CHAPTER 34: TRIBE (PART 2)
Raphael acted on Leonardo's command first; he kicked Xander towards Michelangelo, who slingshot the agent into Donatello. Don slammed his bō staff at the base of Xander's skull, but the man didn't lose consciousness. He hung suspended, mid-fall, then sent the genius flying backward with invisible force.
"Got him!" Sophia yelled as she sped by Leo.
'Just what is that suit made for?' the Jonin thought. He waved away ash clouds from his face while returning his attention to Agent Rook.
"Why fight a losing battle?" Rook asked across the street. "Barrett, Vance, forget the savages! Bring me shells instead!"
The agents attacked from unseen places; Vance verses Raph and Barrett versus Mikey, leaving Don, Sophia, and Leo to stand against Xander. Slight pressure pushed against the Jonin—a warning from Xander's powers.
"Come on, man," Leo said, toes curling. "I thought we had a deal. What about Lizbeth?"
Rook shook with laughter from behind the chaos. "Save your breath, Tortuga. The CMP neutralizes all free-will. Oh, that's the Cybernetic Mentis Program."
Leo sent the senior agent a sharp look.
"You seemed curious," Rook continued, half-shrugging. "It's Bishop's next stage in, uh, personnel management. For those less inclined to follow orders. He started the program to control those cyborgs he procured last year. Guess you wouldn't know anything about that, though, would you?"
He couldn't mean the cyborgs from Black Lotus. Don protected Melody and her friends, and he was present. So...Leo licked his lips.
"Of course, that all went south," Rook added as he waved a hand. "Like many things lately. You understand the stress of what Agent Hyde carries and why he can't afford to make the same mistake twice. Right, Mano?"
Psychic powers pushed down harder, although Xander's eyes spoke contrary to his actions. Leo saw the frustration and rage in the agent's gaze, particularly when his arms rose then swung downwards. A force like an anvil fell on the mutants and Sophia. It disarmed them, brought them first to their knees then to their chests, fire remains further smothering their restrained lungs.
"Like hell, I'm staying here," Sophia said. Her snort disturbed flaky, charred pieces and Leo choked on them as she army-crawled forward.
"Yes," Don wheezed when Leo met his stare, "she is always like that."
"We need to play it smart," Leo managed through shallow breaths.
"Don't tell me. Sophia—"
The downward force shifted sideways as if the Earth's axis tipped. Air rolled over Leo's body, growing hot when he careened into a half-burnt hut. His shoulder drove into the collapsed supports, hardly cushioning his fall, and he hissed at the pain. In the dilapidated center, he pulled splinters from his bicep before standing. Blood dribbled down his arm, yet the deep-tissue wounds tingled then began to close from the bottom layer up.
"You too?" Don asked.
Leo looked at where his brother had knocked down one of the hut's sides. The genius was half-coated in black and straw, and he panted. But the raw skin that had been ripped off in his fall grew smaller in size until the deep red spots paled to a green-white.
"Recro-12," Leo muttered.
"It changed me as well," Don said.
"Enhanced healing?"
"Among other things. We can use that to our advantage." Don gimped over the wooden debris towards his brother. "Though we may not be as tough as Melody or the SHELL, we have other strong points."
"What do you suggest?"
"How's your speed?"
"Speed?"
"Kaiya can put me to shame, but I'm faster than before. Way faster."
"I haven't noticed my speed change much. It's mostly..." Leo trailed off in thought. He recalled infiltrating the EPF base and how he glided through the trees. "My strength," he added. "It's like I don't have to work hard to move."
"Perfect." Don flashed a gap-tooth grin. "We can use the old split blitz."
"With three?"
"Sophia makes up for both Raph and Mikey."
Leo cast his gaze aside. Outside the hut's remains, Sophia ducked and rolled to avoid Xander's psychic advancements, successfully dismantling homes in their wake.
"Sophia's the main distraction," Don added. "Help keep the guy's attention divided, and I can come in from behind. Psychic or not, I doubt he can catch me in time."
"Just how fast are you?"
"Get out there; I'll show you." It wasn't often the genius smirked. When he did, it meant he had the might to back up his claims, and Leo admitted to some excitement at finding out what that meant.
"Alright," he said. "After me then."
Leo leveled the rest of the hut as he vaulted from it. He sailed further than expected and almost side-stepped into Sophia when his feet slipped along the street's many layers. The blonde scrunched her dirty face in question, but there was no time to explain his entrance. He pushed her back to save her from another mind blast.
"I can look after myself, Capo!" she screamed.
Leo met her glare with a hard stare. "If you're here with my brothers, you play as a team."
The Jonin left no room for debate in his tone. Thankfully, Sophia conceded. Tight-lipped and snorting, she countered Xander's next attack alongside Leonardo. Their fists shattered a burnt rafter the agent tossed their way, and Leo heard the blonde chuckle while the two braced for more bullet-like debris.
'This would be a lot easier with my—'
Katanas! Leo spotted the Ayannite glinting in the sunlight just before a dash of purple and green caught his weapons. Don spun in one swift motion, twisting the katanas, so they faced his older brother hilt-first rather than blade-first. By the time Leo's fingers wrapped around the Tsuka Itos' rough fabric, his genius brother had hidden again, perhaps in another attempt to sneak up on Xander.
'Sorry, Don,' Leo thought. 'We'll give you another chance.'
"Sophia," the Jonin said. He sliced through flying rubble, whose bits stung his skin and thumped against the blonde's bio-suit. "You know what a split blitz is?"
Sophia decimated a dirt clump with her staff that she had recovered at one point. "What's it matter?"
Leo swung his katanas in an arch, redirecting a section of straw siding aimed at the blonde. He gave her a look, and Sophia puffed up.
"Certo," she continued. "I'll go left. You go right."
Leo had no chance to argue his leadership; Sophia darted away with speed matched by Don. She kept her center of gravity low, feet making trenches in the street, and the Jonin followed suit with a scoff. Xander's attention darted from one side to the other as the duo advanced. They thwarted every projectile the psychic uprooted, and when they came close enough that Leo could hear the human pant, he prayed Don would strike before they fell victim to another psychic hit.
"Come on, Donny," he whispered.
"Hey, fifone!" Sophia batted back a stray rock. "What's taking so long?"
Was she talking to Xander or Don? Because either one seemed likely. Leo shot her a disproving stare, and, at that moment, his weight grew tenfold. The mutant struggled for air, turning his eyes towards the listless agent. A trail of brown descended from the sky—the afterimage of Don's bō staff while it swung down on Xander's head. The weapon splintered centimeters from contact, spraying outward like a frag grenade, and Don was shot back into the street with a snapping sound.
'What the hell?' Leo pushed his body to stay up, even though pain left him breathless.
"Miraculous survival skills, no?" Rook asked. His voice sounded strained, winded, and despite the smirk on his mauled face, Leo knew by the agent's half-backed stance that he had been worried about Don's sneak attack. "Mano's ability keeps him alive whether he wants it to or not. Guess I should be thankful for that, even if—gyah!"
A stream of bright lights cut through the group. The first struck Rook's leg and a second and third grounded Xander. The weight on Leo lifted, and he nearly overcompensated the effort it took to spin. Behind him, Tlaloc aimed a plasma rifle, Texohuitztli gleaming with sweat and hair matted with blood on one side of his temple. The Tonalquizca looked disgusted with his weapon of choice and tossed it aside after firing another shot at Rook.
"Tlaloc!" Leo called out. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving you, evidently," Tlaloc answered in Nahuatl. He partly smiled then flinched.
"You shouldn't be moving," Leo scolded. "You may have a concussion."
"A what?" The tribesman shook his head, yet stopped the moment he swayed.
"You aren't in any condition to—" The Jonin sighed and approached Tlaloc to steady him with a hand. "Where are the others?"
Tlaloc blinked twice. "The kids do not need to fight. And Coyo is wounded. I can manage."
"We have enough people out here as is. What we need is someone to help the Languu before the EPF cart them away."
"The Teo?"
"Only reason Xander is here must be because he's already caught them. If we keep him here, you can help the Languu. Got it?"
Tlaloc needed little else to convince him. Leo heard Xander and Rook groan, and when he turned, he realized Tlaloc had also shot Barrett and Vance to give his brothers an upper-hand in their fights.
"Go!" Leo continued. He pointed in the direction of Ihiyoyahualli before diving after his lost katanas.
"Bastards," Rook seethed. He stood, revealing his wound had stunned him more than harmed him, and faced Xander as the psychic rose as well. "Stop that savage, Mano!"
'Shit!' Leo bum-rushed Xander before he could hit Tlaloc with his invisible power. He stumbled, running after Tlaloc in the short pause it took for Xander to reorient himself.
"Ayolt?"
Leo waved Tlaloc forward as they hurried into the rainforest. "No talk, just move!"
The tribesman would understand soon; Leo just hoped he'd be enough muscle to keep Xander busy while Tlaloc freed the aliens.
With every psychic wave Leonardo and Tlaloc drowned under, every Languu cry, every step, Xander warred for control and lost. He had no say in how his muscles followed Rook's orders, and even less say in how he could communicate that with the mutant turtle and native. He remained trapped, a conscience crammed into a body that felt thick as stone. And he fought for freedom as his powers slammed his opponents into the IgR Disrupter Field.
"Xa—Xander," Leonardo panted in the dirt. "You don't have to do this."
Damn straight he didn't. But would that stop the Mexican's telekinesis from rolling the turtle through a brush pile? No; Rook willed it, even from miles away.
"You're psychic!" the mutant continued. He dodged another mind blast, partially because Xander's attention fractured when Tlaloc swiped a spear at the agent's side. "Whatever Rook's done, you can fight this!"
Lord, did Xander ache to scream. He had no voice, though—no escape, no leverage, only nerves that burned from overused abilities and a desire to stop.
"Zaddir!"
Xander followed Leonardo's gaze to the alien prisoners. A few had been loaded into additional cells for transport, yet one shrugged off their wardens to face the mutant. It looked bluer than the rest, bigger too, and spoke through a silent connection.
"He isn't bad," Leonardo added. "You know he isn't."
"Why insist, Ayotl?" Tlaloc asked. His weapon whirled, a noise that passed closely by Xander's ear before the agent moved.
"Zaddir," Leo crossed his dark blades, "help. Please."
Help? How? Who could reach Xander at his core? Who could hear his inner voice let alone unlock his prison door? The only way to make a difference would be to destroy both Rook's remote and the satellite that broadcasted the signal nation-wide. Somehow, he doubted the mutant and alien held those sorts of resources.
'Xa...der.'
Xander twitched when the Jincho's voice whispered in his mind.
'Xan...er.'
The voice strengthened, sending chills down the Mexican's neck as he tossed Tlaloc sideways.
'Xander!'
Xander paused—not because something physical stopped him or because Rook demanded it or because he wanted to, but because the voice became Lizbeth's. It struck him with memories, flashes of their life together: when he spilled coffee during their first meeting, her irregular-tooth smile, their first awkward kiss, first apartment, first puppy, first Leukemia positive test.
The man growled, eyes stinging, limbs quivering. What he wouldn't do to hear Liz giggle again.
'Xan...' Zaddir's voice lost potency and familiarity.
Although the IgR Field silenced the Jincho, Xander had to wonder if the alien could help him regain control if someone destroyed the device. His eyes wandered the semi-transparent dome in hopes Leonardo would watch where the agent's gaze landed. Behind it, a pillar-like generator hummed between the transport cells. The Disrupter at its center was twice the size of the last, no longer allowed for hand-held use, and in their haste, Bishop's scientists had overlooked a key defense. It was left unshielded.
"Is that what's keeping the Languu here?" asked Leonardo.
Xander answered through his gaze; it was the only means he had before orders compelled him to slam the mutant against a tree. Leaves fluttered down at the force he increased until a sharp pain above his tailbone made him whirl. He met Tlaloc's inhumanly-orange eyes as blood soaked the agent's uniform then snapped the native's spear in half by just imagining it. Tlaloc gapped at the splintered metal, knuckles whitening as he posed with his new batons.
Idiot; didn't he know when to give in?
"Tlaloc, wait!" Leonardo screamed over grunts and a sizzle.
From the corner of his eye, Xander watched the mutant knock two agents unconscious before prying at the generator. The Disrupter remained magnetized in place, which begged the question: how could Leonardo's swords move so freely? They neither gravitated towards the center ring nor resisted when their wielder pulled them back. The blades skewered the device, its song increasing to a deafening pop that blinded the area with light, heat, and electricity.