Chapter 5

Blackmailed

It was lunch in the lair and Tyroth was in the kitchen, washing the dishes, while the others had moved to the dojo for training. Today, Splinter would have them execute moves that he called out. Normally, Tyroth would take part in the training sessions, but like the obstacle course, this exercise just wasn't anything for him. He wasn't as nimble as the others and thus couldn't preform the moves well enough according to himself, but he didn't mind watching and learn from them.

Having dried the last plate and put everything away, he left the kitchen and was about to head to the dojo, when his shell-cell rang. Looking at the display, he saw the name 'Jennifer'. Tyroth hurried to the guest room that he and Sephie borrowed and closed the door behind him, so he could have some peace and quiet.

"Yes?"

"Brother..."

"Hey, sis! What's up?"

"I'm… I'm sorry..."

"Sorry? What do you mean?"

"I… Mom and Dad, they… we need your help..." she said sobbing.

"Jennifer, what has happened?"

"I can answer that, dragon." said another voice.

Tyroth's eyes widened in horror when he heard the voice, and they then narrowed out of anger.

"Arashi!" he growled, barely able to contain himself enough to not crush his shell-cell with his hand.

"I am glad that you haven't forgotten me, Raymond Ottosen."

"Wh-what did you call me?" Tyroth asked shocked.

"Raymond Ottosen. That is the name you used before you became the freak you are now. After we discovered that, it was easy to find and capture your family."

"If you hurt them, I'll-"

"You will do nothing! Now listen closely, if you tell anyone about this, your family will suffer greatly. Understood?"

Tyroth didn't say anything, he just shook of anger as he tried to contain himself.

"I will take your silence as a 'yes'. If you want to rescue your family, I have a little challenge for you. Care to hear?" Arashi mocked.

"Get to the point!"

"A few miles south of our headquarters, there is an old condemned building. At midnight, the day after tomorrow, you will come to the top of that building, and you will come alone. Once there, you will face our champion. Win, and you'll be given unhindered entrance and be able to leave with your family, in exchange for a gallon or so of your blood.

If you are defeated, however, the good doctor will have you on his table. Should the fight be interrupted for any reason, it will continue the next night, same time and place, again and again if need be. Also, if you fail to show up on time, or if you are seen within five hundred meters of our headquarters, your family will be severely punished for your failure. So remember, midnight in two days, don't be late."

As Arashi hung up, Tyroth sat down on the bed, feeling completely devastated and helpless.

'How could this happen?' he thought. 'How did he find out? What am I going to do?'

He shed a few tears as he thought about his family, and what those fiends would do to them.

Suddenly, it knocked on the door.

"Tyroth? Are you there, love?" he heard Sephie ask.

"Yeah, I'm here." he said, wiping away his tears. "You can come in."

"We're done practising moves now," she said as she entered the room. "and we're about to do some hand-to-hand sparring, so I thought that you might wanna join us."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll pass today."

"Is something wrong, hun?" Sephie asked, noticing that her lover seemed a bit disheartened. "You seem low."

Tyroth sighed and looked at the shell-cell in his hand, thinking for a moment.

"Jennifer called..." he said. "She was quite upset. A few days before we left Mutopia, she had met a guy that she liked. They have been seeing each other quite a lot since then, and Jennifer believed that she had found love. But when she was going to tell him how she felt, she discovered that he already was in another relationship and only played with her."

"What a jerk! Poor Jennie."

"I should be able to be there for her, she's my little sister, she needs me, and not just she but Mom and Dad as well." More tears began falling.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, honey." Sephie said, sitting down by Tyroth's side, putting one hand on his shoulder and the other on his hands. "I know how you feel, but we can't really do anything, not with how we look. At least you and she can meet and talk every now and then, the rest of us aren't as lucky. Besides, she's a tough girl, she'll be fine, and you know why? Because she knows that you'll always be there for her when she really needs it, even if it only is by phone some times."

"I suppose you're right. Still, I think I'll stay here a little longer, to calm down a bit, collect my thoughts."

"Okay, then I'll go and tell the others that you won't be joining us."

Before standing up, Sephie kissed Tyroth on the cheek, making him smile a little.

"Be strong, hun, everything will be alright."

After Sephie had left, Tyroth thought long and hard about what had happened and what he was going to do. Having lied to his beloved made him sick with disgust of himself, he hated it and he hated that he would have to keep lying to both Sephie and the others until his family had been rescued. He wanted to tell them but he didn't dare to, the Foot had scouts almost everywhere in the city, if just one of them noticed anything that could be interpreted as if he had told them, everything could become fucked up beyond all recognition.

There was no other choice than to do what Arashi told him to, at least for the time being. Tyroth had no doubt that the only promises that that honourless cretin would keep, were those of punishment, but he had to try.

'Mom… Dad… Jen-Jen… please hold out.' Tyroth thought to himself. 'I'll get you out of that hell-hole as soon as I can, I promise.'

Meanwhile, back at the Foot headquarters, Arashi smiled triumphantly, while Jennifer still laid on the floor, crying heavily for what she had done. She had betrayed her own brother.

"I'm sorry..." she said weakly. "I'm so sorry..."

"I would say that this worked excellently. Don't you agree, William?" said Arashi.

"Indeed it did, master. It won't be long until the dragon lay on my table again. We will start making preparations at once."

"Please..." Jennifer sobbed. "...please just… just shut up… and take me back to Mom and Dad..."

"I'm afraid that I can't allow that." said Arashi.

"Wh-what?"

"You are going to be kept separately from your parents, so just in case your brother tries anything, he will have to make a decision on who to save, because he will never be able to save you all. But don't worry, we will take good care of you."

If things weren't bad before, they sure got that now. Tyroth has been blackmailed and had to lie to Sephie, while poor Jennie won't be allowed to meet her parents again. How will this play out?