- Chapter 25 -

Newtralized!

Hisako struggled against the restraints holding her to the metal slab. All around her, she could hear the sounds of her siblings struggling as well. What really made her shake with fear was the sound of Kagome and April crying, and the sound of a pneumatic door opening up. Straining to lift her head, her eyes went wide as she saw the figment of her nightmares enter the room.

"No…" she let out, quivering with fear.

"Well, well, well," Krang chuckled. "I have been looking forward to this site for a very long time."

"Now that everyone is here, I think it's time to cut some branches from the family tree," Ch'rell decided, picking up a laser scalpel.

The struggles of her family got ever more frantic as the sadistic alien began walking amongst them. He seemed to be coming to a decision, stopping in front of the table containing Splinter. Over the chorus of the children screaming out their father's name, all Hisako could hear was the maniacal laugh of the two aliens at the scalpel was raised in the air.

-X-

Hisako sat up in bed, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her entire room exploded, sending all of her belongings flying in opposite directions. The cacophonous sound of all of them crashing to the ground woke the rest of the lair's tenants. Her door was thrown open as family and friends alike came to her aid. They found her quaking on her bed, her knuckles white as she gripped her sheets, trying to steady her erratic nerves.

"Hisako!" Leo's voice called out first, practically materializing by her side.

"Where's the fire?" April questioned, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

Raph surveyed the damage of her room, letting out a slow whistle. "Christ… Must have been one hell of a nightmare."

Hisako nodded as Donnie gently took her in his arms.

"He had us… H-he had us all. He was... He was standing over Dad and... and he was about to-" She choked, breaking down into sobs. Master Splinter sat down next to her on the bed, taking her from Donnie. Vee looked at the scene, then turned towards the door.

"I'll grab the spare blankets," She offered. "Tonight is a turtle pile night."

"Turtle pile night?" April repeated, watching her leave with a note of confusion.

"It's what we do when she has really bad nightmares," Mikey explained. "We all sleep in one big pile on Hisako's bed. It's about the only way she'll be able to get to sleep."

"With any luck, she'll be okay by morning," Donnie added.

Vee returned with the blankets, passing them out to siblings and to Master Splinter. As the old rat took his, he turned two April with a kind smile.

"Go back with your family, April," He told her. "Hisako is in good hands."

Reluctantly, April turned and returned to the living room where she, Robyn, and her father were staying. She climbed into the bed she was sharing with her sister, watching as Raph closed his sister's door.

Meanwhile…

In a Krang outpost on the outskirts of Manhattan, a door buckled inward. After a few minutes, it was broken down, and out came a big, burly creature resembling a humanoid fire belly newt. Its skin was primarily black, but its underbelly was orange and formed a skull pattern. Within seconds, an alarm sounded and multiple Krangdroids emerged, aiming their blasters at the creature.

"The Salamandrian has escaped!" the Krangdroid in front shouted.

The Salamandrian hissed and pounced on the Krangdroid, yanking the Utrom out of its cockpit. It squirmed in his grasp as the newt stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed it whole.

"Barbarian!" a second Krangdroid screamed.

The Salamandrian turned toward the Krangdroid in question, licking his lips and beginning to advance on him. Almost immediately, the Krangdroid lost all of his bravado and backed up.

"No!" it screamed. "No! Keep away from me!"

The Salamandrian roared and pounced on him, yanking the Utrom out and gulping it down as well before grabbing its blaster.

"You bastards will pay!" he shouted. "Feel the wrath of K'Vathrak of Salamandria!"

He shot his way out of the complex, making it to the surface and into the city.

"Krang and his men will suffer for what they did to me. In ways they can't even imagine, rakka-rakka…"

The next day…

Hisako was seated on the couch in the lair's living room, last night's nightmare leaving her in a nasty mood. She glared at the TV screen, hugging her knees to her chest as the Turtles sat around her. After a few minutes, Kagome and April descended the steps into the lair, having just gotten off school.

"We're back!" Kagome announced.

"And 'Harmony' didn't show up at all today," April remarked. "Guess she split after we found her out."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed before turning to see Hisako on the couch.

"So much for feeling better in the morning," April said, observing the sour expression on Hisako's face.

"Uh, Hisako?" Kagome asked, slowly approaching. "Are you-?"

Hisako sprang up, unbridled fury plastered on her face. "Why are they still ALIVE?!"

Everyone jumped at her sudden outburst, turning towards her.

"Sis?" Vee let out. "What's wrong with you?"

"You know what's fucking wrong with me! The same thing that's been wrong with me my entire fucking life!" She pointed up at the ceiling. "Krang and Ch'rell are still out there, still fucking with innocent people's lives! Hell, our own friends are hiding out down here out of fear of them! And what have we done about it?! NOTHING!"

"Hisako, we're trying our best!" Leo objected.

Hisako whirled on her blue-banded brother, getting in his face. "Oh really? Because to me, it looks like you're sitting on your ass, watching Space Heroes and eating pizza! Look around you, Leo! We haven't done shit!"

She jabbed her finger into Leo's plastron as she continued. "What's it gonna take for you to realize what needs to be done?! When they have Dad strapped to a table with a laser scalpel to his throat?! Is that what it will take for you to finally send those sadistic fuckers to Hell?!"

"Hisako, please!" Leo insisted. "You know what Dad would say! That's not justice! That's vengeance!"

Hisako growled, slamming her fist on the coffee table. "You fucking coward..."

Leo gasped, taken aback by Hisako's fury as she went on.

"This isn't a street brawl with Purple Dragons. This is war! Every day he's alive, more innocent creatures, human and mutant alike, suffer. And that's on you, Leo."

"What?! How is anything Krang does my fault?!"

"Because you keep stopping me! He can't hurt anyone if he's dead. If you'd just let me smash that dick face all those weeks ago, none of this would have happened. April would be back on the surface where she belongs, not cowering down here!" Hisako turned on her heel, making her way toward the exit. "Well, you know what? You can stay down here. I'm not going to let him rule my life. I'm going to find Krang, and do what I should have done a long time ago: end him, and the rest of his shitty race."

"What?!" Leo exclaimed, his shock echoed on the faces of everyone else.

"You just stay down here, watching Space Heroes and stuffing your face with pizza," Hisako replied, not even bothering to turn around as she went. "It's all you've been doing since this mess started, so why stop now?"

"Damn it, Hisako!" Leo shouted, running over to her and grabbing her arm. "I know you're angry, but if you go through with this, you're letting Krang destroy you too!"

Hisako turned to him, her eyes flashing green as Leo was sent flying across the room by a misty whip. He rebounded off the wall hard, sliding to the ground as she snarled at him.

"Don't. Touch me," she hissed at her brother. "I won't let you hold me back anymore."

And with that, she was gone. Everyone stared after her.

"This is bad, isn't it?" Mikey asked.

Leo slumped, sighing as he contemplated Hisako's words. "Maybe she's right. All the pain Krang's caused, the people he's hurt... Am I doing the right thing, talking her into not killing him?"

"Do not think like that, my son," Splinter lightly chastised. "Hisako's mind has been clouded by fear and hatred for far too long."

"This was gonna happen sooner or later," Raph added. "Last night was the boiling point."

"We have all tried to help her control it, but I fear it was not enough," Splinter sighed. "Hisako must not be allowed to go down this path."

"Then what should we do?" Donnie asked. "She won't listen to us."

"I know one person she'll listen to," Mikey announced, pulling out his T-Phone and dialing a number. "Leatherhead, we need help. Hisako's… in a bad place right now."

-X-

Leatherhead sat in the lair, listening as they explained the situation.

"Oracle…" he sighed. "My friend…"

"You're the only one she'll listen to right now," Leo informed him. "She needs you."

"I will do what I can." With that, he made his way out, sniffing around for Hisako.

Not too far away, multiple Krangdroids were taken by surprise when their door was blasted inward. In floated Hisako, her eyes glowing bright green, and an expression of sheer rage on her face.

The terrified Krangdroids immediately began to flee, but Hisako grabbed one telekinetically, yanking it towards her.

"Where is he?" she demanded. "Where's Krang?!"

"I'm not telling you shit, Oracle!" the Krangdroid shouted defiantly.

Hisako scowled, yanking the Utrom out of the cockpit and slamming him onto the ground before raising her foot.

"What are you doing?!" the Utrom exclaimed. "No! You can't do this!"

Hisako placed her foot on the Utrom and slowly applied pressure until it began screaming in fear and pain. "WHERE IS HE?! TELL ME NOW!"

"All right! All right!" the Utrom shouted. "He's got a new weapon coming in. He's going to oversee it, but I don't know where! That's all I know!"

Hisako began to apply more pressure to the Utrom's head. "No, stop! Please, mercy!"

"Remember something else? No? Then you're useless to me!"

She raised her foot, preparing to literally stomp the life out of the terrified brain creature.

"Wait! Wait!" the Utrom cut in. "It's coming in at the harbor! Tonight at midnight!"

Hisako lowered her leg briefly before punting the Utrom into the wall and spitting directly in his face.

"Thanks for the help," she said casually before turning to go.

Just before she exited the building, she slammed her foot on the ground and the entire building shook. As Hisako cleared the building, the entire complex collapsed to the ground.

"One down…" Hisako said to herself, not stopping.

It wasn't long before the destruction of the outpost became the talk of the media. At the lair, the Turtles and Kagome watched the TV in open-mouthed horror as Robyn arrived on the scene, showing the ruins of the building.

"Do you think-?" Mikey began.

"Who else?" Raph replied.

Kagome stood up. "We have to do something! Hisako is out of control!"

"We wouldn't stand a chance," Donnie said somberly.

"Well, we can't just sit here!" Kagome reiterated. "She's gonna level half the city at this rate!"

"She won't listen to us anymore," Vee pointed out. "And if we try to fight her…"

Leo rubbed his shell, which bore a small crack along the back from Hisako's attack.

"So what, we just sit here and hope that Leatherhead can get through to her?!" Kagome demanded. "After what she did to Leo, her own brother, how do we know she won't attack him too?!"

"She won't," Raph insisted. "We have to believe that. I'm sorry Kagome, but it's the truth. There's nothing we can do."

"Just stop, Kagome," Leo cut in.

Kagome sighed in exasperation. "For God's sake, Leo! Us just sitting here and doing nothing! That's the whole reason Hisako's out there on the warpath in the first place! Don't you get it?!"

A dead silence filled the air until it was broken by Vee. "She's right."

"What?" Leo gasped, turning to his sister. "So you agree with what Hisako said?"

"Not entirely," Vee clarified. "I'm not saying we need to go on a warpath. But we're not actively trying to stop Krang. We're just sitting around and waiting for him to enact some crazy scheme, and in the meantime, dozens, maybe hundreds of innocent people pay the price. And now we're just sitting here and doing nothing while our sister is out there destroying herself."

"Yeah..." Mikey remarked, looking down. "We promised her we'd protect her. Keep her safe. And we're not doing that."

"You can sit here if you want, Leo," Kagome declared. "But Hisako needs us, and I'm gonna go out and find her, with or without you."

She left the lair, and Vee and Mikey promptly ran after her. After a minute, Raph sighed, standing up.

"You coming, Don?" he asked.

Donnie looked over at Leo before nodding.

"Right behind you," he said, following Raph out.

Leo looked down at himself, debating for a minute. Finally, he got up and followed them, finding them all in the Shellraiser waiting for him. He got into the driver's seat, letting out a breath. "Let's go find our sister."

Elsewhere, Hisako had found another Krang outpost, but was surprised to see someone had already broken into it and was attacking.

"What the hell?" she wondered aloud, walking inside.

What greeted her was a slew of Krangdroids being slaughtered by a newt-like creature wearing white armor consisting of a belt, a pair of shoulder plates, two straps that connect the belt and shoulder plates, a pair of armored bracelets, a pair of leg holsters with pouches and ammo types attached to them, and a pair of axe blades attached to his tail. Attached to his belt were three Utrom tentacles, prizes from previous battles. Hisako's eyes widened, recognizing the creature from their imprisonment.

"K'Vathrak?" she said in surprise. "Is that you?"

K'Vathrak turned to her, flicking Utrom blood off of his axe-tail.

"Project Oracle," he remarked, approaching her. "It's been a while."

"Good to see you got out."

"Yes," K'Vathrak nodded, "and I will not rest until I hunt down and annihilate every last one of Krang's henchmen and operations."

Hearing this, Hisako smiled.

"Finally, someone who gets it!" she declared, holding out a hand. "Let me help you. I'm done cowering in the shadows. Krang needs to die, no matter what."

K'Vathrak grinned, shaking hands with her.

"I managed to get word on where he'll be," she added as they released each other's hand. "We can take him and his lapdog out."

"Excellent," K'Vathrak said. "Then let's go."

They exited the outpost just as the Shellraiser pulled up.

"Oh, great," Hisako muttered, rolling her eyes. "Now they decide to act."

The Turtles and Kagome piled out.

"Hisako! You have to stop this!" Leo shouted.

"I said I won't let you hold me back anymore, Leo," Hisako snapped. "Go home."

"No!" Leo said firmly. "That building you destroyed earlier. Did you ever think of what might've happened to the humans out on the streets?!"

Hisako's eyes widened briefly. She actually hadn't thought of that.

"Who do you think you are, terrapin?" K'Vathrak demanded, stepping between Hisako and Leo.

"I'm her brother!" Leo snapped. "Who the hell are you?!"

"I am K'Vathrak of Salamandria. Once one of Krang's prisoners myself."

"Eh, that name's a bit hard to pronounce," Mikey remarked, looking the Salamandrian over. "I got it! The Newtralizer!"

"There, you named him," Hisako said firmly. "Now leave. We don't need your help."

"You heard her, turtle boy," the Newtralizer added. "Scram."

"No, I'm not going anywhere!" Leo replied. "Hisako, please. All this damage... you're going to hurt innocents at this rate!"

Hisako looked conflicted for several seconds before the Newtralizer cut in. "Remember our vow, Oracle. Krang dies, no matter the cost."

Hisako's gaze hardened and she straightened up. "Right. Let's go then."

Leo reached out for her. "Sis-"

Hisako's tessen flew mere inches past his head before being recalled.

"Go home, Leo," Hisako ordered, slamming the weapons into their sheathes. "And if you wanna live, stay out of our way!"

With that, she turned and walked away with the Newtralizer, leaving her siblings and Kagome in shock.

"Did…" Leo began, "Did she seriously just threaten to kill me?"

"I think she did," Vee replied.

"Not even I would go that far," Raph remarked.

"She is messed up, you guys!" Mikey exclaimed.

"I hope Leatherhead can get through to her..." Donnie said.

-X-

As it turned out, Leatherhead had finally managed to sniff Hisako out. He emerged from an alleyway not too far ahead, confronting Hisako and the Newtralizer.

"Oracle, there you are!" he said.

"Leatherhead?" Hisako asked.

"The crocodile," the Newtralizer mused. "I remember you."

"K'Vathrak?" Leatherhead asked. "How did you-?"

"It doesn't matter," the Newtralizer replied. "At midnight, Krang is going to be blown to rakka-rakka."

"He's never gonna hurt us again," Hisako declared with a grin. "Isn't that great?"

Leatherhead looked uncertain and Hisako narrowed her eyes at him.

"I thought you of all people would have my back on this. No more hiding. No more fear. No more nightmares. We'll be free!"

"Well, yes..." Leatherhead began, still feeling uncertain. "But-"

"Great!" Hisako cut in. "Glad to have you on board."

Leatherhead sighed, deciding to just go with it for now.

-X-

At midnight, Hisako, the Newtralizer, and Leatherhead scoped out the docks, which were already swarming with Krangdroids. Soon, a large freighter rolled in, a massive metal container inside.

"The weapon has arrived," the Newtralizer said. "You deal with Krang's men, I'll handle it."

"Got it," Hisako nodded. "Ready, LH?"

Leatherhead nodded slowly. "Yes..."

On the opposite side of the docks, the Turtles and Kagome arrived, having been secretly tipped off by Leatherhead. The sextet observed from a distance as the shipping container was opened, revealing a two-story, two-legged battle-mech.

"Holy Chalupa…" Mikey whispered. "It's a mech. A real freaking mech!"

The Newtralizer turned to Hisako and Leatherhead excitedly.

"See that?" he declared. "With that mech, we can level this entire stinking city!"

"Yeah…" Hisako said absently before realizing what he just said. "Wait, what? What do you mean we can level it?"

"Exactly what I said," the Newtralizer replied. "New York City is infested with Krang's ilk. The only way to be sure we destroy them all is to burn it all to the ground."

Hisako gasped, taking a step back in shock. "You can't do that! There are thousands, millions of people living in the city! What's the point of stopping Krang is everyone's dead?!"

"What do I care?" the Newtralizer said flippantly. "I'm not people."

Hisako jabbed her finger into the Newtralizer's chest. "This isn't what we agreed on! I signed on with you to take down Krang, not butcher an entire city full of innocents!"

"It is what you agreed on, Oracle. We destroy Krang at any cost."

"No! There has to be a line, K'Vathrak! Otherwise we're no better than… him…"

Her words trailed off and her eyes widened as she recalled what Leo had said to her before she threw him across the room: "If you go through with this, you're letting Krang destroy you too!"

Hisako facepalmed, shame filling her heart. "Ugh… I'm a fucking idiot."

The Newtralizer hissed in anger. "If what I'm doing makes me a demon, then so be it! Sometimes the only way to fight a monster is to become one yourself! And if you won't do it, I will!"

"No," Hisako said firmly, drawing her tessen and getting into a fighting stance. "I'll stop you, here and now."

The Newtralizer shook his head in disdain. "I thought you would understand, after everything we've suffered! You're as pathetic and weak as those Turtles you call your family!"

"You're wrong, K'Vathrak. Valuing life is not weakness. And disregarding it is not strength!" She kicked the Newtralizer solidly in the chest, knocking him back. "And don't ever, ever insult my family again!"

From their position, the Turtles and Kagome saw Hisako clashing with the Newtralizer.

"Looks like Hisako came back from the brink," Mikey observed, unable to keep the grin off his face.

"Good," Leo remarked. "Okay, here's the plan. Mikey, Raph, and I will help Hisako take the Newtralizer down. Donnie, you, Vee, and Kagome take care of that mech."

The two teams split up to do their missions.

"Hey, lizard boy!" Raph shouted as they ran over.

The Newtralizer turned around just in time to take a solid kick to the face, sending him reeling.

"Raph!" Hisako exclaimed. "You followed me?"

Leatherhead smiled and pulled out his T-Phone, shaking it in his hand slightly.

"Shoulda known," Hisako remarked. "Always looking out for me."

The Newtralizer let out an enraged hiss and raised his arm, sprouting a laser gun from his wrist gauntlet, but Mikey tossed a shuriken into the barrel before he could fire.

"Booyakasha!" the orange turtle shouted.

Before the Newtralizer could do anything else, Leatherhead tackled him, clamping his powerful jaws around his right arm. The Newtralizer punched him a few times with his free hand before Leatherhead's jaws closed and ripped his arm off at the elbow. The Hamato siblings looked on in open-mouthed shock and horror as the Newtralizer screamed in pain and rage.

"Bastard!" he shouted, backing up as purple blood leaked from his stump.

"Holy shit…" Raph muttered, turning a paler shade of green.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Mikey moaned, putting a hand to his mouth.

"It's over, Newtralizer," Leo insisted, swallowing his disgust. "Give up. You're finished."

The Newtralizer backed up to the edge of the pier, scowling all the while. "This is not over. I'll be back!"

With that, he jumped off the edge and into the water. The Hamato siblings and Leatherhead ran to the edge of the pier, looking down.

"Salamandarians are amphibious," Leatherhead remarked. "He could be anywhere by now."

"He's not the priority right now," Leo replied. "Taking out that mech is."

They turned to see Vee, Kagome, and Donnie running at the mech. It took a step forward, but Donnie pulled out a handful of shuriken and threw them at his leg. On contact, the shuriken exploded, staggering the mech and dropping it into a kneeling position.

"And you guys said the explosive shuriken were a stupid idea," Donnie remarked with a smirk.

"I'll never question your inventions again," Vee declared.

"Pat yourself on the back later, Don!" Kagome shouted.

Donnie nodded, and quickly scaled the mech, getting to the cockpit and looking over the control panel. "Don't see an off switch. Guess I'll just have to make one!"

With that, he popped the naginata blade from his staff and stabbed it into the control panel again and again. After multiple stabs, he backflipped out of the cockpit, tossing another explosive shuriken into the cockpit as he did. The mech toppled over, smoking and sparking, and Donnie realized what was about to happen.

"It's gonna blow!" he shouted. "RUN FOR IT!"

They all dashed away, getting to a safe distance just as the mech exploded into a massive fireball. They stopped briefly, looking back at it.

"Talk about going out with a bang," Mikey quipped.

"Let's get outta here before the cops show up," Leo said.

-X-

As they dropped down into the sewers, Hisako looked down in shame and regret.

"Leo… I'm so sorry. I never should have said all of those things. And then I attacked you…"

"Hey, it's alright," Leo assured with a smile. "And you weren't entirely wrong. I could afford to be more active in trying to stop Krang."

"Still, you didn't deserve that," Hisako replied, hugging him tightly. "I'm so sorry, brother."

Leo returned the hug, ruffling her hair. "Don't worry about it. You wised up before it was too late. And we will stop Krang. I promise."

"But we'll do it the right way," Raph added.

Hisako nodded. "Together."

Across town, the Newtralizer had taken refuge in an older, disused part of the sewers. He looked down at the remains of his right arm, which had begun to regenerate into a baby-sized hand. (1)

"That damned crocodile…" he cursed. "But no matter. I will destroy Krang and his ilk. And if those blasted Turtles and Oracle get in my way... they'll die too."

Author's Note:

(1) Actual salamanders and newts can regenerate their limbs when severed, though his hand initially coming back baby-sized is a reference to the Deadpool movie.

Please R&R. Until next time!