Chapter 7: Where Do We Go From Here?
-
There was nothing more soothing than the sound of rain to Leo. It was also refreshing to feel each droplet as it ran down his body and washed away the blood. The cuts he had received still stung and he felt a pain in his left calf where he was certain he had pulled a muscle. The good thing is that he knew it was over. The demoness was defeated.
“We did it?” Donna asked. Tangled strands of brown hair had come undone from her ponytail.
“We did it,” Leona said as she placed a reassuring hand on her sister’s shoulder. There was a cut over her mouth.
Leo glanced around at the other turtles. They were all bruised, and cut in some fashion. Raffel was favoring her left arm. His Raphael had a cut over his right eye that was going to leave a scar. Leo’s own less than serious equivalent had a section of his shell broken off over his right shoulder.
“Charlotte did it,” Gabby said. The one thing about rain it made it difficult to tell if someone was crying or not. Leo was certain she was grieving. The tone of her voice was enough to confirm that.
“We all did it,” Mace said. He was striped with half healed cuts. “But Charlotte did the most.”
“She sacrificed herself for us,” Gabby said as she reached up to wipe away a few tears and paused to stare at her new green three fingered hands. Leo couldn’t help but to admire her new form. Sure, she was pretty when she was human but she was gorgeous as a turtle. She was not as spiky as Hun. She only had a single curved spike on each shoulder and a small row of three short spikes running down her elbows. She only had a single pair of the horn like spikes on her head and all of her reddish brown hair. She also had the claws on her fingers and toes but only her canines were long and pointed. Leo felt a twinge of jealousy towards Hun.
“Now what?” Mikeala asked.
“We have a lot to clean up,” Donny told her.
“We will do that when it really is over,” Leo said and turned to where he had last seen The Shredder was standing. Their enemy was still there and staring at them. “There is one last thing to do.” He removed his katanas from his sheathes and ran towards the Shredder. The Prime turtles had the same idea for they were also charging towards their enemy.
“Leonardo stop,” Karai said as she stood in front of her father.
“Karai, no,” Leo could not believe her. He had thought she had finally seen the truth about her father. “I thought you severed your ties to him.”
“I will never sever my ties to my father,” Karai said. “You do not understand.”
“We understand that he tried to help bring about the apocalypse to this world,” Prime Leonardo said.
“Don’t forget he tried to erase all the worlds where we exist,” Prime Donatello said. “He was willing to erase you.”
“Was,” Karai said. “Not is. He was helping us.”
“What?” Leo asked. He studied Karai to see if someone had hit her on the head a little too hard. She seemed to be completely serious.
“Remiel,” Karai turned to the group of protectors. “What did he say to us in the restaurant about the turtles?”
“He said that your turtles won’t help,” the tabby cat mutant said. “Nor would the turtles from other worlds.”
“He was hinting at us to bring the others here,” Karai said. “I had thought he had warned the demon that we were going to open other dimensions and he warned her to shut down the power.”
“I knew she was going to shut it down soon,” the Shredder said. “I made it certain you would organize that day.”
“And we did,” Leo said. This could not be. The Shredder was helping them?
“He injured Charlotte,” Prime Raphael said. “He ran the two blades into her shoulders.”
“Shoulders and not chest,” Leonardo said as he finally caught on. “He had the perfect opportunity to kill her, but he didn’t.”
“He was not fighting to win,” Karai said. “But he had to make it look like he was not fighting to win.”
“And he reminded us of the prophecy,” Remiel said. “The last part anyway.”
“You were never with this Dark Mistress?” Prime Michelangelo asked.
“Do you think I would really bow to anyone and mean it?” The Shredder asked. “Do you think I would really address anyone as Mistress or tolerate her pet names for me?” He took of his helmet. The face underneath was unrecognizable to Leo. “No one told me how hot it can really get in here.” He wiped away some of the sweat from his forehead.
“One of the drawback’s to being human, father,” Karai said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I have seen what you have done with the Foot,” Shredder said to her. “You have done well. You make me proud, my daughter.”
“Father,” Karai gasped as the two embraced.
“But why?” Leo asked. “Not even death could change someone like you.”
“This man, this Robert Harris,” the Shredder said. “His spirit had left the body, but he left behind memories in his brain. Those memories are mine now. His heart is now mine and I have started to feel with it. I feel like we are merging into one.”
“Unbelievable,” Leo said. But then if what the Shredder said is true about the body’s memories then that would explain it. He remembered watching a show on TLC about the human mind and different psychiatric disorders. The Utrom Ch’rell would have been diagnosed as a sociopath. If the true evil was really caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain then Ch’rell’s spirit would not have it and if the mind of this human life he took over was sane then so would Ch’rell.
“Don’t get me wrong,” The Shredder glared at him. “I still despise you and I plan on revenge, but right now I want to live.”
“Sorry that you will have to do that behind bars,” Bishop walked up to them.” Mr. Saki now that you are human you are susceptible to human laws.”
“What human law has he broken?” Karai asked.
“He wasn’t on their side,” Leo said. He could not believe he was saying that. “He was a double agent.”
“It is true,” Prime Leonardo said. “As difficult as it may seem to be.”
Bishop stared at The Shredder for several minutes while listening to everyone confirm what both Leonardos have said. “Very well. I suggest you leave the city as soon as possible.”
“I will do that,” Shredder said. “As soon as I can get a signal I shall give mother a call and my wife, Deanna a call.” He smiled. “I have a wife.” He chuckled. “And there are so many desserts to try.”
“Try the banana split first,” Mikey shouted. “No wait. Try tiramisu, no crème brulee, no lemon meringue pie, no-“his list of suggestions came to a halt when Raph slapped the side of his head. “Hey.”
“We will all have to wait for dessert,” Bishop said. “There are still a lot of injured the needs attending to and we need to clean up these dead demon creatures.”
-
The cleaning up part was not a task that Leonardo was looking towards. It wasn’t the removal of demons. The dead beasts were being stacked up into piles. Leo wasn’t sure what Bishop had in mind for the monsters on how to properly dispose of them. The government agent had a lot on his plate. He also had to figure out a way to explain this to his superiors and create a cover up story for the public. Leo was certain that no matter what kind of spin Bishop would put up that the populace of New York would think different.
The part that Leo hated to face were the bodies of those who fought along side him. As he and the others walked around looking for those to heal they found lifeless bodies of ninjas, government agents, Purple Dragons and more.
“Jackson,” Bishop breathed out the name of a government worker as his body was found. “Damn.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. He may have given Leo and his brothers a hard time in the past but even he felt grief.
Hun was the same. Every time he came upon another dead member of his gang he would swear then lower his head. The Purple Dragons that have survived also stood silently in front of their fallen comrades. The one called Raz had even started to cry until she was comforted by Mikey.
Karai stopped by each and every body of those who had served her. She would bow before them and whisper that they had fought bravely and were full of honor.
“No,” Leona shouted at the top of her lungs. She had come across a body that was covered in gray fur with long silvery white hair. She tried to nudge the figure, begging her to wake up and open her eyes to no avail.
Leo was immediately by her side. “Leona, I’m sorry.” He stared at the dead form of their mother, the female equivalent to Splinter. His stomach felt like it had been turned into a pile of bricks. It was almost as if it were his Splinter that was killed.
“Mommy?” Raffel ran up to them. Her eyes were already watering. She was the same as Raphael. He only called their father, daddy when he was sick or hurt or if Splinter was not feeling well.
Donna was silent as she arrived. Tears were flowing from her eyes but she did not make a single sound. Their youngest sister, Mikeala was already sobbing into the arms of Mace as the two of them arrived. Mace looked almost like a mummy with the amount of bandages he was wearing.
Leo kept his arms around Leona as she cried. He looked around. Death had even visited the turtles from the less serious dimension. One of the frogs had been killed. Leo remembered his name as Genghis. The Neutrino with blue hair had also had his life taken away. The female Neutrino was sobbing into the chest of their Michelangelo. Behind them their Raphael and Mona Lisa watched solemnly while they held each other’s hands. Their Leonardo had his arm around Lotus who leaned against him. Their Splinter and Usagi had their heads bowed, even their Casey had lowered his head.
Donny’s cry made Leo bolt up. One of their friends was killed or near death. Leo’s heart stopped, thinking it was Splinter. He had to go see, but he did not want to at the same time.
“Go,” the Prime Leonardo said. He had taken over comforting Leona after Leo stood up. “Your brother needs you.”
Leo raced to where he could hear Donny cry out in grief and was the last one to arrive. To his semi relief it wasn’t Splinter, but his knees buckled when he saw the large form that was surrounded by his family and friends.
Leatherhead lied on his side. Large red and round puncture wounds in his chest and back and stopped bleeding. There was more blood on the crocodile’s teeth and claws, but it was not his blood. There were also bruises on the large reptile’s knuckles.
“Donny,” Leo kneeled next to his brother’s side “I’m sorry.” Leatherhead was one of their closest friends but he and Don were even closer due to their knowledge of machines and hi IQ’s. Raph had even teased that the crocodile and Donny were lovers.
Raph would not tease Donny again. Leo would see to it. He stared at his red banded brother as Raph was rubbing away a few tears. Mikey and Raz had caught up and their youngest brother’s jaw dropped at the sight. Raz squeezed his hand and gave him a hug.
Casey held April while she shed a few tears. Both of them were battered and bruised and covered in bleeding cuts. Two of Casey’s bats were broken as was one of his golf clubs but they were all coated in demon blood. April’s sword was stained with the same kind of blood.
Usagi was on his knees with his head bowed. One of his long floppy ears was wrapped in bandages. “May your spirit join with our ancestors my friend.”
“My son,” Splinter said softly as he placed his hand on Donny’s shoulder. “I know nothing I can say will help with the pain. He was a good friend to us, especially to you. He fought bravely.”
“I know,” Donny said as he wiped away his tears. “We all did. It would have been foolish to think that we would all make it out alive. I just didn’t think he would have been one of the ones that didn’t make it.”
“None of us did,” Leo said. “No one ever does.” He wrapped his arms around his younger bother and pulled him into a deep embrace.
-
It had been determined that the best way to deal with the demonic corpses was to incinerate them. They were hauled away in large trucks that were immediately called by Bishop. After their mangled forms were removed they could see the damage that was done to the city. Maintenance workers were called and put to work at repairing the damages that were caused by Lucy and her minions.
The human servants that had survived were handcuffed and arrested under the charges of domestic terrorism. Those that had died had their bodies bagged and sent to Bishop’s morgue were they will be preserved until they were handed over to their families. Bishop said he was not going to sugarcoat things and tell their families outright what the servants had done.
As much as no one wanted to talk about it they had to discuss what to do with the bodies of the allies who had fallen. They all agreed they should also be preserved until those from the other dimensions returned home, those that were human could be returned to their families and those that weren’t had proper burial plans discussed.
Leo and his brothers knew where to bury Leatherhead. They would go deep below where their crocodile friend had lived and bury him there. Leatherhead’s old home would be turned into a shrine where they could visit every now and then. They would certainly not take up Bishop’s offer on what he planned on doing with the body, Especially not after what the government agent had done to their friend.
The power had been returned to the underground facility but everyone felt it would be better if they kept the lights off for a while. Instead of flashlights everyone carried a lit candle.
“I know many do not wish me to do this,” Bishop said as he stepped in front of the room with his candle. “And I am not an expert at this, but I feel things should be said. We all fought hard and bravely. We overcome the hellish armies and helped assist in the prophesy that saved us all. We won, victory is ours, but I know that none of us feels like celebrating right now. We lost a lot of people. We lost friends, those who we consider family. I lost so many men and women including several agents that I have become friends with. We would discuss things over cups of coffee. It wasn’t just work either. We talk about their families, favorite TV shows and life in general. My coffee breaks will never be the same.”
As soon as Bishop had finished speaking Leo approached the head of the crowd. “I like to add to what Agent Bishop had said. We lost a good friend this evening. His name was Leatherhead and even though he was big and fierce he was also extremely intelligent, had a good nature and was a good friend. Leatherhead died a noble death. He fought to save this world from being taken over by a hellish dimension. We will always remember him in our hearts.”
He stepped down and Lee took over. His speech was a little longer since he and those from his dimension were mourning two people. After he had finished Leona had gone up. Her speech was the longest. She mentioned some of her and her sister’s childhood memories of how their mother raised her. Karai was next and mentioned each and every name of her ninjas and mutants she had lost. Hun was even able to come up with something decent and touching for the Dragons that were killed. Michael of the protectors was last. He mentioned the two names of the Protectors that have died and spoke greatly of Charlotte and her sacrifice.
After the candlelight vigil everyone went off into different directions. It was put to a vote and nearly everyone decided to try and get some rest before they opened the dimensional gates to return everyone home.
The only problem for Leo was that he couldn’t sleep. He tried rolling around on the cot that was set up for a comfortable position but that did not help, neither did Raph’s snoring. Perhaps if he had a warm glass of milk to drink, that might help.
He wasn’t the only one who had trouble sleeping. One of his counterparts was just leaving from the kitchen.
“Uh hello,” Leo greeted him.
“Good evening,” Lee said. “Or should it be good morning?”
Leo shrugged. He had no idea what time it was. He knew he should say something. “How did that giggle ray turn out?” That was great. He just lost two of his friends and more of his innocence and you asked him about the last plan his Shredder had developed?
“It blew up on them,” Lee said with a slight smile. “They were to busy laughing to fight so we defeated them and sent them back to the Technodrome.”
“And that’s a good thing?” Leo asked. He didn’t have to worry about his counterpart fighting against a golf ball on wheels as Raph would put it. He did have to worry about the upgraded version.
“Bebop and Rocksteady managed to destroy that death ray,” Lee said. “And the drome is stuck in a swamp in the south east.”
“How did they manage to do that?” Leo asked. He knew that his Shredder was a joke but they had a more powerful weapon.
Lee shrugged. “Even I can’t explain it. It tends to be a pattern with them. They get free from Dimension X and try to attack the world. We fight them and they end up stuck somewhere like beneath the Earth or the North Pole. Then they get free from that, try to attack and then get stuck in Dimension X.”
“I see,” Leo said.
“We are hoping we will defeat them for good, but they are persistent,” Lee said and yawned. “That milk certainly helped.”
“I think we are on the same wavelength,” Leo said as he grabbed the doorknob. “Have you seen our other counterparts?”
“Not ours, but our Mona and her counterpart here are inside.”
“We don’t have a Mona Lisa here,” Leo said softly. Not that he knew off. Raph was pretty close with Urielle now and she had mutated into a salamander, but her real name wasn’t Mona Lisa was it?
He opened the door to the kitchen and nearly ran into Mikaela and Mace as the two turtles were in the middle of a deep and passionate kiss. He coughed to get their attention.
“Oh,” Mikaela said softly. “I’m sorry.” She was still blushing as she left.
“I don’t know how that happened,” Mace said as he rubbed the top of his head. “One second I was comforting her and the second we were like that.”
“You don’t really need to explain,” Leo said.
“I think I’ll go back to bed.” Mace kept the sheepish expression his face as he ran out of there.
Both Mona Lisa and Urielle were sitting at one of the many small round tables in the kitchen with large cups in front of them while they were discussing something. They were too engrossed in their conversation to notice what had happened between Mace and Mikaela. It made Leo think of those special instant coffee commercials.
“Oh Leonardo,” Mona Lisa was the first to see him. “The milk is still in the fridge and the bourbon is in the cabinet above coffee pot.”
“Thank you but there will be no bourbon for me,” Leo said as he grabbed the container of milk from the fridge. “I wasn’t intruding on anything was I?”
“Not a single thing,” Urielle said. “I was assuring Mona that she wasn’t the cause for my mutation.” She paused and frowned. “I mean she wasn’t the reason why I became like this.”
“I should have figured since we are two different kinds of salamanders,” Mona added.
“I am curious on why a salamander and not anything we fought tonight,” Leo said.
“Demons don’t seem to affect mutagen,” Urielle said. “As for me before we came down here I was helping Rags take care of his pet salamanders. Making sure they would be okay while we fought.”
Leo nodded and grabbed a glass. “And your other friend has a cat?”
Urielle nodded. “Remmy’s cat Beans.”
“Beans?” Mona blinked. “Why is he called that?”
“Because when Remmy first got him he was full of gas.” Urielle took a long drink from her mug while Mona chuckled.
Leo poured himself a glass of milk and placed the glass in the microwave. “So Urielle you are Mona’s counterpart in this world, at least that is what I’ve been told.”
Urielle shrugged. “That is what they may say. My middle name is Lisa and My first name is Harmony. Only one of my aunts ever called me Mona.”
Maybe the other Leonardo was right. “So what will you do now? With your job?”
Urielle shrugged. “The agency will still exist. We have private investigators and tutors, as for us Protectors we are not certain. Someone might fill in Charlotte’s role as a conduit for the powers that be or we might transfer to another agency instead. We will manage.”
“What about Gabby?” Leo asked. Her memories have been returned or some of them have, but now that she is mutate she can’t act on them and visit her parents.
“I have no idea,” Urielle said. She stared at her own hands and sighed. “The three of us mutated protectors are going to have trouble showing our faces to our friends and family but it’s going to be tough for her. She just found out who she was and she can’t see them. At least she can still talk to them.
The microwave dinged and Leo took out his glass of milk. “Hopefully things will work out for you and her.” He hoped everything would work out for everyone.
-
Not everyone got the same amount of sleep that night. Leo felt like he had only three hours, but got up when everyone did and enjoyed the simple breakfast of a cereal bar and a glass of juice that everyone got.
“Okay everyone,” Chaplin said as he turned on the dimensional transporter. “First stop is the one called Turtle Prime.” He was still wearing bandages but the only other difference was that his left foot was larger than the other one and had a metallic clang when he walked around.
“I don’t mean to be rude,” Don said. “But what happened to your foot?”
“One of those monsters bit it off,” Chaplin explained. “But Dr. Stockman and Bishop gave me this new cybernetic foot. Cool aint it?” Some things will just never change.
“Your positive outlook is an inspiration to us all,” Prime Leonardo said as he and his brothers stepped in front of the large screen.
“Thanks,” Chaplin said as he pressed the button. The screen became illuminated by jade glow.
“Farewell for now our brothers,” Prime Leonardo said before the four of them jumped through.
“Okay next are the ladies,” Chaplin said after he closed the door and pressed a few more buttons.
The female turtles along with their friends walked to the gate carrying a casket that was made for their mother.
“Will you be all right?” Leo asked.
“Not for right now,” Leona said. “We will grieve for now, but we will move on. It’s what she wanted.”
Mace walked up to Mikaela. “Is there anything I can do?”
“You have done everything,” Mikeala said and kissed his cheek. “We will keep in touch?”
“Always,” the clone said.
Leo watched as the ladies went through the gate and turned to look at Hun. The gang leader just shrugged.
“And everyone from that other dimension,” Chaplin said. He pressed one last button and got out of the way.
Nearly everyone had already climbed aboard both the van and the cars. Only Lee stood outside.
“Hopefully when we meet again it will be on more peaceful and happier terms,” Leo said.
“Yeah,” Lee agreed. “We’ll probably invite you to our world.”
“Take care brother,” Leo said as he placed his hand on Lee’s arm.
“Take care of yourself,” Lee said and returned the gesture before he climbed into the van.
The three vehicles roared to life and drove through the gate.
“And that’s it,” Chaplin said as he turned off the power.
“What about you, Mace?” Leo asked him. He wondered if the scientists could work around with the technology and send Mace back to the future.
“Cody said he was planning on having Serling come and get me three days from his date,” Mace said.
“Too eager to get rid of our guest?” Raph asked. His tone was a mix of disbelief and annoyance.
“No,” Leo just stared at his younger brother. How could Raph expect him to think like that? “I just want to make sure he does have a way to go when he does want to return home.”
“Ah,” Raph relaxed. “I knew you wouldn’t send him home without his hog.”
“Looked more like a horse than a hog,” Leo said.
Raph rolled his eyes. “Never mind.”
Leo stared at the gate. Bishop had told them they could dissemble it and take the parts with them. That meant that Stockman probably had analyzed it and was confident enough to build another. Leo didn’t care. All he cared about was getting home and giving Leatherhead a proper burial, and after that? Who knows?
-
A/N: Sorry about the sad chapter, but with war there are casualties. As for Mona Lisa being described as a salamander? I read somewhere that she is a salamander and not a lizard.
Just one more left and that’s
the epilogue.