- Chapter 70 -

Rise of the Turtle Titan

An early morning at Roosevelt High had Kagome in the gym, running auditions for her dance club. Only a few applicants arrived, most of them clumsy and unsuited for the team, but her attention was grabbed by the final one, a girl around her age with long, straight black hair and reddish-brown eyes, one bang covering her right eye. She wore a dark red shirt and matching pants under a calf-length black coat and simple black boots. Kagome looked her up and down, sensing something familiar about her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Have we met before?"

"I should hope so," the girl replied. "After all, I owe you my life."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "I hear that a lot. You're... gonna have to be more specific."

The girl looked left and right, making sure no one was paying attention before approaching. "My name is Tara. I'm one of the prisoners you and your Gamaron friends rescued from the Earth Protection Force six weeks ago."

For emphasis, she pulled back her hair just enough to reveal the long, pointed ear of a Neutrino. Kagome let out a soft gasp.

"Wait… you're a Neutrino? But you look so…"

"Normal?" Tara offered. "My Master was never a follower of the Neutrino practice of excessive hairstyles. Something I too have come to appreciate."

"Your Master?"

"General Stavros of the Neutrino Honor Guard. I hope you get the chance to meet him soon."

Kagome nodded. "I don't mean to be rude, but... what are you doing on Earth? Shouldn't you be in Dimension X?"

"I came here on a mission for the General. One I am finally able to complete now that I am no longer a prisoner."

"And that mission is?"

"A story for another time. For now, I believe I have a dance audition."

"Right," Kagome remembered, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "With how graceful the Neutrinos naturally are, I have no doubt I'm about to witness something amazing."

"You flatter me."

Sometime later, Tara and Kagome exited the gym, Tara holding a folded-up white-and-blue T-shirt, gray sweatpants with yellow trim, and a blue and yellow cap with "Roose Divas" embroidered on it.

"That was some of the best dancing I've ever seen in my life, Tara," Kagome said with a smile. "Welcome to the Roose Divas."

"I look forward to it," Tara replied. "It will be an interesting hobby to keep me occupied."

"Honestly, considering you're a warrior, I'm surprised you didn't try out for one of the sports teams, like fencing."

"I considered the idea, but it's too risky. When in battle, I instinctively tap into the Link."

Kagome tilted her head quizzically. "The Link?"

"You do not know of the Link? I was under the impression that you had been acquainted with my people."

Kagome shrugged. "We've only really fought with them once, before Krang's invasion."

"I see. Then allow me to explain." Tara cleared her throat. "The Link is a bond shared by every living Neutrino. It allows us to share our experiences, our skills, and our power. Of course, to use those skills and powers properly, the body must be trained, otherwise, they cannot be used to their full potential."

"So... the Neutrino operate on a hive mind?"

"Yes and no. We have our own individual minds and personalities. It's more like a psychic link. A symbiotic relationship. It is not active all the time with us. We must let the connection flow through us, and when we do…"

She took a deep breath as her eyes began to glow a light blue color, so light it was almost white.

"Oh, wow…" Kagome gasped.

Tara blinked again, her eyes returning to normal. "Now you see why I chose not to follow the warrior's path this time. Part of my cover is that I'm just an ordinary high school student. You may be able to operate in the open, but me... not so much. Not without getting Bishop's men on my tail again."

Kagome nodded in understanding. However, before their conversation could continue, they heard a yelp from just down the hall.

"Tanner, be careful!" someone shouted just as something crashed with a rather loud cacophony of noise.

"Oh, boy…" Kagome sighed.

Tara and Kagome rushed towards the noise, finding Ximena helping a large African-American boy gather up scattered pieces of machinery from off the floor.

"Honestly Tanner, how can you trip on your own feet?" Ximena asked, exasperated.

"Couldn't see over the boxes…" Tanner sighed,

Tara turned to Kagome. "Who is that boy?"

"Tanner Gray," Kagome replied. "Captain of the robotics club, and ace in shop class."

"Also one of the clumsiest boys in school," Ximena sighed.

"Sorry…"

Ximena elbowed him playfully. "I'm just messing with you, Tan."

"Here, let me help," Tara offered before bending down and starting to gather the fallen materials.

"Why are you both here so early?" Kagome asked. "I thought the robotics club didn't meet til after school."

"Had to cancel," Tanner replied. "My dad doesn't want me out late right now."

"My mom's the same way," Ximena remarked. "All because of this 'Dr. Malignus' whackbag."

That got Kagome's attention. "Doctor who now?"

"Some new loon," Ximena explained. "Apparently, he's using Krang tech to be a supervillain."

"He's causing a lot of trouble and attacking without warning," Tanner added. "I've already told the club to stay home and we could facetime. I just needed to gather up our equipment to divvy up."

"And I just happened to be early," Ximena said. "The life of a latch-key kid of a single mom."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw Tara staring at Ximena, apparently lost in thought before speaking up.

"You mind if I keep you company?" the Neutrino asked.

"Huh?" Ximena perked. "Oh, yeah. Sure. I'm Ximena by the way, but if that's too hard, you can just call me X."

"It's nice to meet you, Ximena," Tara shook her hand. "My name's Tara."

The two walked off as Tanner gathered his boxes up.

"Is it just me, or does Tara know Ximena?" he asked.

"Seems that way, but I don't know," Kagome looked over the stack of boxes. "You need any help with those?"

"No thanks, I'm okay. See you in class."

He headed off with the boxes, leaving Kagome to think over what she had heard about this Dr. Malignus.

That afternoon, Kagome, April, and Casey headed down to the lair to find the Hamato siblings scattered around the living room doing various activities. Hisako was watching a baseball game on the TV intently, practically on the edge of her seat, before throwing up her hands in anger and exasperation.

"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed. "He was out! Clean your glasses, Grandpa!"

"Yeesh, Hisako. no need to get all worked up," April said. "It's just a game."

The Turtles all froze.

"Uh-oh…" Mikey gasped.

Hisako stiffened, slowly turning around to face April with a look that could kill.

" Just ... a game?" she let out incredulously. "Did you seriously just insult this country's national pastime? This is baseball, April!"

April blinked. "I thought you were culturally Japanese?"

"I am also a New Yorker, and I will not have you insult the Yankees! And by the way, I'll have you know that baseball is just as big in Japan as it is here, so shut up and let me watch!"

April held up her hands and backed away. "Yikes…"

"I never knew Hisako was a baseball fan," Karai remarked.

"One of the first movies she ever watched with us was The Sandlot ," Leo explained. "Mikey's idea."

"Then we watched a Yankees game," Mikey added. "And she's been hooked ever since."

"Why not the Mets?" Casey asked, only to get a thrown couch cushion to the face.

"Boooooo." Hisako jeered.

"The Yankees were her first, and they'll be her favorite forever," Raph said.

"She actually has a Yankees jersey Kasumi got her for her Discovery Day one year," Donnie recalled.

Hisako beamed happily. "Best nightgown ever."

"Jeez, if you love them so much, why not have Kasumi buy the team itself?" April said sarcastically.

"Funny story," Vee replied. "We jokingly suggested Hisako do exactly that. That was... during a time she didn't really get sarcasm."

"I remember that!" Kagome exclaimed. "She asked Kasumi to get them for her Discovery Day, and Kasumi explained how the Yankees belonged to the entire city, and how a real fan wouldn't want to take them from the people who care for them."

"So I got the jersey instead," Hisako remarked.

Karai blinked. "I'm more surprised she actually asked for the team in the first place."

"I was eleven, Karai," Hisako told her. "An eleven-year-old with no concept of normalcy. Heck, I still don't have a concept of normal."

"Speaking of not normal, I heard something at school today," Kagome cut in, taking a seat on the couch. "People have been talking about some new crook calling himself Dr. Malignus. Apparently, he got ahold of leftover Krang tech and decided to go the criminal route."

Everyone's faces fell.

"Great…" Raph sighed. "More wackos with tech they have no business having. You really dropped the ball, Donnie."

"I am well aware of that, Raphael," Donnie snapped.

"Enough." Leo pinched the bridge of his nose. "What's done is done. Right now, this Dr. Malignus needs to be dealt with."

"Can it wait til after the game?" Hisako asked. "It's the ninth inning, the bases are loaded, and-"

"Now, please," Leo told her.

Hisako sighed, picking up the remote. "Well, I suppose I'll get it on catch-up then…"

"There we go," Leo nodded. "Now let's move."

The team made their way out into the city, searching for any sign of Malignus.

"According to the news, reports of Malignus show that he's in a rather crude exo-suit," Donnie reported, looking over his phone. "Something cobbled together with Krang tech and house appliances."

"Still, we shouldn't underestimate him," Leo said. "Krang tech is dangerous in anyone's hands."

"Yeah, just ask Donnie," Mikey quipped, getting a "Hey!" from his brother.

Just then, an alarm went off, getting their attention. Everyone turned, and Midnight started growling.

"Sounds like someone's breaking into the local Best Buy," Vee mused.

"Let's move, people!" Leo declared.

They hurried to the site, seeing several people getting in and out of the broken window of Best Buy, loading various appliances and electronics into a van. Two things struck them as off: the people in question seemed to be average civilians, with no masks or anything, and they all seemed to be in some form of trance.

"Okay, that's not normal," Leo mused.

"No, it's not," Hisako replied. "Remember the static I picked up from those EPF guys during the invasion?"

"You're getting it from these saps too, aincha?" Raph asked, getting a nod.

"So I guess that means Dr. Malignus got his hands on Krang mind control devices," Kagome mused.

"Take 'em out," Leo ordered. "But don't hurt 'em too bad."

As one of the brainwashed men walked forward, a strange green disk flew out, tripping him up.

"What in the-?" Vee managed.

The man got back up on his feet, only for someone to land next to them. They were pinned to the ground, and the Krang device was plucked from their neck. As the figure straightened up, it revealed a rather muscular man, one dressed in a black suit with a yellow chest plate on the front accented with an orange T and a belt. There was also a massive green dome across their back, like a shell, and their face was obscured by a black cowl with its own orange T. The sight of the figure left all of them staring. Mikey even rubbed his eyes.

"Anyone else see what I see?" he asked.

"Some guy wearing a superhero suit with a turtle theme?" Kagome offered.

The other men turned towards this figure, attempting to fight him. The turtle-themed hero blocked and evaded each of them, carefully avoiding hurting them. Each time he could, he removed the mind control chips from their necks.

"Whoa…" Mikey let out. "He's good."

"Who is this guy?" Raph questioned.

"Only one way to find out," Donnie mused.

They all jumped off the roof, just as the hero disarmed the last of the men. He lowered them all to the ground, then stopped when he heard the Turtles approaching.

"Who goes there?" he asked, speaking in a deep, almost animalistic growl.

"Easy there," Leo held up his hands as he approached.

"Wait…" the figure perked. "You… you're the Ninja Turtles. I-"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by a rather nasty cough. They all cringed a bit, knowing exactly why he was coughing like that.

"Yeah, good rule of thumb," Raph interjected. "The Christian Bale Batman voice sounds cool, but it is murder on your throat." He smirked and switched over to a voice with a thick Brooklyn accent. "Try using an accent instead. Throws people off and a lot easier on the pipes."

Despite the situation, Hisako stifled a snort at her brother's voice. The hero finished coughing, genuinely taking Raph's advice. When he spoke again, he had his own thick Brooklyn accent.

"Like this?"

Hisako snorted again as Leo nodded. "A bit better. Now, mind introducing yourself? You have us at a bit of a disadvantage identity-wise."

"Right, of course." The hero straightened up. "You can call me the Turtle Titan."

Mikey had stars in his eyes, squealing slightly as he hopped on his toes. "That. Is. AWESOME! I always told myself that if I became a superhero, I would so call myself the Turtle Titan!"

"You actually inspired me, to be honest. But that's not important right now."

"Right, the robbery and the mind control chips." Donnie bent down, picking up one of them. "They've been tampered with, but they're definitely Krang tech."

"Seems to fit with what we've heard about this Malignus guy," Kagome mused.

"Then you're on this case too. Should have expected that after the look you had in the-" The Titan slapped a hand over his mouth, cringing.

Kagome blinked. "Uh… what?"

"I mean that you look like someone who would... Um…"

"He's a student at Roosevelt High," Hisako reported, hearing his thoughts. "And he purposely dropped the Malignus hint so we would learn about it."

The Titan stiffened, realizing he had been made as Kagome put it together.

"Wait… Tanner? Tanner Gray?"

Tanner lunged forward, clapping a hand over her mouth and shushing her. "Just... keep it to yourself, okay? It's a secret identity for a reason."

"It's rather hard to keep secrets from a psychic, Tanner." A shadow fell over them as they looked up, seeing a man gently floating down to join them. "Besides, if there's anyone we can trust, it's them."

What touched down was a tall, well-built African-American man in a silver costume with gray highlights and trim with a matching cape and a blue eagle insignia on the chest. Hisako perked, realizing who he was immediately.

"Sebastian!" She ran over and hugged him, the man returning the hug in kind.

"When in uniform, I go by the Silver Sentry."

"The Silver Sentry?!" Mikey hopped up and down excitedly. "I heard about you! The big Superman who's been going around helping people in third-world countries and the like!"

"Mostly wherever I find a Krang outpost."

"Wait a sec…" Vee perked in realization. "Isn't he the guy we broke out of Mirage Industries?"

"He's also my dad," the Titan chimed in. "You saved him, brought him back to me and Mom... so I got the idea to make this suit."

"Malignus is his case," the Sentry explained. "I'm merely acting as a shadow, just in case."

"Makes sense," Hisako mused. "Like how Dad would secretly follow us on patrols for the first week we were doing them."

"Wait, he did what now?" Leo asked before shaking his head. "Nope, not important right now. So, Malignus. He's apparently been brainwashing people to loot places for him. Question is, for what?"

"I'm not sure, honestly," the Titan replied. "He doesn't have any set pattern I can see. Last week it was a bank. Then the time before that it was a furniture store. And before that, it was a car dealership."

"Hold up…" Raph perked. "A car, furniture, a bank, now an electronics…"

He opened the back of the van. There was a massive TV, a sound system, an entire rack of DVDs, a Blu-ray player, and a rather high-end PC and laptop.

"Seriously?" Mikey let out. "This guy's using Krang tech to steal stuff for a man cave?"

"How did I not notice…" the Titan mused.

"You were trying to find a pattern where you should have been looking at what was taken," Leo explained. "Were there any other targets?"

"Just one. An office building."

"Office building…" Kagome perked. "Holy crap!"

Everyone turned to her.

"Last month there was a break-in at one of my mom's offices. For some reason, the only thing stolen was the copiers."

"Copiers?" Donnie shook his head. "Krang's tech, being used by a petty, two-bit thief."

"Better that than the alternative," Hisako mused.

"We should go talk to my mom," Kagome decided. "If her office was the first-ever incident, then maybe this Dr. Malignus is tied with Kohaku Enterprises somehow."

Leo turned to the Titan. "Your case, and we're after the same thing here. You're more than welcome to come along."

The Titan smiled. "I welcome the chance."

"I hope you don't mind if I come as well," the Sentry chimed in. "I'm eager to meet the mother of the ones I owe my life to."

After a quick ride on the Shellraiser, the group found themselves at Kohaku Enterprises. Kagome led them to Kasumi's office, knocking on her door.

"Hey, Mom," she greeted. "You got a minute?"

Kasumi looked up from her desk. "Of course. As long as that minute doesn't involve me being up to my eyes in paperwork."

"It shouldn't, no. But we have some people who would like to talk to you."

The Silver Sentry and the Turtle Titan stepped in. Kasumi looked at them for a moment before smiling.

"I take it you are friends of my children?"

"They saved me from Mirage Industries, and my son goes to school with your daughter," Sebastian replied.

"Ah, Mr. Grey," Kasumi nodded. "Hisako told me about you. Your survival meant the world to her."

Hisako blushed. "Kasumi…"

"I owe her a lot," Sebastian said.

"From the looks of you, you are making the most of your second chance at life."

"Mom, this is kind of important," Kagome told her.

"Right." Kasumi snapped to attention. "How can I help you?"

"The office break-in last month," the Titan told her. "We were hoping you could provide more information. I have reason to believe it ties into a case I've been working on for a while."

"Well, let me see if I can find the incident report." Kasumi began rifling through the file cabinet. "Honestly, I had so many issues with that office. Mostly with one of the coders working for me."

"What's his name?" Leo questioned.

"Malcolm Andrews. He was one of my first workers. He's an excellent coder and was good at his job, but his attitude was a major issue. He believed he was above his peers, so I could never in good conscience promote him. I actually ended up firing him a little over a month ago after he threw a fit and broke one of the copiers."

"The timelines add up," Donnie noted. "Why exactly did he throw a fit?"

"He took issue with my refusal to even try to acquire any of Krang's technology. He went on about how we could allegedly change the world with it. He focused particularly on military applications."

"You don't do military contracts," Kagome pointed out.

"No, I do not. Especially after what happened with the EPF."

"So wait…" Mikey tried to understand. "You fired him, and his big revenge plot was stealing your copiers?"

"I took the repair costs out of his final paycheck," Kasumi clarified.

Vee rolled her eyes. "That is so small-time. Why not do anything like come after the big boss?"

"Please," Raph scoffed. "Who'd be stupid enough to try to attack Kasumi freakin' Lee?"

As if on cue, the window was smashed, raining glass on everyone. Silver Sentry shielded the teens as Turtle Titan used the shell on his back as a shield and Kasumi dove under her desk. As the glass stopped raining, she peeked up, giving Raph a deadpan look.

"Raphael, you know this is your fault for saying that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Raph replied.

Through the now broken window, floating in on a crude hoverboard, was a man they quickly realized was Dr. Malignus. His suit looked to be a patchwork of Krang plating attached to an old wetsuit, complete with an elongated helmet and face mask.

"Kasumi Lee," he greeted. "We meet again."

"That's Dr. Malignus?" Mikey scoffed. "And I thought the homemade onesie in Spider-Man: Homecoming was a cheap costume."

All of them snickered at that.

"You would be wise to watch your tongue, boy," Malignus hissed.

"Or what?" Mikey jeered, only to yelp and duck into his shell to avoid a blaster shot from a wrist laser.

"Are we supposed to be scared of you?" Leo taunted. "For all the fancy tech, you're just a common, two-bit thief."

"I'm just getting what's owed to me after all my years of service here." He glared at Kasumi. "I worked hard every day for your company for sixteen years with nothing to show for it, while you had your riches handed to you on a silver platter. Not once did you give me the raise or promotion I rightfully deserved, Kasumi, or show an ounce of appreciation for my genius. You just stood atop it and called yourself a giant!"

Kasumi glared right back at Malignus, coming out from under her desk. "First of all, nothing was handed to me. I worked hard every day to get this company where it is today. Second of all, you were a narcissistic man who took any ounce of power and abused it. Most damningly, when you were counseled for your actions, you refused to accept blame or criticism of any sort. Honestly, I should have fired you a long time ago. Though your suggestion to sell Krang's technology to the military certainly helped me make that decision."

"We could have made a fortune on military contracts! Do you have any idea how much money Masamune Industries is making with its contracts for the salvage?!

Kasumi shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I've seen the kind of damage Krang's weaponry can cause. It could destroy the world if placed in the wrong hands."

"So you remain as naive and foolish as ever. If that's the case…" Malignus threw something at Kasumi's forehead. "Let me change your mind!"

Much to his surprise, Kasumi casually leaned to the side, avoiding it. He threw a few more, only for Kasumi to easily dodge with the barest possible movement.

"Perhaps you should work on your aim," she suggested.

The Titan blinked before sighing. "I cannot believe I spent weeks agonizing over if I would be good enough to fight this guy…"

"It's alright, son," the Sentry patted his shoulder. "You'll find a proper villain to face one day."

"Your case, Titan," Kagome said. "Care to do the honors?"

He approached Malignus, grabbing him and yanking him off of his hover pad.

"Hey! Let go of me!" He aimed his laser at Titan's face, only to get the laser squished by Sentry.

"Yeah, I don't think so,"

"This isn't happening!" Malignus screamed. "I have Krang's weapons and technology!"

"And you're too dumb to know how to use them properly," Donnie deadpanned.

"As Dad always says, 'a weapon is only as good as the hand that wields it'," Mikey added.

As he was tied up, Malignus just chuckled.

"You may when this time, but it isn't over. You haven't heard the last of Dr. Malignus!"

He laughed evilly, which was cut off by an utterly bored Hisako chopping him in the side of the neck and knocking him out cold.

"Yeah, if I wanted a campy villain speech, I'd watch Justice Force with Mikey." She then turned to her family. "Speaking of watching, can we go home now? I wanna catch up on the ninth inning!"

Everyone shared a laugh at that as the heroes took off with their prey. Before they left, Donnie caught Titan's arm.

"Hold up. Take this." He tossed him a spare Shell Cell. "In case you need help with another case."

"I'll keep that in mind," Titan promised as he tucked the phone into his belt. "Thanks."

Everyone left as Kasumi looked around her now empty office.

"...I wonder if I can use the break-in as an excuse not to finish my paperwork."

Author's Note:

Yeah, Malignus' defeat was a bit sappy, but he is a novice villain. He'll get better as time goes on.

Tanner and Tara are my OCs, the former developed with help from Author of the Insane. And the bit about the Neutrino's having a Link was her idea as well.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Tara - Jessica Nigri (Cinder Fall from RWBY, Sonico in Super Sonico: The Animation)

* Tanner - Rickey D'Shon Collins (Tucker Foley from Danny Phantom, Vince LaSalle from Recess)

* Malignus - Sean Donnellan (Lex Luthor in Injustice and Young Justice, Elongated Man in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Ben 10,000 in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien)

Please R&R. Until next time!