My Good Friday present to you... A New Chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 5

The turtles struggled against their restraints. Eric Sacks walked in, sighing. "Oh my. Unbelievable. I mean, look at you. I'm a hard guy to impress, but this is just…" He began laughing.

"Wow. And we were going to use rabbits! Can you imagine that? All we were trying to do is create, an antidote." Leo glared at him.

"For what?" Sacks jumped in surprise.

"Say that again. I want to hear your voice."

"For what!?"

"Wow," Sacks whispered. "Well, um, we had this plan. A plan, that we're ready to put back online, today. I'll show you. Karai! Um… show them." The woman walked out of the shadows, giving an order to the men.

Two men seized hold of another. Evidently, the restrainers were the only ones who knew what was going on, because the captured man began struggling violently. His struggles increased when Karai grabbed a container and began wheeling it towards him. The turtles' eyes widened in horror as Karai slammed a mask over the restrained man's mouth.

"You know my building, Sacks Tower? With that great big spire up on top? That spire, is filled with tons of chemical toxins. Bad stuff." Sacks pointed towards the corner where the man was. "That kind of bad." Karai continued pumping the toxin until the man was on the ground... no longer moving.

"In a few hours, Shredder is going to unleash, all of that stuff. Over the whole city. The initial death toll will shake world governments to their core. In thirty days, the city of New York will be… a quarantine zone.

"And that, is where my company comes in. I'm going to save everyone, with the antidote, that is made from the mutagen that is oozing through your blood." A scientist activated the tubes, draining the turtle's blood. "The government will then send Sack Industries a blank check, and I'll be rich. Like, stupid rich. Shredder will force this city to live under our rule. We will be gods."

A man walked over to Sacks, holding a canister of the already synthesized mutagen. He stared at it as if he was holding the Holy Grail. "Oh, and… don't worry about your friend." Leo looked up at the man, his eyes wide. Sacks held up the canister.

"She's going to be my right hand man. Or uh…" He chuckled. "Woman, I guess you could say." He began walking out of the lab.

"Funny thing, that name." Sacks sighed to himself. "Taigā. It suits her, especially after this."

"What do you mean?" Leo leaned forward, trying to stare down the man. "What are you doing to her!?" His heart felt like it was dying.

"Oh nothing much. Just…" Sacks shrugged. "Giving her a makeover is all." He walked out, waving. Leo could do nothing but stare after him. That is… until his vision started to darken. His last conscious thought was

'What did he mean by that?'

~ *.* ~

Taigā moaned, licking her dry lips. Blinking her eyes opened, they squinted involuntarily at the brightness. Once she was used to it, she looked around. Her heart dropped.

She was in a genetics lab. Her body was strapped down to a table in the center of the room. Lifting her head, she bristled at the sight. Evidently, whoever Shredder had dumped her on had changed her outfit. She was in nothing but her sports bra and someone else's black pants. Her feet were bare.

A door opened to her left. Swinging her head in that direction, she saw a middle-aged man standing there. "Ah, you're awake. Good. I was beginning to think Shredder hit you harder than he intended to." He chuckled at himself. "On the other hand, he never miscalculates."

"Eric Sacks, I presume?"

"Correctly, my dear." He walked over to her, dragging a finger up her bare arm. She shivered at the sensation. "Now, do you know why you are here?"

"Because I shot your bastard of a surrogate father?" Eric chuckled.

"I was told you have a mouth. Well, we'll fix that soon enough." He stepped over to a monitor. "Ah! It seems your friends have finally lost consciousness." Taigā's eyes widened.

"What have you done with the turtles!?" Sacks wagged his finger.

"Temper, temper. However, I don't see any harm in telling you." He glowered down at her. "We are going to suck every last bit of mutagen out of them." He grinned when her face paled. "Some of that will be injected into you. After that, well…" He picked up a syringe, flicking it.

"Let's just see what happens, shall we?"

亀

"Wakey-wakey!" Sacks poked Taigā's cheek. She didn't move. "Wake up!" He slapped her. Her eyes flew open, looking around in bewilderment. Sacks smiled when they finally rested on him.

"I'm glad to see that little splicing didn't kill you." Her eyes narrowed.

"What…" her voice cracked from lack of water. "What did you do to me?" Sacks grinned, picking up a remote. Pressing a button, a mirror descended from the ceiling.

"Take a look." Taigā's eyes widened in horror. Her emerald irises were the same, but that was about it. Her jaw had lengthened, her horror increasing when she opened her mouth to reveal fangs. Her hair was now a jet black that shone in the lab light. Two black stripes adorned each cheek, vanishing into her hairline next to her…

"My ears…"

"Ah yes." Sacks tilted the mirror so she could see the top of her head. "They're not gone. Just moved." Moved…. to the crown of her head. They were the same color as her hair, triangular, and the tips were sharp points.

Her body was the same pale coloring it was before, if not a little lighter. Black stripes, similar to the ones on her cheeks, appeared from underneath her bra's under band, no doubt circling around the base of her breasts. Two more were on the outside of each wrist, pointing down towards her thumb. Each fingernail was now a silverish-color, and pointed. More stripes ran across her hips, continuing into her pants. From what she could tell, there were none on her feet. Her nails, on the other hand, resembled her fingers: silver and pointed.

Taigā ripped her gaze away from the reflection to glare at Sacks. "What the hell did you do to me?" Her voice came out in a hissing whisper. He shrugged, looking very pleased with himself.

"Simply gave you a body to fit your name. That little syringe…" He picked it up. "This one. It was filled with a combination of mutagen from your friends and black panther DNA." He smirked. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Not exactly what I was thinking." Eric shrugged.

"Well I think it's cool."

"Only because you weren't the guinea pig."

"True. Now…" he pressed another button. The mirror went back to the ceiling, while the table Taigā was still strapped to rose to a forty-five degree angle. From here, she could see a monitor. Her eyes widened at the image.

"No…" The turtles were limp in their containment units, their blood still being siphoned. She could see it moving in the tubes. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

"For money. Power. Prestige." Sacks shrugged again. "Why else? For too long the Foot has been looked down upon. I intend to rectify that."

Taigā's emerald eyes glared at the man. "By sacrificing innocent lives!?" He laughed in disbelief.

"Innocent? They're vigilante freaks. An accident. Who cares?" A menacing growl emanated from the girl's throat.

"I do." Her fists clenched, testing the strength of the binds. Sacks noticed.

"Don't bother. Those restraints are capable of holding down a full-grown man. There's no way you could break out." Taigā glared at him before turning her attention to the screen.

"What do you want with them?" He sighed in exasperation.

"I already told you… their blood contains mutagen. Just like you, now. Except they aren't going to live to see tomorrow." Eric stood in front of the girl, his gaze sweeping over her. "You, on the other hand, may."

"May? What does that mean?"

"All you would have to do is swear loyalty to me. Not to the Shredder, or to the Foot." He lifted a hand, tracing one of her left cheek stripes. "Me. Here and now."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you will stay here, watch your mutant friends die, and then swear your loyalty to the Foot. Trust me, you would much rather having me as your master instead of the Shredder. After what you did to him, I wouldn't be surprised if you became something less… honorable." Sacks grinned, retracting his hand. "So… do you swear?" Taigā looked to her left, her thoughts whirling.

'I can't swear loyalty to this bastard. But if I don't…' She licked her lips again. "If I swear, will you release the turtles and promise to leave them alone?" Sacks tilted his head, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

"Yes." A soft moan echoed on the monitor, originating from Leo. Her ears twitched, catching the sound. Taigā flinched at the new sensation.

"Will you also reverse what you have done to me?"

"Now hold on there." Sacks raised his hands. "Let's not be too hasty. Think about it… you now have all the powers of a panther." His right hand began counting off. "The ability to see better, phenomenal hearing and scenting, retractable claws, which are somehow platinum, and fangs. Not to mention your appearance has gone from beautiful to drop-dead gorgeous."

"So you want me for my body?"

"No, of course not! Shredder, maybe. Me… no." Sacks grinned at her. "I intend to make you my right-hand woman."

"So a poster girl? A face for your company?" He shrugged.

"Perhaps. Anyways, not only has your appearance and senses changed, but your physique as well." Taigā returned her attention to him. Both were intent on keeping the other distracted for as long as possible.

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Actually, no. You see, panthers are much more muscular in their legs, since they are predators and use their legs for pouncing, climbing trees, and holding down prey that, in most cases, is much larger than they are. In your case, your arms and legs have these abilities as well. You have gained significantly more strength than the average human, although I suspect some of that comes from your turtle friends as well as the panther DNA." Taigā's hand began to slip through the restraint. At the same time, a robotic arm was getting closer to the base of her skull.

"What does this extra strength do for me?"

"Well, you can jump higher, run longer, swim faster, hit harder... you get the idea. You're basically superhuman. Hell, you are superhuman." He smiled at her again. "And that was all made possible by me. So I guess you could say you owe me." To his surprise, she chuckled.

"Yeah. I do owe you." She ripped her hands out of the restraints. "I owe you a serious ass-whooping!"