Chapter 8
First Report
Back in the Foot HQ, the Venomous Five and their new member had retreated to their den, and the females were still licking their wounds after having lost to an injured Michelangelo.
Before that, Komodo had just left their report regarding their patrol to Arden, and just as he had told the others, there was nothing to report, hence why the smaller injuries the females had received would have to heal on their own, so as not to draw any attention to their failure. But the snakes were still not happy about it, and Coral was practically seething, especially at the memory of Michelangelo.
"When I get my hands on that turtle, I'll tear off his legs!" she snarled as she massaged her sore muscles. "And that goes for his viper slut, Kate, too!"
The rest of the Venomous Five sat further away, keeping an eye on Coral and listening to her as well.
"Gotta say, she's really starting to sound like one of us." Gila said with a small grin. "Maybe there's hope for her after all."
"Don't get too comfortable with that thought, Gila. There is something about her that doesn't feel right." said Komodo in a low voice. "In fact there is one thing that I don't understand right now. Have anyone of you mentioned the viper's name to her?"
"Nope."
"No."
"Not me."
"Maybe Arden mentioned it?" Nile suggested. "We did report it to him that Christmas, after he was done punishing us."
"Ugh, don't remind me of that night." Cobra complained. "My tongue still feels sore whenever I think of it, even if it's healed."
"But why would master Arden tell her about the viper and not the other mutants?" Komodo mused, holding his chin. "She did ask us about the freaks and their allies, but we never said any names other than for the turtles."
"Maybe she's comparing notes." Mamba suggested.
As the Venomous Five were talking, Coral wasn't able to calm down, quite the opposite, she was so angry that she felt like she was going to explode. She kept walking around on the spot, trying and failing to focus on other things, and as she looked up, she saw her reflection in a nearby mirror, and her glare hardened even more.
All of a sudden, she lashed out, shattering the mirror with a punch, which caught the attention of the other mutants.
"FUCK THAT TURTLE!" she yelled, pulling back her fist, and as she did, blood dripped from it, shards of glass having pierced her flesh.
"I'd better get this fixed." she growled as she picked up the first piece of clothe she could find and wrapped it around her hand. "I'm heading to master Arden's lab for medical attention."
The door had barely had time to close before Mamba sighed in relief.
"Good riddance…"
"Let's hope Arden decides to put her down instead of healing her." Cobra scoffed.
"Don't count on it, Cobra." said Komodo. "I'm sure that Arden will want to keep her around for as long as possible, seeing as she's supposed to be a new kind of mutant."
"Well, I have yet to be impressed." said Mamba, crossing her arms. "She couldn't even catch a handicapped turtle. Wonder how he got hurt in the first place?"
"Yeah, it must have been something big since he had one arm in a sling." Cobra agreed. "Makes me wonder if the other freaks have been hurt too."
"If we're lucky, maybe we will find out next time we hunt." Nile said with a wide smirk, one that the others shared, aside for Komodo. He was too occupied with trying to figure out Coral, since there was something that didn't seem right about her.
Meanwhile, in Arden's lab, the doctor was analysing Coral's injury with a raised eyebrow.
"No mention of injuries were included in Komodo's report, nor did I see this last I saw you. What happened?" he asked.
"It's self-inflicted." Coral responded coldly.
"And why would you do something like that?" Arden inquired, curious about her reasons.
"I needed a reason to go see you, master, so that I could report the truth about tonight. And… I was very frustrated because of it all. Had I not been, I would have waited until I had more to report before telling you."
"I see, so something did happen tonight, despite that Komodo claimed otherwise. Tell me everything."
"We split up from the start. Komodo, Gila and Nile heading one way while I followed Mamba and Cobra. After a while, we caught scent of one of the turtles, the one called Michelangelo, and we managed to corner him."
"So you found your prey, huh? Then what happened?"
"He was alone, and had one arm in a sling, must have been injured at some point, but while Mamba and Cobra held him in a strong grip, they did nothing to incapacitate him, they simply gloated over having captured him.
I told them to stop fooling around, but they wouldn't listen, and then the turtle managed to trick us so he could knock them down and escape. I pursued him, but we crashed into each other mid-jump between buildings, and I took the worst of it when we hit the ground, so he could escape into the sewers before I could do anything.
When I had recovered, and the others arrived, Cobra and Mamba blamed me for the turtle's escape, right before Komodo told us that nothing had happened during our patrol."
Arden stood silent as he processed what he had been told, a deep frown on his face and his hand on his chin.
"This is clearly disloyalty, master. They must be punished." Coral said, breaking Arden out of his thoughts. "While I can understand that they don't want to be punished for their failures, that is never an excuse."
"Indeed it isn't. But it is not yet the time to administer punishment. This was just the first of many missions that you will accompany them on, and while they have betrayed me, it is so far only a minor thing. Granted, it could be the tip of something much larger, but it is too early to say now. Whatever the case, be assured that they will receive the punishment they deserve, all in due time."
"Very well, master. I will continue my mission until then."
"Excellent. You make me so proud, Coral." Arden said with a grisly grin on his scared face. "Now let us take care of your injury. Nurse!"
"Hai doctor!" a female voice replied from the other side of the lab, and shortly thereafter, the medical ninja with long, black hair hurried over to him and Coral. "What do you ask of me?"
"Clean her wounds of all the glass while I prepare some healing serum."
"As you command, sir."
The medical ninja started working at once, carefully removing every piece of glass in Coral's would before cleaning it with some alcohol, which caused the snake to wince, which worried the ninja a bit, fearing that the mutant might lash out at her.
Arden was back before the ninja was even halfway done with her work, holding a syringe with his healing serum in his hand while he waited for her to finish. Once she was done, Arden injected the serum into Coral's arm and the wounds began healing at an astonishing rate, leaving no marks behind. Most of the soreness in Coral's body vanished as well, as the blunt injuries from the fall earlier were healed as well.
"There, good as new." Arden said with a smirk, while Coral flexed her newly healed hand. "Now, Coral, return to the others. There will be more to do for you and the rest of the Venomous Five."
"As you command, master." Coral said and walked towards the exit. Halfway there, however, she stopped and turned around. "Can I make a request, master?"
"A request? What kind of request?" Arden asked with a raised eyebrow.
"When we finally capture the turtles and their friends, I would like to be allowed to personally execute Michelangelo and his girlfriend, Kate, when the time comes."
"I'm afraid that I can't grant you such a request. The turtles have been a thorn in our master Shredder's side for far too long. The honour of killing them is rightfully his. However, you could ask him at that time, and maybe he will grant your wish, especially if you serve him well. As for the viper, I don't believe that should be a problem, once we're don interrogating her, she's all yours."
A sinister and sadistic smile grew on Coral's face at the thought.
"Thank you, master." she said with a bow, then turned to leave the lab.
"She seems to be doing well, sir." the medical ninja said as she was cleaning up.
"Indeed." Arden responded. "And you did well acquiring the DNA necessary for her augmentation. Your actions are very appreciated, and will not be forgotten."
"I am simply doing my part for our master, as are we all."
"Yes… as are we all, indeed..." Arden said, his thoughts trailing off to something else.
Not really sure what to put here right now, I'll just leave it up to you, dear readers, to fill in your own thoughts.
So, see you next time.