Chapter 19

Reunions

Arashi sat in his throne, polishing his katana with a cloth while waiting for the turtles. Monalisa and Raphael laid by the wall to the right, a couple of ninja guarding them after they confiscated the mutants' weapons. In addition to these ninja, there were dozens more in the room and even more in the vicinity, ready to come to their master's aid. Arden checked his syringes for the upcoming confrontation.

"How much time do they have left?" Arashi asked, not even looking up from his sword.

"Five minutes, master." said a ninja by the throne. Arashi stopped polishing the blade and held it in front of him, letting the light reflect on it.

"Five minutes, and then this blade will taste the blood of one of these freaks. I think the hothead Raphael will suffice, Monalisa may still be of some use to us."

Raphael and Monalisa glared daggers at Arashi, but he only smirked at them. Suddenly, Arashi's cellphone buzzed. Sheathing his sword, he picked up and answered.

"Yes?"

"Master… I have found more of our dead..." said the ninja on the other side, his voice sounding weak.

"The turtles' handiwork no doubt."

"I… I don't think so, master… It's in the dojo closest to the dungeons, near where the meteor struck."

"There were many ninja training there, they must have slipped up when the explosion shook the building. How many are dead?"

"… All of them!"

"What?! There were over thirty ninja there, and you're telling me that they all died from the explosion?!"

"The explosion didn't kill them, this wasn't an accident, they've all been slaughtered! Torn to pieces! Ripped to shreds! Burned to ashes!"

Arashi's eyes widened and his face went pale. There was only on he knew of that could cause such destruction.

"He's here..."

"Master?" Arden asked, having noticed his lords sudden change.

"The dragon is here." Arashi said so only Arden would hear, and the doctor's eyes widened in shock. While he wanted the dragon on his table, the thought of the beast walking around freely in the building wasn't a pleasant one. Raphael saw that something had the two spooked, and it didn't take long for him to figure out what, or rather, who.

"Not so tough now, are you?" he said in a mocking tone, gaining Arashi's ire.

"Shut your mouth, freak! Or I'll-"

"You'll what? Kill us? I don't think so, if you do, you will loose the only bargaining chip you've got! And I bet that you remember what happened when Tyroth thought that you killed Mona!"

Raphael's words were true, truer than Arashi wanted to admit, but that night, staring into the rage filled eyes off the berserker mutant, he couldn't remember ever being so afraid.

"I can't imagine him being sloppy this time." said Monalisa, knowing what her mate was after.

If the dragon is here, there is only one place he could be heading to." said Arden, trying to make his master ignore what the mutants were saying and focus on what they needed to do, even if he too was worried about the dragon.

"The dungeons. He must be stopped. Our champion has bested the beast twice already, make sure that this will be their last encounter."

"I will see to it, master." said Arden and picked up his own phone to make a call. He had only just finished it, when the doors were kicked open and three turtles, one lizard and one rat entered with their weapons drawn. Every ninja in the room, save for those that guarded Raphael and Monalisa, drew their weapons and positioned themselves between their master and the mutants.

"So, you have arrived, turtles. And I see that brought the dragon's lizard whore and your vermin of a master." said Arashi, drawing his blade.

The team quickly spotted Raphael and Monalisa laying by the wall. Splinter gritted his teeth at the sight of his helpless children.

"You bring dishonour upon not only the ninja way, but on humankind as well." the old rat said with a stern voice.

"Big words, coming from a pest."

"Watch your tongue, Arashi! You have no right to speak like that!" Leonardo snapped. "Release Mona, Raph and Tyroth's family."

"You are in no position to demand anything. Not only do we have hostages, but you are also outnumbered."

"Pretty cocky, for someone that hides behind others. You're nothing but a spineless coward!" said Sephie, gripping her daggers tightly.

"If you want them so badly, come and claim them!" Arashi taunted.

Leonardo looked to the others, it was clear that they would have to fight and they all knew it. Nodding to the rest of the mutants, Leonardo led the charge as the battle against the Foot began in earnest.

Meanwhile, Richard and Erica sat in their cell, they had been woken up from their nightmare-filled sleep by an explosion some time ago, and not long ago, Arashi had issued a challenge via the loudspeakers to some form of intruders, one of which was a girl, judging by the other voices. And just recently, there had been some commotion just outside the dungeon, people yelling and then… silence.

Then, the doors opened and the couple gasped in shock at what entered the dungeon. A large, red humanoid dragon in black shorts and wielding a large sword, both the dragon and the sword had bloodstains, some on the sword still wet. Closing the door behind him, the dragon scanned the room, and seeing the cell, he walked towards it with a determined pace. Erica backed further into the cage and Richard placed himself in front of his wife. The dragon leaned his sword against the wall and grabbed onto the cage-door. With little effort, he pulled the door off its hinges and threw it to the side, he then entered the cell, his eyes never leaving the couple.

Tyroth looked at his parents and his heart skipped a beat, he had missed them so much these years, but at the same time, it hurt him to see how terrified they were of him. The mix of emotions was enough to make him want to cry.

"Stay away from us!" Richard said, snapping Tyroth back to reality. As much as he wanted to properly reunite with them, to be able to embrace them again, right now that wasn't important.

"Please, calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm here to save you."

"Save us?! You expect us to believe that?"

"Look, I know that I don't exactly look trustworthy, but despite my appearance, I'm not a monster. And I'm not with the Foot, quite the opposite actually."

"What is it with these stupid names? 'The Foot'? 'Turtles'? Is this some kind of Mafia war?"

"I'm afraid that it's more complex than that. I'll explain as best I can once this is over, I promise."

"Richard, dear, maybe we should listen to him." Erica whispered. "He could be our only way out of this hell hole."

"There has to be another way, people have to notice that we're missing." Richard replied, also whispering.

"Even if they do, how will they find us? This Arashi seems to have a private army, who would be able to do anything against that?"

"There must be something someone can do-"

"For crying out loud! Do you have to be so stubborn, Dad?! Listen to Mom, 'cause she's right!" Tyroth snapped, tired of their indecisiveness, not realizing what he said until it was too late.

"Wait, what did you just call us? 'Dad'? But-" Richard started only to stop when Erica walked past him and approached the dragon. Looking at the dragon's face with a mix of hope and fear, she locked eyes with him. Standing only a few feet away from the dragon, her heart beat faster and faster.

"You… you called me Mom…" she said faintly. "If you want us to come with you, answer me this. What did you find the summer when you were three years old?"

Tyroth stood silent as he thought about it, he knew what she meant, there was no doubt about it, but he was unsure of what to do. This would be a shock for his parents and he had hoped to keep them outside these kinds of events. But, he knew that it was too late, and he had already said too much.

"I found a leech, the first one I had ever seen. When I took to my Mom to show her, it bit me on my nose, and I got so scared that to this day I can't stand those things. I had nightmares about it for weeks afterwards, and Mom used to lull me back to sleep by softly singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'."

Tears started to fall from Erica's eyes from a mix of emotions, but the most overwhelming was joy. She threw her arms around Tyroth's neck, and he returned the hug.

"Oh, Raymond… It is you… It is really you..." she sobbed. Tyroth also started to cry as it began to sink in, he was home again, after all these years.

"Erica? Is it…? Are you sure?" Richard asked.

"There is a very special bond between a mother and her child. There is no doubt. He's our son, our little baby boy..."

Richard couldn't believe it, this creature was their son? But he saw it in Erica's eyes, heard it in her voice and felt it in his own heart, it was true, it was their son. Richard was unable to contain his tears as he joined the hug, holding Tyroth closely for the first time in years.

"Mom… Dad… I've missed you so much..." Tyroth sobbed as he held his parents close.

"And we've missed you. We thought that you died, what happened to you?" Richard asked.

"It's… complicated." Tyroth responded, breaking the hug and wiping his tears. "I'll tell you once you're all safe. Wait… where is Jennie?" He hadn't noticed it at first, but his sister wasn't in the cell. He hoped that she was in another cage in the room, but when Erica answered, that hope crumbled.

"They… they took her away… the man with the large scar..."

"Scar? Arden! We have to find her!"

"But, Raymond, she-" but Erica stopped mid-sentence when the doors opened. Tyroth turned around and narrowed his eyes when he saw who stood in the doorway, the Foot's so called champion.

"You!" he snarled and reached for his sword, and the ninja did the same.

"Raymond, don't!" Richard said, but Tyroth didn't listen.

"Mom, Dad, stay back! This will get ugly." he said, walking towards the ninja. Once he was a few metres away, the ninja charged at him and Tyroth responded by doing the same.

"Raymond… Jennifer… no, please no..."

The main team has found Raph and Mona, but can they deal with Arashi, Arden and all the ninja?

Tyroth is finally reunited with his parents, but now he has to fight his own sister one final time, without knowing it.

That's two cliffhangers for the prize of one, chew on that!