A/N: The reason why I'm posting this in the main forum instead of a snippet thread like an asshole is because of several reasons. First of which is that it's kinda long. And I do have some beginnings of an idea for a part 2. Mainly because I wanna see the Foot v. the League of Shadows. And if we ever get to that part, then I'll probably round it out with a final, third part. But going back to my main point, it's entirely possible that this one-shot does not become a three-shot. And it's entirely possible that it does become a three-shot. I just don't want to be tied to any obligations, but the future is always unwritten. So, who knows. And special thanks to the lovely @Ziel for betaing/editing this.
On the Edge of the Eclipse (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, IDW x Young Justice: Invasion)
It wasn't often the ninja turtles were stranded in a different dimension, but they were quickly becoming experts in the matter.
"Freaking teleporters," Raphael said, loudly. He leaned against the sewer wall. His red bandana was off, hanging loosely around his neck.
Donatello grumbled something back. He was currently head-deep in a mess of electronics. He pulled away, looking up at his brother. His purple bandanna was covered by a bulky, specialized pair of googles that aided him in his tinkering.
"It was
not my fault," he replied.
"Yeah, sure," Raphael drawled.
"Dimension-traveling is stable most of the time, but who could have predicted that the dimensions went out of sync? It was like an unexpected eclipse on a bright afternoon day."
"If you say so."
"
Enough," a voice declared.
Leonardo stepped into the room, sheathing his two swords on his back.
"Done training?" Raph asked.
"Yeah, it's important. We've neglected it too much. You should do some training too."
"I have to disagree, Leo," Donnie interjected. "I should be able to cobble up a teleporter in a day or so."
Leo frowned, idly tapping a large, green finger on his thigh. "Didn't you say that the dimensions went out of sync? Would we have to wait further?"
Donnie hesitated. "Maybe. I won't be able to get any readings until the teleporter is done. But… to be honest, the prospects don't seem prodigious in our favor."
Raph threw his hands in the air. "This is going too slow for me. Might as well take up Leo's advice. I'll be training if you need me."
"If you start training," an energetic voice called out, "Then you get to miss out on some pizza!"
A wave of excitement enveloped them, as Michelangelo whirled into the room, carrying several boxes of pizzas.
He plopped them onto the makeshift table, causing the sheet of wood to wobble on the concrete blocks.
Being stranded in an alternate dimension did work up an appetite. Raph was the first one to get a slice, securing his position with a decisive shoulder check at Donnie. Donnie grumbled, but ensured that Raph wouldn't be able to have any second servings. He already knew how much Leo and Mikey would consume. So, he scooped up a sizable quantity of pizza to tide him over while he worked.
Mikey was poised over the remaining slices, six fingers waggling in a menacing fashion. He stopped, looking up at Leo.
"Gonna have some, bro?"
Leo let loose a small smile. "In a minute. Where did you get the pizza?"
"Got lucky," Mikey said, taking a large chunk of the pizza. "There was, like, a huge abandoned-looking party. Didn't know where they went, but I took the pizza. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, right?"
Leo had to sigh, ceding his reluctance and partaking in the pizza. "Something just feels off."
Mikey hummed, slurping up his slice. "Perhaps. Though I thought you'd be mad that I snuck out to get some chow."
Taking a contemplative swallow, Leo said, "Casey and Angel could have handled it. You should have at least had some back-up. I know those two can handle themselves and they have Alopex as backup."
Mikey raised both his hands. "Got the point, bro. Don't go out alone."
Leo stared at the discarded exo-suit that Angel used as the vigilante Nobody. Being mutants, the turtles couldn't exactly do a walkabout in the daylight. Even as night neared, they couldn't risk fighting in the daylight. It was a bridge that couldn't be uncrossed.
Mikey picked up on Leo's mood, hopping up to his brother and slinging an arm around Leo.
"Don't worry. Casey might not have all that sport junk, but Raph lent him one of his sais.
Sai? However you say it." He paused, looking over to the exo suit. Then he dramatically pointed his slice at the exo-suit. "That gizmo can handle lotsa situations."
Leo's eyes drifted back over the suit, seeing that the gauntlets were gone. Donnie did help out with the suit now and again. They did upgrade it somewhat, last time he checked.
His nerves would settle once the three came back.
XXX
Casey kicked a can, watching it launch through the air and land in an open dumpster.
He pumped his arms into the air, turning around and walking backwards to bask in his companion's flat gaze.
"He shoots, he scores!"
Angel gave him a flat look, tossing her purple streaked hair back over her shoulder. "How impressive."
Casey grinned, turning back around to match her pace. "You're just jealous. I always did kick your butt at street hockey when we were kids."
Angel started to pull her hand to punch his shoulder, but shoved them back in. So far, this dimension was now normal. Best not to stick out and draw attention. The people here might turn out to eat brains or something equally weird.
Casey looked her way. "First time in a different dimension?"
Angel shrugged. "Unless you count that time Alopex and me got eaten by a toadzilla and ended up at some weird party den by one of those
Pantheon freaks, then no."
Casey could faintly hear a chuffing sound above them; Alopex's attempt at suppressing a laugh.
"Well," he started, "At least it wasn't as bad as my first time. I got possessed by a ghost and the turtles had to team up with a bunch of Ghostbusters."
Angel had to chuckle at the absurdity of it all, only pausing to take in the silence. Her heart raced.
"Alopex?" she called out.
Casey tensed up, one hand reaching into his jacket for Raph's sai and another to lower his hockey mask down.
"Alopex!" Angel called again, desperation tinging her words. Emptiness answered. She gritted her teeth. "Damn, damn!"
Speeding into a nearby alley, Casey leapt at the fire escape while Angel shrugged up her sleeves, revealing armored gauntlets with purple plating. Utilizing the gravity manipulation aspect, she managed to fling herself on the rooftop. The impact winded her, scraping her skin as she tumbled.
So much easier with the suit, she thought.
Angel scrambled back up, seeing a figure carry Alopex away. She saw the tell-tale sign of white fur from the mutated arctic fox and it was quickly fading from view. She snarled, breaking into a sprint and hopping after them. It was clear that she wasn't gonna catch up.
Glancing behind her, she saw Casey emerge onto the rooftop.
Neither would Casey.
Angel held back her swears, saving her breath. They had been sent out because they could afford to interact with the population at large during this dying day. But they had to go without heavy firepower.
From what they learned about this world, it was best they didn't attract any attention.
And they might lose Alopex because of this.
A burst of anger drove her, muscles screaming and blood pumping. She surged forward, leaping onto the elevated edge of the building.
She braced her right arm and took aim. No targeting systems, no assisted aid,
only her. Angel had to be the one that made the suit mean something. She had to make the moniker,
Nobody, be worthwhile.
She closed her left eye, honing down the world to the bare essentials. A breath was drawn, tense as a bowstring, and then it was let loose with an exhale.
The gauntlet fired a tracer and Angel's tail twitched a few seconds later. Her posture shook, tension draining. She struck true.
Casey stopped beside her. "We stopping?"
"Yeah." Angel squeezed her fists. "I got a bead on her. It's time to go get the turtles."
XXX
Raph slammed a fist into the brickwork when he heard the news. Casey placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll get her back, Raph."
Raph punched the wall again. "Where does it stop, Casey? We got Alopex after Kitsune mind-controlled her. And then we lost her yet again."
Casey took out Raph's sai, pressing it back into his hand. "And we'll get her back."
The turtle squeezed the sai tight. It was his weapon, something as sure as the sun. It was his strength, but he didn't draw a whole lot of comfort from it. Not as much as Casey's reassuring hand on his shoulder. His friend had his back, his brothers had his back.
"Yeah," Raph sighed, slipping his sai into his belt.
He turned to look at Donnie. He had rolled out a rudimentary computer, hooked it up to Angel's suit and started typing away. Raph squashed the urge to tell Donnie to hurry up. It just wouldn't be conducive to speeding things up.
Leo and Mikey were at the table, looking over the newspapers Angel had nabbed. Raph joined his brothers and took a look. Scrawled across the front page was news about a group of heroes called the Justice League. Costumed heroes stood side by side in some conference or another.
"Dude," Mikey said with a hint of awe, "
Superheroes."
Leo sighed. "I guess."
Mikey gave him a look. Another sigh from Leo, the corners of his mouth quirking up. "It's plenty cool, Mikey, but I know what you're thinking and the answer is no."
Mikey slouched, but quickly roused back up again. "But if we had firepower like that, rescuing Alopex would be a snap. Come on, it's not like we didn't do dimensional team-ups before."
Leo looked at the picture, at the dark, stern cowled man. One of the rare pictures of the
Batman.
He looked at Mikey. "Usually, there's some sort of threat that accelerates friendly relations. Unless, in the absolute worst-case scenario that we cannot find Alopex, we won't approach them. We need to be precise and controlled. This world has too many unknown variables that might get one of us killed."
"Awww man." Mikey threw his hands up in exasperation. "I know we're
ninja and stuff, but it's..."
He trailed off, ruminating on the word ninja. All of thought about Splinter and him taking over the Foot clan. And the ruthless measures he had started to employ.
Mikey caught a glance of Leo's eyes. Normally so sure in the heat of battle, there was a tiny spark of hesitance now. After all, it was his call that – in his eyes – that got Alopex captured. Raph didn't blame his brother. He should say something, but he was just so pissed that he might say the wrong thing.
In his place, Mikey put on his best grin. "Then no worries, bro. If this place is anything like the comics, a team-up will happened when we need it most."
Leo nodded absently at Mikey's enthusiasm, but his stance relaxed.
"Got it!" Donnie called out.
Everyone rushed over to the hunched-over turtle, Raph pushing in on his right and Angel settling on the left.
Raph groaned. "I can't read that bunch of numbers and nonsense!"
Angel leaned forward, squinting. "Is she… in the ocean?"
Donnie nodded. "Very astute. She's being transported over the Pacific Ocean."
"By sea or by air?" Leo asked.
Donnie tapped a few keys. "They are below sea level."
Leo exhaled a breath he didn't know he had. "That makes it easier on us."
"How so?" Raph grumbled.
"For all we know, they could have gone interstellar, it wouldn't be as simple as zapping to Dimension X."
"Also," Mikey chimed in, "You're missing the fact that we are
turtles, Raph."
Casey made his presence known, snapping the gold bag strap across his chest. The bag jiggled with the sports gear. "Yeah, but me and Angel aren't turtles. So, unless we we steal a submarine or something..."
Leo gave a strained look while Raph grinned widely.
Donnie cleared his throat, saying, "Casey may have a point."
"Really?" Leo asked, flatly. "Where on your Matrix computer proves it a good idea?"
Donnie chuckled, plucking the newspaper and pressed a large digit over a smaller article.
Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries joint-venture in aquatic exploration to begin public testing
"Small article," Leo commented.
"Yeah, nobody but nerds would read that," Raph added.
Donnie scoffed, dragging his finger lower and tapping at a paragraph. "Yeah, but this nerd caught onto the fact that this experimental probe –" Nearly everyone gave him a weird look. Donnie's face scrunched up. " – this
submarine is absolutely top of the line. We'd be able to catch up with them in record time."
Everyone deferred to Leo, looking at him, putting the pressure on him.
He stiffly gave a nod. "Alright. We'll
borrow this submarine and return it after the rescue mission. We move at nightfall.
Only one hour, but Raph hoped it wouldn't be too late. He understood that Leo couldn't afford to drag his family and friends into a conflict within this strange world of superheroes and supervillains. Still, he bounced on the balls of his feet, waiting. It was moments like this where he felt absolutely helpless and all he could do was hope.
Hope that Alopex could hold out until then.
XXX
<This one is certainly an interesting acquisition.>
The alien, unfamiliar words jarred the mutant fox awake. Her body thrashed, trying to spread itself across the open space. But the confines of the tube bared down on her, making unbearable as if she was trapped in a coffin. Short breaths dragged themselves out of her lungs, the panting making her seem unsteady. She slowed down, stopping her panic, and found some semblance of inner peace.
Keep calm. You're an ex-Foot ninja and currently one kick-ass vigilante. You can handle this.
Still, this was one of the worst situations for her to be in. She had, in a way, come into awareness and sapience in a cage. Then she traded that cage for another. Her time under the Foot was regrettable, but understandable. And then she was free to be whatever she wanted to be. Until Kitsune mind-controlled her… nestling the cage inside her own mind.
She
was going to get out, sooner or later, but she couldn't lose her cool. She exhaled, resting her claws on the red screen before her. They dragged down, claws grinding, but not even making a single scratch.
Another breath. She patted herself down, trying to take stock of the situation. Feeling through her white fur, there were two small pin-prick wounds. One on her shoulder and the other on the side of her arm; one to knock her out and one to draw her blood.
Sharp teeth bared themselves at these unseen foes. Her ears twitched, trying to catch snippets of the conversation that was audible at the edge of her awareness.
<Yes, I have indeed confirmed this creature is not the result of the metagene, but rather a result of some deviation in its blood. Changing it and giving it some form of intelligence.> It was a series of clicks and clacks, but somehow still vaguely feminine. Not that it helped much.
<And? What use is that, compared to the metagene?>
<It's a little more limited, yes, but if I had more samples, I'd be able to synthesize a pure version of that mutating factor. Think about it. We can create disposable shock troops in a much quicker fashion while the metagene will be utilized in a more selective fashion.>
<Perhaps. Those, however are idle notions. What use is this creature until then? We have a sample.>
<We can always take more. And preliminary scans show that her blood can still possibly mutate others. It's worth experimenting with. Perhaps under the right circumstances, with the right test subject, we'll be able to replicate the mutated species.>
<Hrgh.> A long pause. <As a side-project. Nothing more. Do not forget the main priority. The metagene takes precedence. This mutagene or whatever might be a good way to breed disposables, but otherwise focus on your studies of the metagene.>
A figure moved into frame, vaguely insectoid. It was noseless with some sort of see-through mouth piece.
<I'll be needing much more samples from you.>
Alopex gaped. The person before her was clearly not a mutant. Oh, man, this tended to be more on the turtles' side of the sewer.
Freaking aliens.
Sometimes just hanging around her friends just brought out all the crazy nonsense out there in the universe.
She shifted her stance, before feeling a tiny round object stuck on her tail. Alopex resisted the urge to smile. Of course, she could always trust them to have her back.
Raph… he was…
a friend.
Angel was her partner in crime… fighting.
Even Leo understood her on a level, after Shredder had him brainwashed into serving the Foot. They were kindred spirits in that regard. The rest, while she wasn't as close, were still good people.
And it was only a matter of time before they saved her.
XXX
Casey had to marvel how the turtles as they slunk through the shadows. Raph and him were a couple of tough customers, but there was a grace to Raph that wasn't present during their patrols.
He tried tip-toeing, but his foray into stealth left much to be desired. He felt like the odd man out. Even Angel's suit could turn invisible, but his time to shine would come. He wasn't brought here to infiltrate, he was pure muscle.
They passed by all the guards in the warehouse without any trouble. And they finally came across the submarine. Or a deep-water probe or whatever Donnie wanted to call it. It looked like some sort of small spaceship from Star Wars. The sort of type that the Empire would use. It had two mechanical arms at the front and two large wings that reminded him of a bat. They were placed on both sides. Didn't seem like it would make it more aqua dynamic, but he wasn't an engineer. As he stared at it, the more it seemed to resemble a giant arrow.
Weird.
Donnie was drooling over the thing, waggling his fingers and marveling at the prospect of operating it. Casey knew that the thing hadn't even been test-driven yet. It was why they even had this window of opportunity.
Angel got the hatch open and they all huddled on in. The vehicle was already poised over the open water. But the moment it dropped, there would be a small possibility that they would be stopped.
Like the moment between lining up a shot and actually hitting the puck.
Casey tensed up, waiting for the drop. He watched Donnie run his hands over the controls, getting a feel for them.
An alarm blared and Donnie quickly got a tight hold over some lever and pulled. For a second nothing happened and then they were plunged into the depths. Donnie cackled under his breath before shoving two levers forward and they shot through the waters.
The wings folded in and they traveled even faster. Mikey had his face plastered at the window, staring in awe at the ocean scene.
Raph looked over to Donnie. "When are we gonna get there?"
"Twenty minutes." Donnie pressed a button and the entire thing rumbled. "Ten."
Casey and Raph shared a look. Raph started to twirl his sai while he pulled out a bat from the bag and gave it a practice swing.
Leo shook his head. "We're going to try to sneak in. But I think the possibility of violence is pretty high. We should prolong it as long as possible."
"How we doing this, Leo?" Donnie asked.
"You stay here and guard our escape. We'll keep in contact." Leo tapped the t-phone that Donnie had whipped up. "We'll split up, keep in contact, and regroup when we find Alopex."
"Sounds like a plan!" Mikey chimed in.
His enthusiasm was infectious and Casey couldn't help feel like they had a pretty good shot.
Hopefully there wouldn't be any unforeseen complications.
XXX
The blood loss was making her woozy and time started to blur. Too much blood had been taken from her, but something was different. Alopex could feel it. Could see it. She narrowed her eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of that illusive difference.
She squinted harder.
Isn't that Casey's friend, April?
XXX
Barbara Gordon tried to seem nonplussed as the large, humanoid fox blinked lazily at her. The kidnappers had fussed over the fox, drawing vial after vial of red liquid from it. She speculated that this was the cause of the commotion. Their arrival had been accelerated, heading straight here from the docking lab.
But at least they found the others.
M'gann, we're in one of the labs. I see the missing kids and Lagoon Boy, she communicated through the link.
No sign of Beast Boy, Impulse, or Blue Beetle.
I'll find them, M'gann replied.
Getting ready to move, Barbara said.
She flicked out her lock-picking kit, moving from the more mundane ones to the more exotic ones that were designed in mind for alien tech. She knew Tim was working at the same time and in her head, she made up a little competition for who freed themselves.
Her concentration didn't waver when M'gann exchanged locations. Not even when Dick chimed in through that the link that he spotted some other ship had docked.
What wavered her work her work was when the scientist alien started moving toward a captive with a vial of blood in hand. The large, humanoid fox spotted what was going on and started going into frenzy, trying to drawn the scientist's attention.
Barbara took it for the ill omen that it was. She started to work faster, forgetting the competition. Between her and Tim, one of them should break through before –
They couldn't.
The vial was placed into one of the pods and there was a pause. Then the captive started to scream. The alien scientist watched in fascination clearly enraptured by the suffering until something dropped from the ceiling and clubbed her unconscious. The attacker made her blink before she rolled with with the absurdity of a giant ninja turtle with orange bandanna and nunchucks.
"Oh, dude, oh man, these aliens mutated a human," orange said.
Barbara looked at Tim. He shook his head.
Wait and see.
If they turned out to be bad guys, well, Barbara was just about done with the door.
Two more giant turtles appeared from the shadows. The red one immediately started to pray at the fox's tube with a pair of sai. It finally cracked open and the two embraced. Which was interrupted by the blue-bandanna turtle.
"Great," he muttered, "We might have started mutagen testing in this dimension."
Dimension? Barbara filed that tidbit away for later.
"We're going to help these kids, right? Especially him," the orange one asked, pointing at the guy who was just injected with this 'mutagen.' Barbara couldn't see him from this angle.
Blue replied, "Of course. For whatever our help is worth. Though it might be a bit cramped in the sub. Mikey, start freeing the others." He then pulled out a bulky-looking flip hone. "Donnie, make sure there's room in the sub."
Oh, Dick's voice came through the mental link,
I identified the other ship. It's stolen.
How do you know? Barbara asked.
It's that Wayne-Queen project. The prototype that they're testing out to see if it's viable against Black Manta.
Oh, she thought,
Well, I know who took it. They might be tentative allies –
The mental link snapped, cutting everyone off.
Mikey managed to open up her pod.
"Yo," he said, "Don't mind this handsome face. We're here to rescue you!"
Barbara nodded. "Thanks."
She stepped carefully out, surveying the scene. Red over there was letting the fox rest against him. Faintly, Barbara could hear the fox mutter, "It's my fault, Raph."
Raph patted the fox's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Alopex. It's whoever these bozos are."
She turned to see what they were staring at. She took a few steps more, seeing another giant fox. The captive teen… He was now almost identical to the original; same species, but his fur coat was brown and he was far more gangly.
The rest of the captives were freed in short order and gave their saviors a wide berth of space. They didn't look like traditional heroes, after all. They even seemed to lump in Lagoon Boy, for whatever reason. But he seemed used to it. After all, the surface world didn't have much contact with Atlantis. Lagoon Boy glanced Tim and hers way and they shook their heads. He nodded.
Raph caught on to the present mood, huffing and standing tall. He spread out his hands. "Look, we've been through this before. You can all be disgusted or scared or afraid of us for no discernible reason, but don't do anything stupid like running off. You can run away after we save your rear ends."
A few of the teens had a flash of shame on their faces. The blonde girl from earlier, for one. Barbara took the lull to observe Shimmer. For now, she didn't seem to be planning anything, but you never knew.
Barbara didn't know if Dick had docked the bioship yet or was still hanging back, but she certainly couldn't leave these kids with their saviors. Just in case. Trust but verify. Once they were back on the surface, she would feel a little more at ease, but the fact remained that they were miles underneath the deep, blue see.
Blue looked around, trying to find something in the crowd. Not someone specific, but someone who was unafraid. Their eyes met and he certainly seemed to see something. A touch of grit, perhaps, that denoted her from the rest.
He stepped up to her. She assessed him quickly: two katanas and any number of concealed ninja stars and smoke bombs in his belt.
"Are these all the abductees?"
She did a quick check. "Yeah."
"Alright, it's time to get a move on –"
The door burst open and two figures dove into the room. One was in a purple exo suit of some uncanny design with a blank face plate while the other looked like a street hooligan in a hockey mask. They took cover by the sides of the door.
Hockey mask was holding half of a baseball bat, smoke rising from the tip. He tossed it and pulled out a cricket bat.
"Sorry, Leo, but it looks like we're fighting our way out a little early." He drew a breath. "There's about sixteen of them."
Leo drew his swords. "Raph, you're with me. Casey follow on behind us and take care of any stragglers. Nobody, help Alopex. Mikey, keep the kids safe."
Leo and Raph charged out the door. Barbara tried to contact M'gann. Until things reached a crucial point, it was best to remain undercover. She wasn't Dick, doing risky stunts without a safety net.
Not unless she had to. In which case, it was totally different. She looked over to the new fox mutant. And god did that term sound derogatory.
He was leaning against the tube's frame, huffing and puffing. In this light, he truly looked like a dangerous, uncaged animal. But she could see the tears in his eyes.
She approached him carefully. "Hey, hey… you alright?"
He turned to her, the snout almost hitting her. He growled out, "What do you think?"
"I'm just asking."
"I am a giant fucking fox. What do you think?" He flexed his claws, staring at them. "I don't even blame that fox girl. She was in the same boat as us. I thought you were suppose to help us."
"I don't want to invalidate your outrage, but… we're the only ones investigating these kidnappings." He didn't say anything so she changed conversation tracks. "What's your name?"
"Warren. Warren Lawford."
"Then don't worry, Warren. We'll help fix you. Look, think of this as step one. You're free from your captors. Then, we're going to escape. And then scientists will help look a cure for you."
He just growled, before saying, "I'm a bio major. I know it won't be easy-breezy. Hell, it might even take
years."
Barbara rubbed her temple, knowing this was the best she could do. She decided to listen in on Tim's impromptu questioning of Mikey. Despite the loose stance, his eyes kept glancing at the door and his nunchucks were out and swinging idly.
"So..." Tim trailed off. "You're a ninja, who is also a mutant turtle."
"Well," Mikey drawled out with a grin, "If you wanna be accurate about it: we're actually reincarnated from Feudal Japan and became turtles who
then mutated." A beat. Then he added, "We're also from another dimension. Or universe."
"Okay?" Tim replied, flabbergasted.
Nobody supported Alopex and they both turned to look at him. She said, "I thought Leo wanted to be all… hush-hush about that."
Mikey shrugged. "Gotta recognize when you're past the point of no return. Besides being stingy with secrets… that doesn't lead to anything good. Leo's more like Father than he cares to admit."
Leo chose that moment to step in, overhearing the conversation, and glared at Mikey.
"Path's clear," he announced, waving everyone forward, "I think there's some other commotion that is taking up the aliens' attention. Best to take advantage. Everyone, huddle up! We gotta move!"
Quickly, they all filed out into the hallway. The turtles and their allies formed around them in defensive positions.
The mental link come back in three minutes later with a frantic message from M'gann. Lagoon Boy stiffened, nearly missing a step.
I need help! I tried taking down Kaldur! But this person keeps interfering! Blue Beetle is down!
Superboy responded,
I'm getting Nightwing to dock the ship. We're going loud!
No time! Lagoon Boy butted in.
I'm coming, angel fish!
He started to move away, but Barbara grabbed his arm. They started to lag, drifting backwards and away from the group. They butted into Mikey.
The turtle looked from Barbara to Lagoon Boy and then back to Barbara. He took in a deep breath that seemed to water the blossoming smile. Lucky for them, he kept his voice down.
"You're both totally superheroes, aren't you? You're undercover! I did think it was weird that nobody was too bothered about him over there."
Barbara tensed up, making sure the hidden utility belt was accessible.
"We should team-up," he continued, "There's someone in trouble, right?"
She took the plunge and nodded.
"My girlfriend's in trouble," Lagoon Boy gritted out.
"Say no more." Mikey turned, standing up on his toes. "Leo! The fish person is a hero and needs to save someone."
Leo turned, took a moment, and then nodded. He looked at Raph and Casey for a second, then it lingered on Alopex, and it landed on Nobody.
"Go with Mikey," he said to her, "We'll regroup at the docking bay."
Tim nudged his head at the group, signaling that he would stick with the group. It started to be less out of paranoia and more in terms of back-up. It was why Bumblebee hadn't revealed herself yet.
She had a good enough feeling that these newcomers were trustworthy.
"Lead the way," Nobody said.
Lagoon Boy took off with a sprint, with the two of them playing catch up.
"So… does this count as a superhero team-up?" Mikey wondered aloud.
"You can gush all you want later, Michelangelo," Nobody replied.
They turned a corner, seeing a larger and darker copy of Blue Beetle break the leg of Impulse. He screamed and that seemed to stir the real Blue Beetle who was smashed into the wall. M'gann wasn't focusing on the battle. She was on her knees, raising her head and trying to glare at Aqualad… Kaldur, the traitor.
Black Beetle raised an arm, a cannon forming. He let loose a blast at the same moment Barbara flung an explosive batarang. She was a second too late. But Beast Boy shoved M'gann out of the way. It broke the brief psychic assault on Kaldur. He shook his head, before being helped by an orange armored, tiger-themed ninja swooped in and helped him away.
"Murderer!" M'gann shouted. "Don't let him get away!"
"M'gann!" Beast Boy yelled. "That isn't the mission! We have to go!"
The conversation drowned out from Barbara's barrage of explosive batarangs. She had to draw his attention away from Impulse.
"That's the bad guy? Good to know!" Mikey charged into the fray, spinning those nunchucks. Well, he was certainly brave. He aimed an attack at Black Beetle's eyes. It only blinded him for a few seconds, but that was all he needed. He scooped up Impulse and hopped back. Barbara was quickly burning through her rations and went for Blue Beetle, pulling him out of the mess.
"I don't think we can take him, dudes!" Mikey shouted.
"You're right!" Barbara shouted, just to makes sure everyone got the memo.
With Blue Beetle hanging off her shoulder, she threw a bunch of smoke pellets. The effect was amplified by Mikey's own smoke pellets. Nobody ran up, skidding before the border at the smoke screen. She threw out her hand, rippling out a wave of force.
It smashed through, throwing the Black Beetle back. Nobody's arm went limp as sparks of electricity emitting from it. Mikey gave it a concerned look, while absentmindedly shifting Impulse into a more comfortable position. Impulse wasn't doing so hot.
Nobody hissed, "Overloaded the damn thing. Now let's go!"
Objective completed, they quickly fled the scene. Barbara had to wonder if the whole thing could have gone better. Like if certain circumstances and variables lined up better, it wouldn't have turned out like this. Kaldur wouldn't have gotten away unscathed, for one.
But it could have gone a while lot worse.
They burst into the docking boy, panting. Thankfully, there was no ongoing battle and there wasn't
that much tension between the two groups. Shimmer was even restrained, no longer a threat. Leo was currently talking to Dick. Between the two of them, there was a palable sense of weight conveyed.
"So, where do I put the superhero?" Mikey asked.
Barbara nudged him, still holding onto an unconscious Blue Beetle. "Follow me."
He did so, passing by Leo, and then asking aloud, "We taking their ship?"
"Mikey, no." Leo pinched his nose… the area between his eyes. He quickly started following Mikey with Nightwing behind him. "We're comfortable letting these heroes take the captives. And we're fine with taking our own ship. If the aliens mobilize, they'll be split between targets. We're fine with using our ship –"
Nightwing coughed as Mikey handed off Impulse to Superboy near the bio-ship entrance.
"The ship we
borrowed," Leo corrected. "And then we all head our seperate ways."
"Leo, come on. We could always use some help," Mikey rebuffed. "Remember the last time? When we had to get the Ghostbusters to help us out? You sure weren't complaining then."
"Mikey," Leo muttered.
"Look, I get it. You're stressed that Father is just…
just actively betraying the very ideals he taught. You
know I'm upset and I
know you're upset. We're all upset that Splinter is training a bunch of child soldiers for the Foot!" Everyone glanced their way at that specific comment, but Mikey took no notice, continuing on, "You're hurt by all the secrets he's kept and here you are keeping secrets. I know we're ninjas, but come on. I know you want some measure of control back, but it's causing you to act just like Master Splinter!"
Those words caused Leo to flinch.
Mikey grabbed a hold of Leo, shaking him slightly. "So, come on. They're rescuing kids; we're rescuing kids. If they're not the good guys, then who is?"
Leo tried to turn away, but the constant shaking turned him from that notion. "Fine, fine. You and me. We'll go with the rest of these heroes see if we can't get some help for our predicament."
Mikey smiled. "See, it's nice when everyone gets along –"
He was cut off by an energy blast, slamming him into the wall. M'gann was next, the blast lasting a few seconds longer and driving her further into the wall.
Barbara spun around, batarang at the ready. But she was cut down just as quickly.
The impact disorientated her. At the edge of consciousness, she heard a sinister voice chuckle out, "It's always
so sweet when the
meat gets along."
XXX
Raph had just finished strapping Alopex in when heard the commotion. He was all too familiar with the sound of Mikey getting swatted down. He quickly shifted gears, already running out of the submarine.
Behind him, Alopex was trying to free herself so that she may join the fray.
"Raphael, so help me you better –"
He shouted louder, "Donnie, come on!"
Donnie quickly caught up behind him, bo staff at the ready. The scene in the docking bay was grim with their numbers already dwindled.
Nightwing shouted out, "Maneuver twenty-one!"
Wonder Girl and Superboy charged at the Black Beetle. Superboy reached him first, delivering a hard running blow and circling back around. In that interim, Wonder Girl attacked low with a punch. The process repeated with minor variations, engrossing the Beetle in a constant one-two. And it left him vulnerable to projectiles. The Bee girl and Angel assisted with concise attacks in the small lulls left by the two superhuman brusisers.
Donnie swore behind him as they spotted the oncoming reinforcements headed toward the bay. They were still some ways away, but their potshots were coming dangerously close to some of them.
Donnie shot past him and the battle, heading for the door controls. Black Beetle regained a second wind and kicked Wonder Girl into Angel, knocking both of them out with one swoop. Then he grabbed Superboy by the leg and swatted Bumblebee before tossing him aside.
Raph was already closing the distance and through a haze of righteous anger, he realized how brash this was. Where could he succeed where these super-powered heroes failed? He wasn't about to stop, but he had to guide this churning momentum back on track or utterly crash.
He jumped over a recovering Casey. This was beyond reckless, but this freak hurt his brother and helped facilitate the kidnapping over a dozen kids who could not defend themselves.
How could he
not act?
He couldn't do any significant damage with his sai, but he still drove him back with a forceful shoulder check. Leo launched off his shell, swinging two swords at the alien's face. The attack managed to force him back a couple of steps as Raph drew back, trying to take assess the situation.
Donnie pressed a button and the doors began to slide close, albeit at a slower rate than usual. "I got the doors! Take him down or knock him away!"
The sunglasses kid hopped onto the Black Beetle's back, placed a large circular device on the face and leapt away in a flip. His form wasn't graceful, but rather textbook in its execution. Just like Donnie's jumps. Before the device went off, the sunglasses kid got clotheslined by a wild flail. A burst of fire erupted from the device, pushing the Black Beetle even further.
Then he reached up and crushed the device.
The reinforcements were getting closer, forcing Leo and Nightwing to dodge a barrage. Donnie skirted out, flinging ninja stars at them to buy the two the reprieve. Raph launched a kick, trying to keep the Black Beetle from gaining ground. He got slammed into the ground for his effort and Nightwing sailed over him with a pretty impressive flying side-kick.
Casey followed through a mighty swing from his cricket bat at the Beetle's face. It shattered and Casey circled back around, already getting a new weapon.
While Raph was struggling to get back up, Leo and Nightwing started up the one-two process, constantly keeping their foe occupied. They flowed flawlessly together as they let loose a storm of ecrisma sticks and swords.
Together, they just managed to drive him back to the precipice. The doors were almost closed. All they had to do was get him on the other side and he'd be locked out. Then Nightwing was driven away with a brutal kick that sent him tumbling and Leo swung his blades once more. But the synchronization had been broken and he was just a step out of turn.
The Beetle took that time to form a large blade and swung. The sheer force caused Leo to let go of the swords and they were flung away. Leo couldn't dodge and Raph strained as his insides screamed, drawing into themselves.
Donnie blocked the first blow. The bo staff managed to withstand the pressure.
Just not the second.
It snapped and Raph flung himself at the Beetle, grabbing the sword arm and pulled it back. The Beetle backhanded Donnie with his other hand, knocking him into Leo. Raph was thrown off, skittering across the ground and rolling onto his hands and feet.
By his count, it was just him and Casey now. The green boy was probably guarding the other ship as the last line of defense. Still, it was just down to them. If he couldn't drive back the Black Beetle back now while they still had time, they would lose. Period.
Seconds dwindled.
The moment was slipping.
Come on, you had been brawling long before you rejoined your brothers. Raph took a precious second, watching the Black Beetle recover. He couldn't let him take another step, not when they were so close in driving him back.
Oh, yeah… one of the rules of the streets: when in doubt, go for the eyes.
Raph wasn't stupid. Brash, definitely, but never stupid. An advanced suit like that had to have reinforced lenses. Most likely weaker than the rest of the armor, but still plenty strong.
But it was a dangerous maneuver. If he overdid it… the Beetle would be dead. And Raph was
not a murderer. Yet, he had little recourse.
"Casey, back me up!"
"You got it, Raph!"
Then Raph sheathed one of his sai and then did a running start. He needed to be steady, needed to be sure.
He leapt and grabbed a hold of the shoulders, while raising the sai up on high. He stabbed it down at the eye and as it expected: it clinked. The Beetle laughed right up until Casey rammed into Raph's shell. Raph gritted his teeth, trying to pull back at the last moment. The point still broke through, skewering the eye, but not piercing the brain. The alien screamed and he screamed even louder when Raph tore out the sai.
The alien stumbled back and the doors slammed shut, shunting away the image of what just transpired. It almost seemed unreal. Something was shaking his hand. Then it started to move up his arm. He couldn't look. Looking would make it real. Like one of those horror movies that he and Casey watched on occasion.
Raph looked anyway, staring at the weapon and the bloodied eyeball. A gag worked its way up his throat, clawing inch by bloody inch. The coloring made it look the last bit of a kish kabob.
He swallowed, turning away and shaking the sai. Just had to… get it away.
Didn't Father do something like this? Scratched out Old Hob's eye before they mutated? No, that was a stupid comparison. Yet it was still one that had to be made. He wasn't
anything like Splinter! Raph just did… what he had to…
His stomach dropped.
He didn't want to deal with this. In that moment, he never more like a stupid kid in that moment.
Dimly, he was aware Casey was shaking him.
"We have to go, Raph. We can't handle another assault from that guy."
He let himself be led away. Mikey tugged at Leo toward the heroes' ship. Leo looked over at him. Raph just nodded.
He shouldn't feel so bad. Really. What was one eye? What was
just one case of mutilation? Justify this, then what else could he justify?
What was just one life? He drifted through the corridor. It would have been a matter of inches when it came to crossing the line. Alopex caught the look on his face. She didn't say anything. She just snuggled against him.
And it was nice.
XXX
Leo didn't want to be here, but he wasn't about to let Mikey go off alone. Though almost everyone was recovering from the attack.
He looked at his younger brother, who was currently talking to Beast Boy.
"So, you can turn into
any animal?" he asked.
"Pretty much," Beast Boy said, smiling slightly and rubbing the back of his head.
"Can you turn into me?"
"Never tried a mutant ninja turtle before..."
"First time for everything." Mikey flashed the grin.
And predictably, it was the grin that did the boy in. Beast Boy closed his eyes, concentrated, and his body rippled. Then he shifted into a carbon copy of Mikey, but somehow greener. Like a turtle could even get
more green. But here was Leo proven wrong.
He turned to the other leader here: Nightwing. They stared at each other. It was easy to coordinate in the heat of the moment, but there was nothing but the silent tension now.
"Freaky gnarly!"
Both their eyes flickered to the duo. Leo should have brought Donnie, so they could hash out all the science stuff out.
But Mikey wasn't a bad choice either.
Nightwing broke him out of his thoughts. "You did good work there."
Leo shrugged, leaning back and crossing his arms. "Thanks. You too."
"Your brother was… a little intense at the end. He could have killed him."
His hands started to squeeze the skin. "Yeah, I agree absolutely, but is it going to cause problems?"
Nightwing raised his hands. "You're clearly good guys. You went in to save your friend and didn't hesitate to save the others. Just… what we overheard has given us some cause for the concern. Trust me, I have experience in this and it's best to let out these secrets before they fester."
Leo swallowed back his retort. Took a moment to breathe, to be honest. "We're… we're a family and we'll deal with this; we'll
learn from this. Be more prepared so my brother or any one of us won't ever be placed in this position again. And the other… stuff… Everything we know, it was from someone we loved, respected. And then we watched him change, take drastic action, and keep secrets from us. And… we try to be better. Then, stuff like this happens. And we have to wonder if we're any different at all."
Nightwing had a strange, uncomfortable look on his face. "I know what you mean."
Leo closed his eyes. "Then you know you don't ever want to experience that feeling."
They didn't have anything left to say after that.
XXX
A couple hours of hassling around and waiting in this Hall of Justice, they were finally granted a meeting with a Justice League representative.
The chrome-skinned man looked them up and down. "Just to be clear: not aliens?"
"Nah." Mikey waved him off. "Different dimension. Or parallel universe. Whatever the term is."
"And you need help."
"It would speed up the process," Leo cut in, "Because we don't know what went wrong. It's not the usual teleporter mishap and we weren't, ah, summoned."
Captain Atom raised an eyebrow.
"Well, that was the one time we ended up meeting a rabbit samurai," Mikey explained.
They got a flat look.
"Mikey, shut up, please," Leo muttered, elbowing him. "It did happen, but that is beside the point. We just need a bit of help in figuring out what went wrong."
"We do appreciate you in assisting in this rescue operation. And we'd be remiss to turn you to the streets. STAR Labs have worked miracles before and we could put in a good word with them. Help smooth things over with your… turtleness. Though, expect them to act as scientists do." He paused, a look on his face. "Regular scientists, that is. Not the mad scientist types."
"Much appreciated. And we understand. Donnie is just like that. He could even lend a hand. Just name the time and the place."
XXX
What a strange couple of days it had been. Warren Lawford had been kidnapped by aliens, turned into a fox, and then the very same aliens appeared on television pulling the largest scam he ever saw. He had to admire the balls on these guys.
But for now… he had to focus on his current situation.
He was a fucking mutant fox now. It would have been trying but his new body was stronger, more vital. He had been testing the limits and they far exceeded the average human's. The only problem was being stuck here in STAR Labs like… like an
animal.
Of course, they were supposedly working to fix him. Those turtle guys came in and the purple one even talked to him. The red one was always distant, though he was never rude when Warren struck up a conversation with him. He was blunt, however.
Such two contrasting attitudes. Purple talked about how they needed to come up with some sort of retro-mutagen from their blood while red talked about living as a mutant. The visits slowed down quite a bit. A lesser mind would have lost hope, believing that little progress was being made. But Warren was familiar with the work. Science took time. STAR Labs had stopped taking blood samples from the turtles and were working with what they had.
It grated on him, really.
Science should hold no limits.
He spied them when they didn't come in to work on him but rather some sort of secret project. There was gonna be a lull, he knew, but all it took was just one breakthrough for him to get back normal. Warren wasn't about to turn back into a human. In a world of gods and cowering enslaved men, was it not better to be an animal, free and wild?
He grinned to himself. They had talked about creating an antithesis to the mutagen, but it was hypothetically possible to create a more pure version of the mutagen. It'd probably even be easier. As he understood it, the mutagen in his blood was diluted and would most likely not have the same effect as the white fox's.
Warren's mind was whirling with the possibilities. With the amount of samples from the turtles, he wagered that he'd had have enough to distill two perfect doses. The question was what to do with them.
Then it came to him.
Every fox needed a pack.
He knew of two such colleagues that would fit well.
Back in high school, all three of them were known as the Terrible Trio. They ran the school and quickly racketed up a profit.
They could make a killing now.
He did think about all the other poor SOBs in STAR Labs in, but he disavowed that notion. They were just stupid kids with angst issues. And the Terrible Trio only needed three members.
So, when the night was just right, he swiped the blood samples and broke free. It might have made things harder for the kids should they ever decide to escape.
Oh, well.
Times changed and so must he.
