This was a request from GuestSpirit, who has noticed the criminal lack of stories featuring the Zebra Brothers, Sparky Black and Sparky White. They had such a wonderful idea, and I am so thankful that they picked me to write it. Sorry for the wait, but life's been happening. Please enjoy and let me know what you think.
This story is set after the series.
Sparky Black and Sparky White could tell this area was special. They recognized the hidden symbols for magic as they passed them, though they couldn't quite read them. It didn't matter though. After Twin Masters' defeat, HighRoller had been seeking a way to gain more power over Big Green. The resistance had to rebuild all of Big Green, which gave them time to come up with a new plan. HighRoller was happy to be back on top, and he very much regretted waking up Twin Masters. They had tried to warn him, but the reasons hadn't seemed as important as pleasing HighRoller. No matter what, it came down to pleasing HighRoller.
"What do you think?" Sparky White asked.
"I think your big nose looks stupid," Sparky Black replied.
"Hey!" Sparky White rubbed his snout with a frown. "At least I don't have bad breath!"
Sparky Black scowled then looked around. "This is a very important area," he said, scanning the right hand symbols. Sparky White pointed at what appeared to be a pile of rocks. They both stopped and trotted over to tap at the stones. The power that coursed through their hooves made them grin.
"Master HighRoller will be pleased," Sparky Black said excitedly.
"Maybe he'll give us some extra candy if we bring him something really big!" Sparky White agreed.
"Ow! Stop it, banana brain!"
They both turned toward Mystique Sonia's voice then grinned at each other. "Or… we could have it destroy First Squad," Sparky Black suggested.
"Yeah, that sounds better," Sparky White said. "Hey! Is it the full moon yet?"
They both pulled out their Ghost Lanterns and gazed at them then up at the beginnings of the moon.
"Not yet," they both sighed. "Tomorrow night."
"Ah well," Sparky Black said, and they tucked the lanterns away into their magic pockets. Those things were very useful, though they couldn't remember how they came to have them.
"Yeah, too bad. Hey, I bet we can get Mighty Ray to blast open that magic shield," Sparky White said, pointing at the mountain of rocks.
"Ha! Yeah, should be easy," Sparky Black agreed.
Tumbling together into their spiral, they rolled away, hiding behind some bushes. They giggled to themselves then settled in to wait in silence. Mystique Sonia and Mighty Ray were going at each other, insulting and arguing.
"Ugh, it's so annoying when people fight like that," Sparky White muttered.
"Yeah, good thing we don't do that," Sparky Black agreed.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
Sparky Black and Sparky White jumped up onto a rock that stood several feet above the ground. "Hey, Big Green losers!" Sparky White teased.
"Bet you can't hit us!" Sparky Black crowed.
"We can take you Zebras any day!" Mighty Ray declared.
"Wait! Use caution," Lin Chung said. His eyes dashed around. "My Harmonic Energy is telling me that there is more here than we're aware of."
"I just see two Zebras who are about to go crying to HighRoller," Mighty Ray sneered.
The two Zebras laughed at Mighty Ray. "Threats mean nothing, banana brain," Sparky Black mocked.
"Not without action behind them," Sparky White agreed.
"I'll show you action!" Mighty Ray shouted, and he grabbed a banana and tossed it in his mouth. "I am Mighty Ray!"
"Mighty Ray!" Lin Chung cautioned, his entire body buzzing with purple energy.
"Fear my eyeballs! Tchau! Tchau!"
The two Zebras were ready for the lightning, and they sprang away and tumbled together to bounce down the pile of giant rocks in their spiral. The lightning blasted away a huge chunk of the rocks, and the Zebras heard nothing in the moment as they landed and separated, but when they turned around, their brains seemed to burst open with thoughts of this is bad, very bad, we took a vow, how could we do this, how could we forget, why did we disturb it? But their thoughts all tumbled together like a waterfall of almost indecipherable noise as for a moment they seemed to see through some kind of sticky cloud around their minds. Neither of them could move as they saw what they had unleashed.
"What is that thing?!" Mighty Ray demanded in horror.
"That," Lin Chung said tightly. "Is a big, big problem."
Before them stood a monster that towered above them. It stretched and shook itself out then opened it's huge mouth and yawned. It's huge orange tongue curled lazily, and the great beast stretched out it's long, slithering limbs. It had two long arms, but it's lower half was a mass of smoke and tangles of what appeared to be living vines. It slithered forward and peered around, then looked directly at Mr. No Hands.
"First Squad! Attack!" Lin Chung exclaimed.
Mighty Ray bounded forward, and one of the arms moved in a blink, catching the hero in a grip so strong that he could barely breathe. His eyeballs strained to stay in their sockets, and he tried to squeeze his eyes shut to keep them in, but they were bulging out too far. "Hey! Help!"
But the beast didn't seem to be interested in him. Though it lifted him to its mouth, it didn't open it. It sniffed him several times then made a disgusted noise in the back of its throat and tossed Mighty Ray aside. He bounced twice then landed in a heap, his eyes crossed with dizziness. "That's right," he slurred. "You don't wanna mess with… me."
Jumpy Ghostface bounded over and grabbed Mighty Ray, shaking him to bring him back to himself. Lin Chung attacked with his bamboo chutes, but they didn't even slow the creature down. It sniffed again then grabbed for Mr. No Hands. Mr. No Hands evaded the grasp, but as he flew down to kick at the thing, he was caught by his ponytail propeller. Before anybody knew what was happening, the Beast opened its mouth and chomped down on Mr. No Hands.
"No!" Lin Chung screeched.
First Squad's panic only lasted a moment. The beast appeared to chew twice then spat out Mr. No Hands onto the grass without a scratch on him. He had a dazed look on his face, and he was absolutely covered in a thick purple goo. Then, to the astonishment of everybody watching, the beast's whole form rippled and a shot of bright blue light burst out around it as a wave of power crested around the creature and it noticeably grew in size. It made a satisfied noise then sniffed again and turned for the Zebra brothers.
"Uh oh," they both moaned.
"This is your fault!" Sparky White snapped.
"No, it's yours!" Sparky Black argued back.
"You always blame me!" Sparky White burst out, and he shoved Sparky Black.
"You always blame me!" Sparky Black snapped.
The ground shook as the creature began to move toward them. The two Zebras stopped arguing and tumbled together to spiral, but they didn't get far. Both hands shot out and, grasping one Zebra in each hand, they were pulled apart then brought up for a cursory sniff. The Zebras both shook in its grasp, and they both tried desperately to remember this creature. It was on the tips of their tongues…
And then they were on the tip of the beast's tongue as it dropped them into its mouth. The Zebras sloshed around for a moment then there was something like a great pressure around them. Their magic pockets burst open, and they automatically snagged their lanterns as something around them crackled like broken glass.
"Goodbye, brother," Sparky Black murmured.
"Love you," Sparky White whispered. "Even if we do fight."
The pressure came around them again, and whatever was crackling shattered. They both screamed as the two ghostly faces on their lanterns flashed brightly before they peeled away from the cloth. The faces floated there for a moment, ethereal and shimmering, before the beast swallowed. Instead of the Zebras going down its throat, the two ghostly faces were swallowed up. Then the Zebras were unceremoniously spat out onto the ground. Covered in viscous purple slime that smelled like an odd combination of incense and fresh cut wood, the two Zebras sat there in a daze and watched as the beast turned its attention to Mystique Sonia as it rippled and grew even bigger.
Lin Chung, Jumpy, and Mighty Ray bounded forward as Sonia backed away. It had no interest in the rabbit or the two men, and it's arms stretched out for her.
"No!" Lin Chung boomed, and his Harmonic Energy filled him to overflowing as his thoughts turned toward protecting his friend.
The Harmonic Energy did what their combined powers couldn't. The beast screeched in agony and reared back, knocking into several trees that leaned ominously under its already great weight. It writhed away from Lin Chung, then turned and fled into the forest.
Lin Chung watched it go warily, knowing that it was dangerous but needing to make sure everybody was okay first. Mr. No Hands still hadn't moved, and he was looking around as if he didn't recognize where they were.
"Mr. No Hands?" Lin Chung asked gently, kneeling beside him. "Are you well?"
Mr. No Hands couldn't answer. He gazed up at Lin Chung and shook his head, trembling.
"We need to get our friend back to Woo the Wise," Lin Chung said. "I don't know what that thing did to him, but we need to make sure he's okay."
"What about those two troublemakers?" Mystique Sonia asked, pointing at the Zebras. They stared at First Squad in the same dazed way that Mr. No Hands did.
"Send them back to HighRoller," Mighty Ray said dismissively. "They always go back."
"Please don't."
The voice was so small, so scared, and Mighty Ray, Jumpy, Mystique Sonia, and Lin Chung all looked over to see the Zebras didn't look like their usual selves. Covered in goo beside them lay their Ghost Lanterns, only they looked different. Lin Chung was sure that there had been faces on the front of both lanterns, but now there were full moons.
"Sorry, couldn't hear you. What was that?" Mighty Ray mocked.
But the Zebras didn't mock him in return.
"Please," Sparky Black whispered.
"We don't want to go back this time," Sparky White said.
"We'll explain everything," Sparky Black promised.
"Just don't send us back," they both pleaded.
Besides Mr. No Hands, First Squad gazed at the two Zebras who had caused them so many headaches, and they saw no sign of trickery this time. In fact, they both seemed to be different in other ways, too. They didn't sound cocky, and their eyes were tired and frightened. They had never been so serious. Except, Lin Chung remembered suddenly, when Sparky White had been captured by Slug King for his animal collection. Sparky Black had begged them to help, and he'd sounded the same then as now, frightened, tired, and desperate for help.
"We need to get back to base," Lin Chung said. "We bring the Zebras. Get the Turtles. I fear they will have trouble walking."
Sparky Black and Sparky White watched as the able members of First Squad called their Turtles and helped Mr. No Hands onto his. The two Zebras were settled on two others, and they still couldn't process what was going on. They only knew they didn't want to go back to HighRoller, to the man who had destroyed their lives and forced them to break their vows again and again and again when they couldn't do a thing about it. Big Green might be able to help them, if they were willing to give them a chance after what they'd done. All they could do was throw themselves on ApeTrully's mercy. There was a comforting thought amidst the fear and trepidation though. ApeTrully actually had mercy, unlike HighRoller. And they needed it now more than ever after what they'd just set free.