- Chapter 65 -
Clash of the Mutanimals
In the weeks preceding the end of Krang's occupation, the Mutanimals had decided to move into one of his old outposts. The one they chose was none other than the old warehouse where the Hamato Clan found the crystals from the Undercity, as well as the vehicle which would become the Turtle Tunneler. As of now, the mutanimals were renovating the place as Leatherhead made sure to gather up every Undercity crystal he could find.
"What're you doing with those things?" Ace asked.
"Yeah, those things seem pretty powerful," Hob remarked. "We could use those around the base."
"These crystals were found by Krang underground, in an attempt to find the Turtles," Leatherhead explained. "They emit a frequency that harms Oracle."
"I remember that…" Slash recalled, wincing at the memory. "She was practically bleeding from every orifice and screaming her lungs out. Raphael was really upset."
Rockwell rubbed his temples, in visible discomfort himself. "I'm afraid she is not the only one affected. Though I have thankfully avoided that more gruesome fate."
"All the more reason to dispose of them," Leatherhead insisted.
"Here, I'll help!" Pete declared, only for Ace to intercept them.
"Let's let the ones with hands do that," the duck mutant insisted.
"Hey, I have hands!" Pete pointed out, holding up his clumsy, three-fingered mitts. Ace just gave him a look, and Pete conceded. "Fine."
Man Ray and Bludgeon examined the old digger tunnel in the corner.
"We could renovate this tunnel here," Man Ray mused. "Put an aquarium tank for the both of us."
"I do miss the tank," Bludgeon confessed. "Having a new one would be nice."
Herman went to an old closet, looking it over. "Hob, sir! This looks like an ideal place to store our weapons."
Hob looked it over, smiling. "Good work, soldier."
Before they could do anything else, the door was suddenly kicked open. Numerous EPF agents swarmed in, all of them flanking a man in his late thirties wearing a black business suit, leather duster, and white undershirt.
"Hey!" Hob snapped. "Doesn't anyone knock anymore?!"
"What is the meaning of this?!" Rockwell demanded.
"Agent John Bishop," the man in black said, showing a badge. "Earth Protection Force."
"The EPF, huh?" Slash shook his head, crossing his arms. "You're a little late. Krang's been gone for weeks."
"Why are you here?" Leatherhead questioned.
"In a nutshell, we're here to clean up what's left of Krang's mess," Bishop replied.
Rockwell's eyes widened in realization. "Including the mutants spawned from his mutagen."
"You're bringing us in?" Ace demanded. "What happened to civil rights?!"
"I believe you mean human rights. Ones you unfortunately lack." Bishop then turned to his men, dismissing the mutants with a wave of his hand. "Take them all."
The EPF pulled stun sticks from their belts, approaching the Mutanimals.
"Seriously?!" Bludgeon objected. "We helped save this city from Krang, and this is the thanks we get?! You ungrateful bastard!"
"I'm just following orders," Bishop responded evenly.
"Here's an order for you," Hob began. "Fuck off!"
He grabbed a loaf of bread and threw it at Bishop. Seeing it, Pete's eyes widened and he charged at Bishop. The man reacted surprisingly quickly, knocking Pete aside with a roundhouse kick.
"Herman, weapons!" Slash ordered. "Hob, Leatherhead, hold these guys back!"
"Resisting will only make things worse for yourselves!" Bishop warned.
"Clearly, you haven't met us," Man Ray retorted.
Hob snagged a weapon from Herman, a pump action shotgun, and took aim at Bishop. "I was wondering when something like this would happen. You were the big anti-alien man... but Krang spanked you and your flunkies. Now the Turtles and us beat him when you couldn't, and you can't take it, can ya?"
Bishop's eyes narrowed, narrowly dodging the shotgun shot. "You're just digging a bigger hole for yourself, freak."
Slash's eyes widened and he glared at Bishop. "Freak?" He began trembling with unbridled rage. " FREAK?! "
He charged Bishop in a rage, only for Bishop to side-step, causing Slash to ram into the wall and knock himself out. Agents swarmed him, disarming him and dragging him off.
"Two down," Bishop said simply.
With his shotgun now out of shells, Hob drew twin handguns from Herman's shell… only for the two to find themselves surrounded by EPF agents wielding hi-tech blasters.
"Stand down or die, cat!" one of them warned.
Herman gulped nervously, and Hob, weighing his chances, dropped his weapons.
"Alright," he conceded. "I know when I'm beat."
Leatherhead slipped into feral mode, roaring as he charged through the many agents trying to apprehend him. Bishop drew a hi-tech pistol and fired two darts into Leatherhead's chest, the darts zapping him with electricity and dropping him.
Bludgeon and Man Ray saw them fall as they grabbed their spear guns. They both went charging at Bishop, only for the agent to dart them as well.
"Don't you know better than to charge a gunman?" he questioned as they dropped.
Seeing he was beaten, Ace dropped his service pistol and was quickly apprehended by EPF agents.
"So, what are you gonna do now?" the duck asked. "Take us to a lab? Cut us up like Krang would do?"
"I just have a few... questions for you," Bishop replied. "Your cooperation will determine your fates."
Much later that day, Hisako stepped out of a cab in front of a building.
"Thanks for the lift," she said, paying the cabbie.
Whistling a small tune, Hisako walked up to the door, giving it a knock. When it swung open after the first knock, her whistling stopped. The place was in shambles, and there was no sign of any of the Mutanimals. Instantly on the offensive, she drew her tessen before slowly pushing the door open the rest of the way.
"Hello?" she called out. "Leatherhead? Slash? Anyone?"
A blue piece of fabric on the ground caught Hisako's eye. She knelt and picked it up, seeing the EPF emblem on it, and realization dawned.
"The EPF…" she said, rage building up. "They did this…"
She began breathing heavily and seething, a green aura surrounding her as the windows slowly cracked. After a minute, Hisako managed to compose herself… before letting out a howl of rage that shattered every window in the warehouse. A few car alarms went off as Hisako stormed out of the warehouse, gripping the armband in her hand. Not even bothering with a taxi this time, she just hopped down the nearest manhole, making a beeline for the lair.
In the lair, the Turtles and Splinter were watching Kagome practice her latest dance routine when the door was thrown open with a violent bang. They jumped, turning to see Hisako standing in the doorway with the purest, most unbridled rage on her face.
"...Sis?" Mikey let out nervously.
Hisako walked in and threw the armband on the table, the force of her hand slamming into the tabletop producing a small quake. "They're gone. All of them."
"Wait," Donnie began. "Are you saying-?"
"Yes," Hisako hissed. "The Earth Protection Force broke into the Mutanimals' headquarters and took all of them!"
"But… why?" Leo questioned.
"I have an idea," Raph said, scowling. "They were the big protectors against aliens, but they lost to Krang. Now we beat that slimy pink blob when they failed... and they just can't take it."
"And they're taking it out on them!" Hisako shouted as she punched the wall, cracking it as another mini quake echoed.
"Hisako, you need to calm down," Donnie warned, reaching out and taking his sister by the arm. "Please, before you bring the whole lair crashing down on our heads."
Hisako took several deep breaths, slowly calming herself down. "Sorry…"
"Stupid, ungrateful G-men," Vee growled. "The Mutanimals helped us save the city!"
"Why would they even do such a thing?!" Kagome demanded. "The city loves all the mutants in the city. If they found out what happened they'd-!" She cut herself off, eyes widening in realization. "Wait. That's it!"
"What's it?" Mikey questioned.
"Mikey, dust off your radio set." Kagome was grinning. "The Sewer Hour is about to completely lambast the EPF!"
In no time at all, Mikey had gotten Robyn in on the plan, taking her and Hisako into the radio room before sitting down.
"Good morning, New York. This is Cowabunga Carl, here to address a very serious topic. Not many of you may know this, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are not the only group of butt-kicking mutant heroes in this town."
"That they are not," Robyn chimed in. "A lesser known group is called the Mighty Mutanimals, an activist group working to protect the rising mutant population from persecution."
"That's right, Robyn, and sad to say, they have now found themselves facing down the same prejudice and persecution that they have worked hard to stop. At some point last night, I learned from a reliable source that the Mutanimals were assaulted in their own home and taken captive. Here to discuss this horrible turn of events is none other than Hamato Hisako of the Hamato Clan."
"Thanks for having me, Carl," Hisako said, her tone somber.
"Anytime. Now, is it true you're a very good friend of one of the Mutanimals? That you discovered their abduction while going to visit them?"
"It's very true, Carl," Hisako answered. "You see, one of the members of the team, a crocodile by the name of Leatherhead, rescued me when I was a child. I know that many look at him and only see a monster, but that couldn't be further from the truth. None of the mutanimals want to hurt anyone. All they want is for mutant-kind to be safe, but now..."
She sniffed, choking up. "Now the Earth Protection Force is rounding them up like criminals."
"Ah yes, the Earth Protection Force," Mikey commented, his tone disapproving. "America's own anti-alien task force... who also failed to stop Krang's occupation and got brainwashed by him, keeping Manhattan isolated from the rest of the world for three months. It seems they're sore the Turtles and Mutanimals succeeded where they failed."
"Took the words right out of my mouth, Carl," Robyn agreed. "This just reeks of a petty power play."
"Whatever their reason, the Mutanimals don't deserve this persecution," Hisako insisted. "They aren't the enemy, and the EPF arrested them for something they had no control or say in."
"The Mutanimals were a big reason why Krang got the boot and the city's back in order, and this is the thanks they get?" Mikey slammed his fist on the table. "Well, I say 'No way, José'! I'm not usually one to start a riot, I leave that one to my big red bro, but today, I'm borrowing his thunder. Help us stand up for innocent mutants. Help us show the EPF that we don't approve of their actions. Mutants are people too, and deserve to be treated as such! Are ya with me?"
He hit a button that began playing some canned cheering. "Then I'll see you all outside of EPF, letting our freak flags fly and rallying behind some of NYC's mutagenic heros!"
From the EPF building, Bishop listened to the radio broadcast with a scowl, two agents flanking him.
"Sir, this is bad," one of them piped up. "It won't be long before we're hit with an angry mob."
"The Turtles are far more clever than we gave them credit for," Bishop mused before turning to the agents. "Double the guards. Make sure nobody gets in or out. If what we've seen and heard of them is true, we can expect a visit from the Hamato Clan very soon."
With that, he stood up and went down to the cell block containing the Mutanimals. Bludgeon and Man Ray were sealed within an aquarium while the others inhabited individual cells. Leatherhead was under heavy restraints, as was Slash. Despite everything, Slash remained calm and collected, facing Bishop with a smug smile.
"Back again, Johnny Boy?" he quipped.
"That's Agent Bishop to you," Bishop retorted.
"Ya think I'm scared of you?" Slash shot back. "When the turtles find out we're gone, they're gonna level this place."
"They did more than that," Bishop answered. "They just outed my actions to all of New York on that radio show of theirs."
Slash smirked, letting out a chuckle. "Which, in a word, means… you're fucked ."
Hob started cackling from his cell. "Oh man, you really fucked up, Bishop! Do you have any idea what those guys get like when friends or family are threatened?" He tapped his prematurely white snout. "I do, and I still get nightmares."
"Oracle will bring this entire building down on top of you," Leatherhead piped up. "If you're lucky."
"But I wouldn't want to be here if you're not," Pete taunted in a singsong voice.
Bishop scowled angrily. "I hold all the cards here, in case you've forgotten. And you're going to tell me what you know about the Turtles."
"Like hell we are," Slash snapped.
"Go on!" Herman declared. "Torture us, you stinkin' rat! All you'll get is name, rank, and favorite cereal!"
"Do you have any idea what I can do to you?" Bishop threatened.
"I endured years of torture at the hands of Krang, Agent Bishop," Leatherhead retorted. "There is nothing you could do to me that could be worse."
"So take your questions, take your threats, take your ugly business suit, and piss off ," Hob hissed.
"Best listen to them, son," Herman added. "You've got a war coming, and you're gonna need one hell of a prayer."
"He's right," said Ace. "The Turtles don't take kindly to people threatening their pals, and now all of New York knows what you did. You're dead meat, Bishop."
Bishop scowled again. "The Turtles haven't faced anything like me or my organization before. And by this time tomorrow, New York City will be mourning their loss!"
With that, he stormed out.
The next morning, just about everyone in New York was picketing in front of the EPF Headquarters, waving signs reading such things as "Mutant Hater" and "Let Them Go". Angry chanting rang through the streets as the protestors gathered outside. Someone had even made a massive, neon green flag with a turtle shell in the center that was split by a DNA strand and was waving it around. On a nearby rooftop, the Hamato siblings and Kagome watched alongside Tai's gang.
"Looks like Mikey's on-air roast worked like a charm," Tai observed. "Everyone in New York is out for the EPF's blood."
"Nice thinking, Kagome," Raph complimented.
Kagome grinned. "A ninja uses all weapons in their arsenal. Including public opinion."
"Yeah," said Erika. "But something tells me the protestors alone aren't gonna get those jarheads to let the Mutanimals go."
"Well, then we do what we usually do," Jade declared. "Break into the place, sneak around, case the joint, find where he's keeping them, then bust them out."
"That's what we were thinking," Leo said.
"We better work quickly," Hisako insisted. "Kara's doing what she can to keep the mob at bay, but they're out for blood." Her fists clenched. "And frankly, so am I."
They dashed along, slipping in through a vent in the back.
-X-
Inside, a silent alarm went off.
"Motion sensor triggered in the southwest vent shaft," an agent reported.
"The Turtles are here," Bishop realized. "You know what to do."
They nodded, and went off to do so.
-X-
As they exited the vent, Hisako stiffened, sensing their approach.
"Incoming!" she whispered urgently.
They ducked to the shadows as two agents entered, brandishing guns.
"We know you're in here, Turtles!" one of them declared.
"Stupid kids," the other scoffed. "We have a little thing called silent alarms. Did you think your tactics against Krang would work against us?"
Leo pulled some shuriken from his belt, aiming them at the lights. The lights suddenly went off, plunging the hall into darkness. The area was filled with the sounds of blows landing for a few minutes before it all went quiet. Eventually, Hisako raised her hand, illuminating the room with a green glow as Jade yanked one of the now hogtied agents up by the collar.
"Okay, buddy. Start talking," she ordered. "Where are you keeping the Mighty Mutanimals?"
"Not gonna talk, Princess," the agent spat.
"Don't need you to," Hisako retorted, shoving her free hand into his head. He whimpered in pain as she sifted around his memories, and eventually, she jerked her hand out, turning to the others. "They're on the level below this one. And... they're not his only prisoners."
"That bastard kidnapped more mutants?!" Erika exclaimed.
"No," Hisako corrected. "They're… other aliens."
"The EPF does defend against aliens," Leo recalled.
"They're also prejudiced," Hisako told him. "Most of them ended up here on accident, and were arrested as hostiles."
"You fucking Nazis…" Jade hissed, glaring down at one of the agents before kicking him in the stomach.
"We defend this planet from the likes of you!" the agent snapped.
"Is that so?" Tai questioned. "Well, which of us lost to Krang and ended up as his meat puppets during the occupation?"
"And which of us actually drove him out of New York?" Hana added.
The agent scoffed. "At least I didn't willingly associate myself with the freaks that sicko created."
Hisako quickly knocked him out. "His next words were not going to be nice."
"We've wasted enough time," Mizuki declared. "Let's save the Mutanimals. And those aliens."
"But where are we gonna hide the aliens?" Makoto questioned.
"TCRI," said Kagome. "It's the best place I can think of."
"We'll worry about that later," Leo insisted. "Let's get them out first."
"First things first." Jade patted down the unconscious agent, taking his ID from his pocket. "This is a government black-ops building. Ten to one says we're gonna need clearance for certain areas."
"Nice call, Jade," Hana complimented.
Jade blushed slightly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Uh… thanks."
"Alright, save the make-out session for later," Raph said bluntly.
Hana's blush practically lit up the room as she glared at Raph. "That's got nothing to do with… I was just... What's that supposed to mean?"
Hisako rolled her eyes. "Let's just go."
They reached the elevator, and Jade scanned in the ID. " ID confirmed: Agent Smith ," a computerized voice declared, and the door opened. They piled into the elevator, which began playing a quiet melody.
"Gotta say, their music choices are better than Mirage Industries'," Erika mused.
"Yeah," Mikey agreed. "That hurt my ears."
They exited into the cellblock, seeing the Mutanimals in their cells.
"Leatherhead!" Hisako shouted.
"Spike!" Raph yelled.
"You guys okay?" Leo asked.
"Better than the last time I was locked up," Hob replied. "No fuckin' scalpels or needles."
Donnie looked over a nearby keypad, checking the ID. "Crap. Agent Smith doesn't have security clearance."
Hisako began glowing and scowling. " I've got your security clearance. "
The cell doors crumbled like paper before being torn off their hinges. Slash and Leatherhead's restraints snapped, and the aquarium broke open, draining the water out and allowing Man Ray and Bludgeon to get out. Hisako dropped her power, winded, but alright, and the Mutanimals exited their cells.
"Thanks for the rescue," Slash said. "Now let's beat it."
"Not yet," Leo insisted. "You're not the only ones Bishop's locked up."
"There are more?" Leatherhead growled, his eyes glazing over.
"Not mutants," Raph clarified. "Aliens they've locked up just 'cause they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Leatherhead was about to explode with rage before Hob put a hand on his shoulder. "Easy there, we're getting them out. Bishop may not be as sick as Krang, but I ain't leaving anyone in his 'care'."
"Bishop?" Leo asked. "That's the ringleader's name?"
"Agent John Bishop," Ace said. "Founder and Leader of the Earth Protection Force."
"He tried to get info about you Turtles from us," Rockwell recalled. "We didn't tell them a thing."
"Yeah! We don't sell out our friends!" Pete declared.
"Good," said Tai. "Now let's go save those aliens."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that."
They all stiffened, and whirled around to see Bishop descending on the elevator.
"Agent Bishop, I presume?" Kagome asked casually.
"Miss Lee, a pleasure to meet you," Bishop said politely. "I must say, it was a clever trick you pulled with Michaelangelo's little broadcast. But you know I can't allow you and your friends to leave this building."
"You kidnapped our friends!" Kagome snapped. "Held them here against their will! After everything they did for New York, this is how you decide to thank them?!"
Bishop scowled, dropping his calm demeanor. "They're illegal, unnatural genetic abominations created by General Krang! As long as they roam free, they're a threat to Earth!"
All of the mutants were furious, and Hisako was beginning to glow again. Ironically, Leatherhead was the one holding her back.
"I'm taking the necessary steps to protect the world," Bishop went on. "It is my duty!"
"No, all you are is the second coming of Hitler!" Jade snapped.
"Yeah!" Hana agreed. "Do you even care that these guys are innocent?! That they're heroes?!"
"And what about the aliens?" Makoto demanded. "Did you even bother to ask them why they came?"
"One of them... the blue girl named Starlee Hambrath," Hisako piped up. "Did you just turn a blind eye to her crying? To the pleas for you to let her go? Did you even care?!"
Leatherhead struggled to hold her back as the building began shaking. Bishop backed up, a mixture of fear and intrigue on his face.
"We're saving every mutant and alien you've captured, Bishop!" Mizuki declared. "And there's nothing you can do to stop us!"
"You know what?" Vee decided. "LH, let her go."
"I agree completely," said Raph. "Whatever Hisako does to this hump of garbage is exactly what he deserves."
Leatherhead obliged and Hisako stalked forward, green light pouring off of her as the shaking intensified…
Outside, Kara was doing crowd control, when they began feeling tremors in the Earth. The chanting began to quiet as the tremors became harder.
"Oh, no…" Kara let out, realizing what was about to happen. "Evacuate the area! All of you, fall back! FALL BACK!"
The protestors immediately fled as Kara grabbed her walkie-talkie. "All units, we need emergency crews now! I repeat, we need emergency crews now!"
Inside, the ninjas and mutants retreated to the alien cellblock as Hisako kept dripping with power.
"C'mon, let's hurry!" Leo insisted.
"Gamarons?" A young female voice piped up. "Here?"
They turned in the direction of the voice, seeing a young alien girl with light blue skin and pointed ears that stuck out under long, dark blue hair. She was wearing a gray jumpsuit with the EPF initials on it, as well as what they could only assume was a prisoner number.
"Mutant turtles from Earth actually," he corrected as he remembered what Hisako had said about a blue girl. "Are you Starlee Hambrath?"
"How did you know my name?" the girl asked in confusion.
"Long story," Tai interrupted. "Do you know how to open the cellblock? Our key is-" The entire hallway shook violently as a large crack formed on the wall. "-occupied."
Slash pushed him aside, cracking his knuckles. "Allow me."
He drew back his fist and punched the cracked wall, which collapsed completely. Starlee climbed through, smiling at her rescuers.
"Thank you…" she said softly.
"Don't mention it," Leo replied.
"But… where do I go now?" Starlee asked. "Bishop will come after me again."
"Don't worry," Leo assured. "We've got somewhere safe you can hide."
Tai came across a slender, dark-skinned humanoid alien in a nearby cell. "Don't worry, Mister… or Mrs.?" He shook his head, knowing this was not the time for debate. "We're here to help."
He pried open the door, and the figure emerged, keeping silent but looking grateful. Leo focused on a cell that had been lined with rubber and insulated glass. With Bludgeon's help, he managed to smash through it, releasing a female looking alien with red skin, yellow tech patterns across her body, and a single lens where a face should be.
"Thank you," the alien replied in an auto-tuned female voice.
As this went on, another tremor rocked the building.
"Leo, we're running out of time!" Hana shouted. "This whole place is gonna go any minute!"
"We need to get Hisako out of here!" Leo insisted.
-X-
Bishop flew back, hitting the wall as Hisako floated over to him, blood running down her face from her nose and eyes. Her teeth were clenched tightly as she spoke.
"Now you know how all those helpless aliens felt when you ganged up on them and locked them up: totally helpless and afraid. Did you get off on that, you piece of shit?! Did you?! DID YOU?!"
Bishop backed up nervously, his back hitting the wall. Hisako grabbed him by the collar and drew back her fist as she focused her power into it. " You call us monsters... but YOU'RE the real monster here! "
With that, she slammed her fist into his face, sending him through four walls in succession. Afterwards, Hisako wavered briefly before collapsing, completely and utterly spent. After a bit, the others came up, seeing her passed out on the ground before looking through the holes to see a beaten and bloody Bishop unconscious on the ground.
"Is he dead?" Leo asked.
Jade shrugged. "Right now, I have a serious case of WGAF."
Makoto raised an eyebrow. "WGAF?"
"Who gives a fuck?" Jade clarified.
Leatherhead gathered up Hisako, gently wiping the blood off of her face. "We should leave while we can."
"I'd say Bishop will think twice before messing with us again," Raph said. "If he ever wakes up, anyway."
"C'mon, we need to get out of here," Leo insisted.
-X-
They slipped out through the vent where they came in. The red alien zipped away through the power lines, while the dark-skinned alien walked off in another direction, secretly smirking to himself. The rest of the group failed to notice, more focused on escape.
"C'mon, Starlee," Leo said. "We'll take you to TCRI."
"You sure I'll be safe there?" Starlee asked.
Leo nodded. "You have my word as a ninja."
They made it to TCRI, where they explained everything to Mortu.
"Of course you're welcome to stay here, Miss Hambrath," Mortu assured her.
"Thank you, sir," Starlee said with a smile. "I can help you out with any projects, if you want. My kind has a lot of brainpower."
"I would welcome the assistance," Mortu replied.
"Can you help Oracle?" Leatherhead asked, holding up a still-unconscious Oracle.
"Yes, of course," Mortu assured. "Samson, please escort Leatherhead to the healing vats."
Samson nodded and did so.
"That Bishop guy…" Leo mused.
"What about him?" Raph asked.
"I'm wondering what could have pushed him to become like that," Leo replied.
"A crazed, xenophobic wack-a-doo with way too much power?" Tai suggested.
"I'm serious, Tai," Leo said. "Nobody just decides to do that overnight. Something drove him to be that way. Even Shredder wasn't born evil; Kitsune drove him down his current path."
"Either way, Hisako bashed him into mincemeat, and his headquarters is trash," Vee pointed out. "I doubt we'll be seeing him again."
A good distance away from the EPF, the dark-skinned alien slipped into the pipe, then smirked before shifting into a more monstrous, reptilian form.
"Much better," he mused. "I must thank those creatures for freeing me. Perhaps once I take this world, I'll make them my generals."
He grinned evilly, staying out of the light of the sun as he went further down.
"Once again, I, the Dread Lord Sh'Okanabo, am free to smite the galaxy as I did in days long past."
In a secluded location near Mirage Industries, Krang, working diligently, had finally managed to rebuild his destroyed exoframe. The end result was patchwork and rather ugly, but functional.
"I cannot believe I am reduced to this," he snarled. "Rebuilding my own exoframe from scrap metal!"
He slipped into the cockpit of his body as he continued to vent. "I was the great General Krang. I conquered hundreds of species over dozens of galaxies. Now look at me! Skulking about in the shadows, hiding in fear from inferior humans!"
Suddenly, he heard the sound of soldiers approaching, and stiffened.
"No…" he let out. "They finally found me!"
"Viral!" a man's voice came. "You can't escape us!"
Krang blinked in surprise at hearing that, and that was when the red tech-like alien the Turtles broke out of the EPF came running in, some strange insulation foam on her to prevent her from escaping into the power lines.
"I'm not going back to that hellhole!" she shouted. "You hear me?! Never!" She looked down at herself, trying to get rid of the foam. "Damn insulation…"
"Seems I'm not the only one having trouble with the humans," Krang mused aloud.
Viral jumped, turning to see him standing in the corner. "You… General Krang?"
"I see my reputation precedes me," Krang said. "Perhaps we can help each other."
"The Earth Protection Force is coming for me," Viral pleaded. "I'll do whatever you wish, if you help me escape them."
At that moment, EPF agents stormed in, glaring at them all.
"Well, what do we have here?" the leader piped up, smirking. "General Krang. You've been on Agent Bishop's hit list for quite a long time."
"You failed to catch me before, and the same will happen here," Krang declared. "I may be down, but I am far from done with this world!"
He ran at them, and began throwing them around. "Pathetic, hairless monkeys! No one can defeat General Krang!"
The sound of a heartbeat monitor reached Bishop's ears, rousing him from unconsciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, finding himself in the medical wing of the EPF building, an oxygen mask on his face and bandages wrapped around his body.
"You're awake."
Bishop turned to see one of the scientists enter, a beautiful woman with long red hair and blue eyes. This was Dr. Sarah Bennett, one of the chief geneticists for the EPF, and his on-again/off-again girlfriend.
"You lost a lot of blood, and had at least fourteen broken bones," she went on.
"I... underestimated... the power they held..." Bishop wheezed. "Especially... that girl…"
"John, save your strength," Sarah said gently. "You're hurt."
"I'll heal," Bishop replied before coughing.
An agent came in, holding a file. "Sir… I have the damage report. The Turtles escaped with a lot of our prisoners... including, well…"
Bishop took the report, and his eyes widened. "No… Viral and Sh'Okanabo are loose?!"
"Unfortunately," the agent replied. "We lost track of Sh'Okanabo, and the unit going after Viral was... they're dead, sir."
"How?" Bishop demanded. "What happened?"
"Viral and the unit we sent after her…" the agent explained, "They came across where Krang has been hiding since the occupation."
"Damn…" Bishop cursed. "So it's safe to assume that he and Viral have combined forces."
He punched the bed in annoyance and rage. "Those stupid Turtles! They have no idea what horrors they've just unleashed on New York!"
Sarah gently pushed him back onto the bed. "Sir, please. You're in no condition to fight."
"Mobilize all units," Bishop ordered the agent. "Search this city high and low until you find them. Nobody in New York is safe while those two are at large."
"And what about the mutants?" the agent questioned. "I don't know about you, but after what that girl did to the headquarters, I don't want to go up against them again."
"Leave them be for now," Bishop instructed. "Viral and Sh'Okanabo are the greater threat."
"Very well, sir," the agent nodded.
"Get some sleep, John," Sarah told him. "I'll let you know if anything changes."
She and the agent departed, and as Bishop dozed off, his thoughts were on Hisako's power.
Author's Note:
Yep! More Fast Forward stuff with Starlee, Sh'Okanabo, and Viral. I'd had those planned out for a while.
As for the character of Sarah Bennett, I decided to create her and have her serve as Bishop's love interest, give him a morality chain. For her appearance, imagine Claire Dearing from Jurassic World.
Voice cast for this chapter:
* Dr. Bennett - Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire Dearing from Jurassic World, Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3, Victoria in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse)
* Starlee - Felecia Angelle (Raynare from High School DxD, Mana Takamiya from Date A Live, Coco from Fairy Tail, Emi Yusa from The Devil is a Part-Timer, Supreme Kai of Time from Dragon Ball Xenoverse)
* Viral - Lori Petty (Livewire from the DCAU, Nightra from Transformers: Robots in Disguise 2015)
* Sh'Okanabo - Neil Kaplan (Madara Uchiha from Naruto, Gorilla Grodd in Justice League Heroes, Tychus from Heroes of the Storm, Genshin in Ninja Gaiden II, Hawkman from Digimon Adventure 02)
* Bishop - Josh Brolin (Thanos from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cable from Deadpool 2, young Agent K from Men in Black III, Lolly Whitehill from Orange is the New Black)
Please R&R. Until next time!