Note: Some characters in this chapter belong to my dear friend and co writer, Tyroth Darkstorm.
Chapter Forty-One
Time is of an Essence.
Meanwhile the Chicago Knights, James and Dahlia were still flying towards New York.
Tyroth drove the aircraft with Sephie by his side, both were anxious, and it didn't help as in the back, everyone there was fidgeting and talking amongst themselves.
"Damn, can't this thing fly any faster?" Percy asked.
"It can only go as fast as it is able to!" Tyroth called back.
Jake bit his lip as he thought about Monalisa and he looked out of one of the windows at the land below, he could see the shorelines and the coast of the sea leading out to the Atlantic and he wondered how long it stretched to get to both the State and the City of New York.
Amber noticed his discomfort and placed a hand on his to reassure him.
Jake looked back at her.
"I'm so worried Amber." He confessed "For years since I realised Monalisa had been alive, I've trusted she would be alright, but after Tyroth's vison, I can't help but fear the worst."
"I know." Amber nodded.
She wasn't sure what to say or do to soothe his worries, as she was scared too.
Kate was also clutching at straws as she thought of Michelangelo and wondered that if Tyroth's vision was true, what the Shredder, or even the Venomous Five would be doing to him, his brothers, adopted sister and niece.
"Please be okay…" she whispered, "Please be okay."
Her anxiety wasn't helped one bit when she heard Percy talking to Sharky.
"Oh man! With what we know about the Shredder, and what he's done, and compared to his two lackeys, who knows what's waiting for us!"
Sharky didn't answer but looked worried.
"What do you think Shredder will do? That is if he's managed to snare Kemeko as well as the others?"
Kate glared as she looked at the grasshopper and as he kept talking about the what ifs about her friends in what could only be a dire situation, she felt something snap.
"Will you just shut the fuck up!" she screamed practically making everyone jump in fight.
"Just shut the fuck up!" Kate roared "Can't you keep your big trap shut? I'm freaked out enough already!"
"Kate!" Sarah and Heather cried together in shock.
Sure they were used to the Viper's outbursts at Percy before, but this was a whole new level.
This time the Viper was really furious.
Percy's eyes widened and he tried to move yet because of his seat belt and the fact Sharky was next to him, he couldn't.
Kate bared her fangs and leaned over towards the grasshopper.
"Next time I hear a peep out of you Vermin! I really will kill you!" she hissed in a throaty voice that sent shivers down Percy's spine.
"Whoa! Simmer down Kate!" Sarah who was sitting in-between Kate and Percy tried to push her back.
"Shut up Spots!" Kate spat and kept trying to swipe at the grasshopper, yet all the while Sarah pushed her back and Heather tried to pull her.
"Kate! This isn't helping!" Heather cried "We're all scared! But then again, we don't know what's happening in New York!"
"Well if Tyroth's had this vision and he's adamant…" Jack spoke but Jake shook his head at the wolf, worry and fear on his face.
Kate pressed her lips together and her face went red, and tears filled her eyes.
"Don't any of you understand how I feel!?" she screamed "Michelangelo is my life! I love him so much! After all the shit relationships I had, where men just tossed me around and played me like some toy with no feelings, I finally meet the one! The one man who has cared for me and loved me, fangs, venom, and all, and what if the worst has happened to him, or to the others?"
"I know it feels Kate!" Jake called over trying to reason with the tense Viper, "I'm terrified for my sister just as much as you are for Mikey! I lost her once! And I won't lose her again!"
"Everyone! Settle down!" Tyroth barked from the front "Getting angry and upset won't help us! If there was a way, I could get us to New York faster I would, but even my magic can't do that! We can only hold onto the fact that nothing bad has happened, or if it has, our friends can be saved!"
"And I can only wish my vision was wrong," The dragon thought to himself "But I can't ignore it! It's something I simply can't ignore and if I'm wrong, then I will be the happiest if not the most relieved mutant dragon in the world!"
At Tyroth's outburst, everyone went quiet, and Kate shrank back into her seat before pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tightly.
"If those bastards have hurt Mikey! I'll destroy everyone in the Foot Headquarters!" she muttered to herself.
Sarah and Heather placed their hands on hers to comfort her, and Jake looked out the window again, willing to see the state of New York as well as the city come into sight so he and the others could save his sister and her family.
Tyroth chewed his lip as he looked at the map on the control panel of the Ninjet and looked over to Sephie who gave him an encouraging look.
"Please Odin." Tyroth prayed "Let them be alive, if not alright."
Back in the Foot Headquarters, having no idea Tyroth and the Chicago Knights were on their way, Kemeko walked with Shredder and his elite ninja out of the dungeon and upstairs.
Tears streamed from Kemeko's eyes as she felt dreadful leaving her father, Uncles, and grandfather down there and at the mercy of the torturers down there.
Shredder looked down and saw how tearful Kemeko looked, yet he felt no remorse or sadness for her, he was only pleased he had broken her enough for her to join him, yet he knew he couldn't take any chances.
Kemeko might have said she would join him after he gave in to her demand to see her adopted father, Uncles, and grandfather, but he had to be careful that this wasn't just a rouse to manipulate him.
She might be just a young teenager, but if she had learnt anything from the Ninja turtles, Monalisa or Master Splinter, she would have learnt how to play the game of manipulation well, as it was the art of any ninja.
As they walked, Kemeko looked up at the Shredder.
"Grandfather…" she said trying to control her shaking voice "I thank you for letting me see my father, Uncles Raphael, Michelangelo and my granddad Splinter, yet you have not let me see my Uncle Donatello, my Aunt Monalisa, nor my cousin Pandora."
Shredder frowned as he looked at Kemeko and she almost recoiled, yet she kept her composure.
"Please!" she pleaded "I will continue to do what you ask, if you let me see them, then I will ask no more! I will follow you! I will willingly let myself be adopted by you!"
Shredder again cocked his head on one side as he listened to Kemeko's pleading.
"Please." Kemeko begged "Please…Let me see them, so I can say I love them, and that I'm sorry and goodbye?"
"Very well." Shredder agreed "They are in the care of Dr Arden, and if you ask him nicely, he will let you see them."
Kemeko swallowed hard, as she remembered the labs those two years ago, and she could only imagine the horrors within, but she had to pretend to be content and she nodded at the Shredder then she forced herself to hug him.
The Shredder stopped in his tracks as Kemeko threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.
"Thank you! Thank you!" she wept "I can't tell you how much that means to me!"
The Elite Ninja also stared in amazement as they watched Kemeko hug their master and they wondered what Shredder would do next.
They then saw Shredder lift his hand and pat and stroke Kemeko's hair.
"If it makes you happy child, I shall grant it." He spoke as his hand moved from Kemeko's hair to her cheek.
The Elite Ninja blinked as they looked at each other, for they had never seen their Master show tenderness to anyone in many years, even though he had shown it to Karai so long ago.
Shredder gripped Kemeko's hand and he started to walk onto the direction of Dr Arden's Labs, and the Elite Ninja followed him loyally.
Meanwhile in Dr Arden's Labs, the evil Doctor had been experimenting on Pandora who was still lying unconscious on the table, and Donatello was standing next to it, broken, bleeding and bruised and he wore a metal collar as well as a couple of wrist bands of the same material.
He had been subjected to horrific torture, mostly having serums pumped into him, as an unwilling Guinea pig and then he had been forced to watch as Monalisa had been dragged from her cage protesting and cursing then subjected to the same treatment as Pandora, put under anaesthetic and pumped with drugs as well as extracted DNA for the Doctor's evil experiments and creations.
Donatello looked over at Pandora then at Monalisa who lay next to her daughter and tears of hopelessness fell like rivers.
He wanted to stop this so badly, and he remembered how he had been forced to remove Pandora from Monalisa's womb, but he had managed to stop Dr Arden and save his family, but this time, there really was no escape.
The collar and wrist bands Dr Arden had put on him were filled with torture serums and after he had been fitted with them, he had been given a taste of what it felt like, and it was unbearable.
He was broken from his thoughts as a buzzer rang and the door opened to reveal the Shredder and Kemeko.
Dr Arden stood to attention and bowed his head.
"Master Shredder, please come in!" he said.
Shredder walked in along with Kemeko and Donatello's eyes widened as he saw his niece holding his enemy's hand.
"Kemeko!" he wanted to run over to his niece, but he knew if he tried, Dr Arden would activate the collar and he would be a victim to it's torture.
Kemeko, as she saw her Uncle Donatello wanted to run to him, yet she hesitated until Shredder loosened his grip on her, and she ran to him.
As she did, she saw her Aunt Monalisa and her cousin Pandora strapped to the tables unconscious and it shook her to the core.
"No!" she thought "Oh No! Aunt Mona! Pandora!"
The Asian girl ran to Donatello and embraced him tightly.
"Donnie!" She wept "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen!"
Donatello hug Kemeko close and stroked her hair.
"Shhh, Shhh, it's okay Kemeko!" he soothed "I'm just so glad you're safe and alright."
Kemeko looked at her uncle.
"I am!" she reassured then kept her voice low "But I plan to make things right, after what I did!"
Donatello looked confused.
"I know what I did wrong." Kemeko whispered "But I will make things right again! I will get us out of here!" She hugged Donatello again "No matter what, I will get us out of here!"
Donatello hugged Kemeko again.
"Lotus." He said "Please! Don't do anything dumb! Shredder is dangerous!"
"I know." Kemeko agreed "You, father, granddad, everyone else taught me so, I do not fear him! I will do all I can to free you, even if it costs me my life!"
She kissed Donatello's cheek and stepped away.
"Trust me!" she mouthed as she stepped back towards Shredder, keeping her back to the evil man so he couldn't see nor read her lips.
Donatello reached for Kemeko, but he knew he couldn't stop her nor say anything, as he did, he saw Dr Arden glare at him, and he lowered his head.
"Good choice." Dr Arden smirked and looked to Shredder.
"All is going well master." He said, "I have extracted the crossbreed's DNA as well as the lizard bitch as well as my turtle slave!" he licked the scarred part of his face and gloated at Kemeko.
"Excellent William." Shredder smirked "Keep up your work."
Dr Arden bowed then glared at Donatello who reluctantly bowed as well.
"I shall return to check on progress Doctor." Shredder said before he swept out of the room with Kemeko in tow.
Donatello watched her go and he bit his lip.
"Lotus, please, be careful, the Shredder is no fool! I hope you know what you're doing!"
So the Chicago Knights haven't arrived in New York as yet, and Kate's really on edge! Poor Girl!
Meanwhile Kemeko, despite her fear and anger, is still trying to win over the Shredder as well as tell her family she wishes to free them.