit the two of us to make our way to the Mountain of the Shadow Lords where we will plant the power source. In the meantime, the rest of you will be in orbit placing the orbital relays that will actually shift the planet out of phase with the rest of the universe. That is also where the ships with the trans-mats will be stationed to collect the non-Chi'Tarri from the planet"
"Okay, explain this to me again," Michelangelo said. "Will the planet phase out, and then we'll transport the refugees, or will we remove the refugees and then shift the planet?"
"Once the orbital relays are in place, they will erect a stasis field around the planet will prevent the Chi'Tarri from leaving," Professor Honeycutt explained. "Once that is up, we will begin transporting the refugees off the planet. With the twelve ships we have at our disposal it should only take about twenty minutes, max, to get everyone off the planet. That's about the same amount of time it will take, once the thermal power source in place, for the phase-shift to go into effect."
"However, this brings up something we weren't aware of earlier," April said. "Our original plan was the transport Bishop and Leo off the planet using the trans-mats. However, since the trans-mats will not transport anyone with a high concentration of Chi'Tarri DNA, that plan's not going to work anymore."
"What do you mean," Raphael demanded. "Last I checked, neither of them are Chi'Tarri."
"You're right, but the markings that cover them were made using a combination of three highly conductive metals, and Chi'Tarri blood," April said. "Unfortunately, both of them are covered in enough of the markings that the system is identifying them as Chi'Tarri. We tried working around it, but anything that would allow either Bishop or Leo to come through would also allow a full-blooded Chi'Tarri through as well."
"But we've taken care of it," Donatello hastened to reassure his brothers. "We're sending both Bishop and Leo with what we're calling a dimension-jumper. It has a homing beacon that will allow them to jump into a different dimension, away from the Chi'Tarri planet, and then back to our dimension here at the base."
"I still don't like it," Raphael said.
"Tough," Shadowblade told him. "This is the best plan we've got. You can either get onboard, or you can stay here, but we're doing this thing and shutting the Chi'Tarri down for good."
TMNT
As Bishop and Shadowblade made their way to the surface of the planet, the turtle had force the quietly panicking Shadow to the back of his mind. The holo-projector April had created worked almost too well. If Shadowblade didn't know it was actually Bishop, he'd have assumed the figure in front of him was an actual Chi'Tarri warrior. In the human's place was a figure just over six feet tall, with skin the color of fresh bones. His ears were thin and sharply pointed, and exactly half the length of his skull. Like all Chi'Tarri, his eyes were an alarming sky blue with a scarlet pupil, slit vertically like a snake's. His long black hair was tied back in a complicated warrior's braid, and exactly matched his claw-like black fingernails. Going by appearance alone, Bishop could have been any number of Chi'Tarri warriors; they were all practically identical. The only way to distinguish between the various Chi'Tarri was by their choice in hairstyles and facial tattoos and scars. Bishop had chosen a look that suggested his Chi'Tarri projection had been clawed across the face at some point and had chosen to highlight the scars by tattooing an outline around them.
Once on the planet, Bishop landed as close the Mountain as he could, but it was still going to be something of a hike to reach it. Before closing up their shuttle he sent the coded signal to let the cloaked forces overhead know they were safely on the ground, and then the pair set off. In the months since he'd been gone, Shadowblade had forgotten what the Chi'Tarri home world was like; or maybe he'd never really been aware of it in the first place. Although the architecture and landscaping was breathtaking, there was an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness the permeated the air. Everywhere you looked, slaves and drudges moved about their tasks, heads down and body language practically screaming despair. Shadowblade loosened his hold on Shadow and allowed his body language to shift to match that of the other slaves around him.
The pair had reached the outer doors of the Shadow Lords' temple, when things pretty much went to hell.
"So, my little pet has returned, and with a new master, or so it would appear," a cold voice said from behind them. Shadowblade turned to see his former master standing in the shadows to the left of the door. "Tell me, pet, what is a traitor doing here?"
Shadowblade was too busy trying to regain control over Shadow's almost overwhelming terror to answer him; fortunately, Bishop spoke in his place.
"We've come to stop your reign of terror once and for all," he told the Chi'Tarri warrior. "We are going to ensure you cannot hurt another living being ever again."
The Chi'Tarri gave a laugh the sounded like someone strangling a cat. "You poor little fools. The Chi'Tarri cannot be stopped. Those who know our name fear us, and those who face us fall in fear."
"Not everyone," Shadowblade said, drawing his swords from their sheaths. "I may hate you, despise you, and be repulsed by you, but I no longer fear you."
"Then lets remedy that," the Chi'Tarri hissed, and he launched himself at Shadowblade. At once the turtle powered up all of his Spirit marks and met the Chi'Tarri head on. Although weaponless, the Chi'Tarri was far from helpless. Once engaged in battle, Chi'Tarri warriors secreted a hormone that transformed the outer layer of their skin into a thick, supple armor that moved like leather and was as hard as rock. Likewise, their claw-like nails were as dangerous as any weapon. Beyond that, this was the Chi'Tarri who had overseen Shadowblade's training; he knew the turtle's style as well as anyone. At least, once upon a time he had. The months working with his brothers paid off in Shadowblade's favor. The Chi'Tarri wasn't expecting the flick of a wrist the turtle had learned from Raphael, or the offsetting footwork he'd picked up from Michelangelo. Combining all of his new skills with his ability to dance from shadow to shadow, the turtle warrior soon had the upper hand on his former master. With a blow to the head modified from Donatello's fighting style, the Chi'Tarri collapsed, unconscious.
"You're bleeding," Bishop told the tired turtle as Shadowblade re-sheathed his weapons.
"He got in a few glancing blows," Shadowblade replied. "Nothing serious. My spirit marks will have the bleeding stopped shortly."
"Then let's move on," Bishop said. "If my timing is right, the evacuation should begin very soon. We need to get this power source in place."
The pair moved silently through the lower levels of the sanctuary. The closer they came to their target, the more concerned Shadowblade grew. They had yet to see one Shadow Lord, and yet there was no way they could have missed the fight that had taken place right on their very doorstep. If there were any being on the planet that could scare Shadowblade, it was the mysterious Shadow Lords. It was these hooded and robed figures that tested the trainees on their control of the spirit powers, and they were the ones who applied the spirit marks as mastery was gained. It was their quiet, emotionless voices and impersonal touches as they carved and inscribed the numberless marks into his flesh that filled Shadowblade's deepest nightmares. And now he was deep in the heart of their territory.
Bishop and Shadowblade approached their destination as silently as possible. It was a room and played a part in all of the turtle's worst memories: the Room of Inscription. The room was hot and dark, lit only by the odd glow of the volcano beneath it that kept the "ink" for the spirit marks melted and ready for inscribing. It was into the heart of said volcano that they would have to drop the power source that would set of the phase-shift. And that's where they met them; the seven Shadow Lords were waiting for them in the dimly lit room.
"So, you've arrived at last," one Shadow Lord said.
"We've been waiting for you," another added, his voice indistinguishable from the first's.
Both Bishop and Shadowblade drew their weapons. "Stay back," Bishop ordered.
"Put your weapons away, children," a third Shadow Lord said. "You have no need of them here. We have foreseen this day, and are here solely to witness it so as to properly record it in the Book of Shadows."
"What do you mean you have foreseen this day," Bishop demanded.
"Long ago, we warned the Chi'Tarri that by enslaving us, they were bringing about their own destruction," a fourth Shadow Lord said. "But proud creatures that they are, they would not listen."
The fifth Shadow Lord took up the narrative. "We warned them that the time would come when a weapon they had forged themselves would turn on them, a blade from the shadows that they would never see coming."
Although none of the robed figures moved, Shadowblade got the impression that they all had their attention focused on him. "When a new trainee is brought before us, the Book of Shadows reveals his or her Hunt-name. When yours was revealed, we knew the time was coming. The blade from the shadows, the shadows' blade, the warrior Shadowblade. Fate and destiny were coming together, to reap the fruit of destruction the Chi'Tarri have been sowing for so long. And so we watch, and witness, and record, and when the time is right, the Book of Shadows will make its way to the universe, to stand as a warning to those who would follow in the footsteps of the Chi'Tarri."
"No," hissed a voice from the doorway. "You superstitious fools, thinking some weak Earthling mutant will bring us down. We are the Chi'Tarri!" And with that, he threw himself at the two Earthling.
The fight, this time, brutal. The Chi'Tarri had learned from his earlier encounter with Shadowblade, and was able to avoid a good number of the turtle's strikes and blows. Shadowblade, on the other hands, wasn't nearly so lucky, and was quickly bleeding from a number of gashes cut by the white-skinned warrior's razor sharp nails. Bishop attempted to assist, but a punishing blow from the Chi'Tarri warrior sent him flying across the room and into the far wall; the human did not get back up.
"I'm going to enjoy having you as my pet once more," the Chi'Tarri goaded Shadowblade. "Has it ever crossed your mind to wonder why I didn't use you as so many of my brothers used their slaves? It's because I knew it wouldn't break you. Somehow, you had buried your true self so deep nothing I could do would touch it. But now you've let the creature out of its cage. You've opened your heart back up, and this time I will be able to crush it! I will have you begging and screaming for the torture to stop, and I will enjoy every minutes of it!"
In that instant, as the horror of what the monster before him was threatening coalesced in the young turtle's mind, all three elements that made up his battered psyche came together as never before. The ease with which Leonardo was able to avoid the blows coming his way, it was like the Chi'Tarri was standing still. The white-skinned alien, on the other hand, had no chance of escaping the punishment being rained down upon him.
"You will never… touch me…again," Leonardo growled, accentuating his words with a flurry of strikes that left the Chi'Tarri breathless and bleeding. "This ends today!" And with that, he buried his blade in the Chi'Tarri's belly. Shocked blue and red eyes stared up at him as he pulled the katana free, pale pinkish-white blood dripping from the blade.
Leonardo turned away from the dying Chi'Tarri; he had other, more immediate, concerns to take care of now. Without sheathing his bloody sword, he rushed to where Bishop lay crumpled on the ground. The human was just beginning to stir, but it was obvious from his labored breathing and the blood frothing at his lips that he had some severe internal injuries.
"Come on, old man," Leo cajoled as he very carefully helped him sit up. "Let's get that power source planted and get out of here."
"Not…not gonna happen," Bishop wheezed. "I'd never survive the…the dimension jump."
"Well I'm not leaving you here," Leo argued. "You know what the Chi'Tarri are capable of. I wouldn't wish that fate on even my worst enemy."
"That…that's why…I'm go…going to jump," Bishop pushed out. "De…deliver the…p-p-power cell my…myself."
"Bishop, no," Leo said, aghast. "I'm not letting you jump into the heart of an active volcano."
"Yes you are," Bishop said with unexpected strength. "Everything you and your brothers have gone through, that's all on me."
"And if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't exist in the first place," Leo countered.
"Something tells me you would have," Bishop whispered, his strength beginning to fail him. "With or without my help, you and your brothers were meant to be; I just added to the torment you faced. So let me do this; let me make up in some small way for everything you have suffered. And if you can't see it that way, then try this. I'm choosing my death. I'm going out with honor, and in my own way. Could any warrior ask for anything more than that?"
Leo considered the dying man, and then silently nodded. Gently, he helped Bishop strip out of the pack containing the two dimensional jumpers and the power source for the shifter. They'd been hidden by the holo-projector, which was why the human had been carrying them. Carefully, Leo helped Bishop take the unexpectedly small power device and make his to the edge of the volcano. Once he was certain the man was as steady as could be, Leo stepped back and placed a fisted hand over his heart in a warrior's salute. Bishop gave him a slight nod, and then silently fell backwards, a look of contentment on his face.
So, yeah. I killed Bishop. That has actually been in the plan pretty much since the beginning. How he died changed since then, but his death was always in the cards. Hope everyone sticks around; I have a feeling some pretty familiar faces might be making an appearance here pretty soon.