Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. Sorry this took a while. I know everyone has been more patient than they deserve, but it's going to get better. After this, there's just one more chapter before I can mark this fanfic as complete, and I'm going to try my best to finish it before the new year.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter, the final battle against the Shredder. Any and all comments are welcome.
"It didn't have to be this way." Shredder growled as he creeped closer to the heroes. They all held their weapons up not letting their guard down at all. "This could have been so much easier, but you all kept making it harder and harder."
"Well, as it turns out, being sacrificed to a giant demon makes things harder for the rest of us." Homura said.
"I was on the verge of controlling one of the mightiest Yoma in recorded history." Shredder continued. "Its power was within my grasp. But you children and freaks had to interfere."
"It's over, Saki." Splinter called out. "Hebijo is burned to the ground, Orochi has been defeated, and your top five students are against you now. You have nothing left."
Shredder answered that with a soft chuckle which turned into a maniacal laugh. "You fools! Did you think Orochi was my only plan? I have a contact who already has another plan in motion, and there's nothing you all can do to stop it."
"What does that mean?" Michelangelo asked.
"No idea." Leonardo said.
"I don't care what you've got cooked up." Asuka said. "We won't let you get away with whatever you're up to."
"Then I'll put you all in the ground." Shredder said seriously. "Homura, it's a real shame you disconnected me from Orochi, but thankfully, I was able to absorb enough of his energy into myself."
"Uh, oh." Homura said with widened eyes.
Suddenly, the Shredder gave off a red glow over his entire body. He crouched down and strained himself as a wind of red smoke swirled around him covering his whole body. The smoke got bigger and bigger until it was as big as an elephant.
When the smoke cleared, the Shredder was revealed to not be his former self. He was much bigger and more monstrous than he was before. His very size was bulging and his spikes grew bigger and sharper. His face was no longer human.
"HOLY COW!" Donnie shrieked. "IT'S A SUPER SHREDDER!"
Shredder let out a monstrous roar as he lunged himself forward. He was faster than he looked, so the shinobi all barely dodged him. It was a close call for everyone as the Shredder only struck the rubble of wood that was behind them. His punch sent all the wood flying far from the field. After dodging, everyone scattered hiding themselves among the Hebijo debris. The Shredder didn't give up though. He started combing through all the corners like a predator seeking his prey.
Behind one pile of debris, Leonardo hid himself alongside Splinter and Rin. He peeked out slightly seeing Shredder knock down several places where the others could be hiding. He kept his breathing to a minimum to make sure he didn't find him.
"What are we going to do?" Leo said before turning to Splinter. "Sensei, can't you stop him?"
"It's not like there's a shinobi technique for exorcising Yoma." Splinter said before clutching onto his side and groaning. Rin gently laid him onto the ground and checked on him.
"What's wrong with him?" Leo asked.
"His last battle with the Shredder took a lot out of him." Rin said. "He won't be as much help here, and I need to keep him alive. It's up to you and the others now."
"But what can we do?" Leo asked. "The Shredder's super-sized!"
"Do not let the strength of your enemy define the outcome, Leonardo." Splinter answered. "Focus on your own strength. Your brothers, the girls, they all need someone to start standing up to the Shredder. And I can't think of anyone better than you."
Leo looked back over the rubble he was hiding in to take another look at the Shredder. He took a deep breath before leaping from his hiding place. He landed on top of another pile of wood high enough for everyone to see him from where they were covering at. He then unsheathed his katanas and clanked the blades together to get the Shredder's attention.
"Shredder!" Leo yelled out. "This ends now!"
The Shredder narrowed his eyes at Leo and stepped closer to him, but before he could make any sudden moves, he took a powerful blast to the face. He recovered to look over and saw Mirai aiming a smoking rifle at him with Mikey, Hibari, and Yagyu.
"Bullseye!" Mikey cried out.
The Shredder growled and turned to the four, but suddenly, he was attacked from behind by the flying dropkicks of Raph, Katsuragi, and Hikage. At the same time, Donatello, Ikaruga, Yomi, and Karuka struck the front of Shredder's feet to add more momentum to his fall.
Once the Shredder hit the ground, everyone backed up before he could stand back up. When he did, he found himself surrounded by the turtles and their girls, including Leo who was accompanied by Asuka and Homura at his sides. Once they all gathered, they set up a shinobi barrier surrounding them all with the Shredder at the center.
"So this is where you make your final stand." Shredder said in an inhuman voice and tone.
"It's like Leo said," Asuka said, "This ends now."
After a long moment of anticipation, the final battle started. The shinobi all leaped up into the air, but when the Shredder looked up, there was nothing but a smoke-filled sky. That's when he was attacked from behind by Raphael from his left followed by Katsuragi from his right. The Shredder quickly found himself surrounded and bombarded with attacks from all fourteen of his opponents, each of whom were trying to break through his defenses, but the Shredder kept his guard up to protect himself.
The teens' momentum built up so that Haruka got underneath the Shredder's face and deliver a kick up to his chin. He was knocked backwards while Mirai launched herself into the air. Once she was right above Shredder, she fired her rifle at him making him crash to the ground, but he immediately returned to his feet. Raph threw himself at him to attack, but he caught Raph in the air and slammed him to the ground. He then threw his blades down to stab him, but Hikage saved him by blocking them with her daggers. With the Shredder in place, Yagyu and Hibari both kicked him at once in the face. He stumbled back before regaining his footing.
The Shredder was soon able to read the battle and predict the shinobi's movements. They all charged at him, but he dodged and countered leaving them flat on the ground. It didn't last long, however. Mikey was able to trip Shredder and make him fall backward. Everyone immediately grabbed Shredder and held him down while Homura jumped high into the air. She plummeted back down with all six of her swords aimed right at Shredder's chest. Victory was within sight.
However, that victory was pulled out from under the heroes. The Shredder threw his foot up to kick Homura's swords away from their trajectory. He then powered his way out of everyone's grips and striking at each one of them sending them far across the battlefield.
When the Shredder stood back up, he was face to face with Homura, who glared angrily at him with heavy breaths.
"I trusted you, and you betrayed me!" Homura shouted. "I just wanted to be a true shinobi, but all you wanted was me dead!"
The Shredder stared at Homura and cackled. "Well, Homura, you should be used to that by now."
Homura gritted her teeth before frantically swinging her swords at him. However, the Shredder caught her by her arm and began squeezing. Homura yelled out in pain as she was brought to her knees.
"If it's any consolation," Shredder said raising his blades, "You truly were my most promising student."
The Shredder was about to thrust his blades at Homura, but suddenly, Leo and Asuka saved her. They used their own swords to push his blades out of the way and shove the Shredder off of Homura. They then picked her up and jumped far from the Shredder to help her recover.
"Are you okay?" Asuka asked.
"What do you think?!" Homura yelled. "We threw everything at him, and nothing is working!"
"Well, not everything." Asuka said. She reached to the back of her belt and held up a familiar scroll which caught Leo and Homura's eyes. The latter reached her belt and pulled out another.
"The Yin-Yang Scrolls?" Leo asked.
"Yes." Asuka said. "None of us can defeat Shredder on our own. But together…"
Homura couldn't help but chuckle. "You know, if this was proposed yesterday, I probably would've said no. But now… Well, let's do it."
Leo nodded in agreement as the girls held out their scrolls to him. She grabbed them both and they exploded in green, blue, and red light that shined everywhere. Homura's red glow matched her new hair while Asuka and Leo were covered by green and blue light. They all turned to the Shredder who took a ready battle stance at them.
Quick as lightning, Leo, Asuka, and Homura rushed over to Shredder and struck him, but he blocked it with his spiked arms. They then flew to the walls and bounced back to the Shredder hitting him again. This went on again and again until the Shredder's defenses were down. The attacks kept coming driving the Shredder to his knees. The three stopped and landed in front of Shredder, who growled ferociously at them. He roared wildly charging over at them. The three did the same.
The four clashed in the air and landed right behind each other. A long moment passed until Shredder groaned weakly. He dropped to his knees and fell on his side. The light faded from his monstrous eyes and his body was left lifeless.
The Shredder was dead. The barrier fell. The heroes won.
Everyone gathered around Leo, Asuka, and Homura as their lights faded and they reverted back to their original forms. They let out a heavy breath before turning to their friends.
"We did it, everyone." Leo said. "The Shredder is finished."
The fourteen teens then let out a loud bellow of celebration. It was the first time any of them let their guard down all day, and it was the perfect time. Splinter emerged from where he was and limped over to the kids. The turtles greeted him with a welcoming hug.
"My sons," Splinter said hugging them all back, "I am so proud of you."
After breaking the hug, the turtles and Hanzo girls turned their heads to the Hebijo girls.
"So what now?" Donnie asked. "We go back to our old lives and constantly compete? You know, us for Hanzo and you for Hebijo?"
"Not really." Homura said. "The truth is, I'm leaving."
"What?" Asuka asked while everyone else gasped.
"You're… leaving?" Leo asked.
"I have no choice." Homura said. "I can't just stay here knowing everything I believed in was just a manipulation. I still believe in Hebijo's teachings, but I just can't stay here any longer."
"But what about your dream?" Leo asked. "Becoming a shinobi?"
Homura smiled at Leo. "Something tells me I already got my start. I don't need some school to be a real shinobi. I can call myself that all I want."
"Well, if that's how you feel," Yomi said, "Then I'm going with you."
"As am I." Hikage said.
"Don't exclude me." Mirai said.
"We're all with you, Homura." Haruka said.
"Girls," Rin said, "You realize that if you do this, you will become renegades. Traitors. You will be hunted down by Hebijo associates, and as a member of this staff, it'll be my duty to hunt you down as well."
"We understand, Master Suzune," Homura said, "And we're taking that risk."
"I see." Rin said. "In that case, you have until Hebijo gets rebuilt to have your head start."
"We're on it. But first…" She looked at the girls and they all nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, Hikage broke from the group and rushed over to Raphael. He didn't have time to stop her before she pressed her lips onto his. Mirai did the same to Michelangelo. Donatello got both Yomi and Haruka to kiss him. Homura gave Leonardo the last kiss. The turtles were left breathless while the Hanzo girls were shocked and appalled.
"HEY!" Asuka yelled. "That's not fair sneaking one like that on Leo!"
"You probably should've stopped me," Homura said with a cocky smile, "Not that you could anyway. We'll settle this later."
The former Hebijo students turned away and vanished in a blink.
"Did… Did they just…" Mikey asked growing a bit of red in his green cheeks.
"Mikey, come on!" Habari pleaded. "Don't get seduced by Mirai!"
"Hibari's right, Michelangelo." Yagyu said. "If you break Hibari's heart, you'll answer to me."
"That goes double for you, Donatello." Ikaruga said with a bashful expression. "Two evil ninja. How appalling."
"I don't mind sharing." Katsuragi said with a smile. "Especially if it means I can get truly intimate with Mirai."
"Really?" Raph asked.
"I'm handsy. It's what I do. Speaking of which…" Katsuragi surprised Asuka by groping her and making her yell.
"CUT IT OUT!" Asuka yelled.
Leo chuckled as he pulled Asuka out of Katsuragi's grip. "It's okay, Asuka. The worst of it is over."
As the teens celebrated, Splinter chuckled proudly. "Who would have thought my sons would become a quartet of ladies' men?" He then turned his attention to Rin. "What about us?"
"You're free to go too." Rin said. "As far as the staff are concerned, this was all a big victory that Hanzo had over Hebijo. Just promise me one thing. When you see Master Kiriya and my old underclassman, Daidoji, tell them I miss them."
"I will." Splinter said. "And thank you."
Splinter returned to his sons and the Hanzo students, and once they all calmed down, they all returned to the Shellraiser where they proceeded to drive back to Hanzo Academy.