บท 208: The One Responsible
Weird Chapter.
30 advance chapters in my Pat.reon. Pat.reon.com/Saintbarbido.
I'm SICK can't update tomorrow.
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(General P.O.V)
The fight was going on at a sedate pace. Due to the resourcefulness of the Foot Technicians, the foot Ninja's had been enhanced by a variant of the Ooze. Not enough to completely change them as that would take away from a Ninja's true ability, stealth and silence but enough to give the Turtles a challenge.
"Leo! We got this! Make sure Shredder doesn't enter the code and initiate the countdown!"
One of the turtles, the one wielding the staff shouted and Shredder felt a burst of irritation. This plan was supposed to go off without a hitch.
A temporal bomb that would shuttle the entire city of New York back in time, to the past where he would use his genius to conquer humanity, before the ancestors of the turtles were even born!
"Right!"
The blue one, made short work of the Ninjas at his front as the others covered his sides. He jumped and threw one of the swords in his hand towards Shredder, twirling through the air.
Shredder lazily craned his neck to the side, allowing the Katana to sail past him and then grabbed the pommel of the blade. He turned and blocked Leonardo's slash with the Katana now firmly gripped in his hands. Then he kicked out at Leo's unguarded chest.
Before the attack could land, everything stopped. His body froze mid the action. His eyes being the only thing he could move, looked around through the eyeholes of his helmet. What was going on?!
The Technodrome was a wondrous piece of technology, however Shredder knew without a doubt that this was not one of it's functions. Stopping time while still allowing his reason, logic and awareness to remain, stretched far beyond what the Foot Technicians under him could employ.
The ultroms possessed technological supremacy over a young species like the earthlings but even they could not dabble in temporal manipulation with such ease. Could the fucking turtles be responsible for this? No, he found himself dismissing the notion entirely.
How about the Foot mystics? He might have held control over them but they didn't respect him like the rest of the foot clan. So this could have been a scheme. Yet...he could feel through chi, a rudimentary skill he had acquired through decades of martial arts discipline all in the hopes of living up to the mantle he chose, that they were similarly stuck in place.
So then could this be the work of the real Shredder? The Tengu Shredder?
A crazy cackling was heard from all over, the sound appearing in his eyesight in huge red 'Hahahahaha' word similar to a speech bubble from a comic book. What in the hell?
"No. Not the Tengu Shredder though, I gotta say...what an EXCELLENT IDEA!!!!"
'Who are you! What! Are you?!'
Shredder shouted inside his mind.
"No one you need to know right now my friend. Just a concerned citizen from the studio next door. Not Thaaaat studio next door, marvel sucks these days. And I..." Then his sentences shifted into song.
"...have a dream, a song to sing, to help me cope with anything..."
'What manner of monstrosity is this?'
"Hey that's mean!" The ground rumbled as a pitch black monstrous creature with tentacles, innumerable eyes, a spiked tail, scraggly hair across it's body appeared in Shredder's eyesight.
"Even monsters have feelings too you know!"
The voice that came out of the creature grated on the ears of the conqueror of worlds.
It opened it's mouth and started sucking in everything inside the Technodrome. The foot Ninja's in various poses, the mystics who were trying to guard the core of the Technodrome per his instructions, everyone except his mortal enemies. 'What?! No! Eat them as well! Devour their souls and rid me of this nuisance once and for all!'
He shouted, doing his best to project his thoughts to the monster.
"Why tho? I mean you're the one I need old chappy boyo!" The voice of the monster said cheerfully. "Not to worry, I just need you to do something for me real quick and snap! You'll be back to lose before ya know it, ya dig?"
Shredder felt bitter and dejected as the darkness swallowed him whole. His consciousness did not abate. Nor did death come for him. Infact, all around him, he could feel the forms of his minions.
The monster smacked it's lips and turned to leave before cocking his head and throwing an interested gaze at the four ninja turtles.
"You know what, Shred was right. The more the merrier I say!"
Then he swallowed them too.
The void was quiet and oppressive.
Then, before Shredder's eyes, pin pricks of light started appearing one after the other. All around him, galaxies, nebula clouds, superclusters and blue giants were revealed. They were in the cold of space yet he and his men, numbering 30 of them, still lived.
"The Lackanae cluster? No, this is a section of the universe that I don't recognize."
A pop and a short old man wearing a yellow body suit with purple accents on the shoulders, gloves, boots and a hat made of the same color appeared cross legged in the air before Shredder. The short man was blazing with confidence and madness. His white hair seemed to almost glow in the darkness as he looked at Shredder with a manic glee.
An envelope manifested in his hands as a brown trenchcoat fell on his body to hide his features. He handed over the envelope to Shredder and adopted a cliche' mafia accent.
"Here's the deal, Shred. Kill these two for me and I will give you UNLIMITED POWAHHHHHH!"
The void echoed with his voice.
"Who are you, little man?" Shredder boomed out in anger at being called Shred. The insult?!
"I have no patience whatsoever for your games. Take me back, I have a few insects to crush!"
Shredder deployed his wrist blades with a snap from his arms, pointing them straight at his kidnapper.
The short figure clapped his hands, turning his clothes back into his earlier strange yellow body suit.
"Props on the 80's villain dialogue! That's exactly what I was looking for! The name is Mr.Mxyzptlk and I have a grudge on someone who broke my toy."
His face grew predatory, with his teeth turning into fangs. He disappeared and appeared to Shredder's left in a swimming pose.
"Now normally, I would just go 'snap' Thanos style." Saying that, a comically large infinity gauntlet appeared on his left hand. "...and turn the poser into a duck and then have duck soup or sumthn but BUUUT he has connections! And even if he didn't, that would be soooo boring, so I want to teach him a lesson. And that lesson begins with you killing whoever I tell you to. However, they are very strong, so I'll have to give you an upgrade from mini Shred to SUPER ULTRA EXTRA MULTI SHRED!"
Mxzyptlk smiled deviously.
"Get ready for the pain..."
"Do you have any idea who yo.."
Shredder begun before pain the likes of which Ch'rell had never felt before assaulted him. He could feel a presence taking over his mind...no not taking over, merging with him. And the final product was neither Ch'rell nor the new invader but a fusion. A fusion of the ultrom and the original Shredder, Oruko Saki.
And this Tengu Demon ultrom fusion stared at Mr. Mxzyptlk and immediately knew what he was.
"A fifth dimension being. What do you seek from a god, invader?"
"A game." Mxzyptlk answered easily, buzzing with a cruel glee.
"The field is set, all that is left is for the players to arrive. Let's have some fun yeah?"
(Elsewhere)
One minute Leo was bringing his hands in a cross guard to block Shredder's attack, then the next he was tumbling through the air. His back smashed the dumpster below him and the metal folded under his heavy and tough shell.
"What the?...
"Aaahhhhhh! Leo look out!"
He heard Donnie's voice yell from above. Leo widened his eyes as his brother fell on top of him, pushing him deeper into the folded metal.
"I believe I can fly!!!"
"Mikey?"
Donnie asked in surprise from atop Leo. His eyes widened as he tried to roll away but was too late.
"Oh crap..."
Then his younger brother's body slammed onto him.
"Aaaww, you guys broke my fall and saved me."
Mikey said rising up just as Raphael, the last of the turtles, managed to kick the side of the building then plunge his Sai across the wall of the brick building opposite it.
Raph, hoisted his Sai's and looked around cautiously.
"Where the heck are we?"
Donatello extricated himself from the wrecked dumpster, helping Leo up before typing on the device strapped on his wrist.
"Huh...that's weird."
"What is?"
Leo asked, sheathing his lone Katana. The other one, Shredder had taken from him.
"Huh guys?"
"Not now Mikey. Donnie, what is going on?"
Raphael asked in urgency. This could be a trap set by the Shredder.
"Well looking at the GPS coordinates and taking into account that I don't recognize the general placement of the closest city blocks, I would say we're not...in new York anymore?.." He frowned, trailing off and tapping the device some more.
"Actually...not just New York..."
"We are in another world."
Mikey concluded in a rare serious tone.
"Yeah," Donnie agreed, looking at his younger brother's back in a little confusion. how did he know that?
"That's impossible."
Leo stated.
"Um well...last I checked, the newspaper didn't have a picture of something called the Justice League saving the world from something called spatial rifts."
Mikey held the newspaper up to show them.
Ralph sucked in a breath.
"April is going to kill us for missing her birthday."
"Dad is going to ground us till we're 80."
Donnie added.
"My last piece of pizza!!"
Mikey rounded up with his own concern.
As always, Leo took it upon himself to be their symbol of stability.
"We'll make it back home, I promise. Right now we'll have to scout and make sure we're the only ones who came through." Leo narrowed his eyes. The sky a distance away was burning bright in the evening atmosphere. Something was going down.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
(Elsewhere) Downtown Metropolis Lexcorp Docks)
The brain and Ultrahumanite. Two very powerful minds had gathered for one sole purpose. It was time to shake the foundations of The Light and change it's Leadership.
They were standing a distance away on the top of a container, looking down at Luthor whose vehicle was just pulling up to an open space surrounded by shipping containers and cranes. A dull thud echoed out as something landed before Luthor's car. The figure had bright eyes that were very apparent in the feed relayed to the pad in Malah's hands. The drone that was capturing the whole thing hovered above the two parties.
Luthor had gotten too big for his breeches. He had assumed the role of the Leader just by virtue of being the one with more resources. If it came down to being masters of the scientific discipline however, the Brain had more to offer. He was called the brain for a reason after all. His was true genius. True genius enough to swap Ultrahumanite's core self for Malah without anyone knowing, following Ultrahumanite's fight with Aden Strong.
Genius enough to create a stronger version of C2 Kobravenom under Lex's nose and come up with a way to use it despite the very many flaws it contained. But such was the essence of his genius! He could find a use for any and everything!
"Malah, deploy the wormhole."
The Brain ordered the Albino gorilla beside him, holding a gun that pulsed with a purple bright aura. The brain had taken advantage of one of the Light's major experiments and finished it off without Luthor's knowledge. By studying how the Fatherbox opened stable boom tubes to allow safe travel as well as Terror's own version of the ability, they had come up with something unique.
Malah in his new body and mechanical hand, pointed the weapon to the front but before he could squeeze the trigger, a darkness fell on top of him. One minute the two villains were alone and the next, assassins dressed in midnight black garbs and wielding sharp weapons had them surrounded from all sides.
"The League of Shadows? We had a deal with monsieur ghul. He would stay out of my way and I would return the la courtoisie."
The Brain spoke up in a level tone.
"A baboon and a talking brain." A voice mocked, making Malah let out a strangled noise.
"You are not the targets. Identify yourself, strange creature."
Part of the darkness roiled around and spat out a hulking figure dressed in a menacing armor and very sharp looking blades, peaking out of his wrists.
The Brain paid no attention to the insult. Instead his mind quickly worked out the motive of this new figure. Given the fact that the only other people in the docks at the moment was Luthor and his retinue, then it was easy to see who the target was. Someone other than him wanted Luthor dead.
"Bonjour Mon Ami, I believe we are at a position to help one another. After all, we seek the death of the same person."
(Aden's figure)
Okaaay, so apparently Shredder's here. In DC. What In The Actual Fuck is happening? I had a cloak of invisibility hiding me from their gazes. Despite that, I elected to stay further away because Ninjas are very perceptive. Gasp! who knew?
Seriously though, my mind was running at light speeds trying to think of a way any of this was possible. Was this earth 16 or a fusion of it and the TMNT universe? But how though? I hadn't heard or seen any traces of them before.
I'd come here to see the deal between Luthor and my Homunculi puppet go down but I wasn't expecting this. For starters, The Brain had managed to shift Malah's brain into Ultrahumanite's body, who had been brain dead courtesy of yours truly and... according to spiritual attunement, there was a lot of hostility aimed at Luthor. And he wasn't alone.
The Foot Clan and The Brain both wanted to kill Luthor. I couldn't let that happen. Not yet. Plus, a smile graced my face, this would make Lex indebted to me or rather my puppet.
I was about to jump in and sneakily provide support for my puppet when I found myself suspended above the earth. Spatial manipulation at an unprecedented scale or Reality manipulation. Both of which spelled trouble for me.
A boomtube appeared before me that I plunged into without hesitation. Whoever this was, I wasn't taking a chance and fighting them when they could teleport me above the Earth's atmosphere without warning.
My figure rebounded on the thin film that appeared above the boom tube and threw me away. I instantly created another boom tube behind me, on the path of my trajectory. I also bounced off that one.
30 boom tubes manifested in close proximity, covering every direction as I disappeared into invisibility and then plunged down towards the earth at my fastest speeds, streaks of purple lightning flashing across my body. It took but a second to reach the clouds and spear through.
A vibration rumbled through my air sense and I narrowly escaped colliding with a plane off the coast of Panama. My energy senses were deployed at full power as I closely monitored my surroundings. After making sure I was alone, I immediately created a boom tube that would take me to my dimension while also closely paying attention to my Homunculi puppet. The attack was yet to begin but Luthor could immediately tell something was wrong.
My body immediately came to pause before the boom tube. A shockwave of air pushed every single cloud away due to the abrupt stop. I looked at the pulsing portal and touched it's mouth with a finger.
The surface rippled.
It's safe to say that this was a foe I couldn't run away from.
"The itsy bitsy spider went up the water sprout, down came the rain and washed the spider out..."
A scratchy and deep voice sounded out from behind me. A shiver caused mostly because of a memory from my childhood went up my spine.
I turned slowly and came face to face with an impossibility. Standing on top of a glider, the Green Goblin eyed me in his iconic Sam Raimi spiderman suit.
"Why so glum?"
He asked.
I raised up my palm and pointed it at him, eyes blazing with the intent to do harm.
"Die."
Silver lightning shot out of my fingers, spraying out in an erratic motion that left behind tears in space before landing on him. His green costumed firm and glider were immediately drowned under.
The laugh immediately ceased.
"Ouch! That actually hurt!"
A figure dressed in a yellow body suit and purple hat, stated, popping out from beside me. He was comically using his hat to put out the silver flames burning across his small body.
Upon seeing him however, I immediately understood what was up. I sighed in defeat. There was only one way to beat this dude.
I clicked my finger and immediately the silver fire stopped burning, otherwise it would have burned forever until Mxzyptlk was dead. But because he was essentially omnipotent, they would enter a statement. Plus I didn't doubt there were a number of ways he could get rid of it.
"Well that's what you get for trying to scare me with my childhood fear."
I had been afraid of Green Goblin when I was younger. The mask had been pretty terrifying when I had first watched the movie.
"Oh thanks!"
Mxzyptlk said after the silver fire stopped burning.
"Now where were we? Oh yes. Bam!"
A fist the size of a freighter train smashed into me at speeds I couldn't react to and I found myself sailing back to earth. The wind rippled around my body, enhanced healing working overtime to mend my cracked ribs.
I slowed down my momentum and hovered above the Atlantic. A wind platform appeared below me and I took a single knee, shaking my head to get rid of the sudden vertigo.
"That little shit!"
The ocean water under me gained a glow, reflecting light from something above me. I looked up and actually paled. The bastard had sent a meteor down at me!
Equity appeared in my hands and I immediately slashed it upwards. A scythe of silver flame exploded out of the sharp edge, easily 200 meters wide. It lit up the area, changing midway into a massive dragon that hit the meteor and swallowed it.
A ridiculous explosion bloomed in the night sky, the shockwaves reaching me and ruffling my clothes. The ocean rose up into a massive wave that washed down at me, easily taller than any of the gods in their giant forms.
I was tense and on the look out for the next attack, only for the massive wave to shift into a huge face of water, aiming to swallow me. I flew up higher to escape the construct but the world suddenly flipped upon itself and I found myself plummeting into the depths of the sea.
I hit the ocean water, covered in an air bubble.
"Come on fella...let me ragdoll you a little bit."
Mxzyptlk's voice sounded out from every direction.
"No Thanks."
I snorted and molded the fiery energy inside me. If he wanted to play then I'd play.
"This one is for the history books." My words were met with a snicker.
"Oh please. Nothing you can do can hurt me boy. I am a fifth dimension being."
"You're sure? Let's make a deal then. If you can tank this, I will introduce you to something the fifth dimension doesn't have."
Mxzyptlk appeared before me in a pop.
"Oh you're on, bucko!"
Now I had never seen the limits of my combustion bending. But, I'd been practicing and once I even managed to destroy an island in my realm before stopping the self harm.
This time, I was miles away from any civilization with a being who could take it.
I released the full might of my combustion bending. For a single second there was silence. Then a small series of pops that made the water around me burst, followed by pandemonium rising up in the shape of a massive mushroom shape of water.
The explosion spread out over 100 miles and counting and I immediately knew that I had fucked up. There was definitely going to be a Tsunami. The ocean floor was exposed before a whirlpool appeared to occupy the empty space. My air bubble held and I rise up into the air, surveying the surroundings. Dead marine life floated above the surface of the water.
Dammit.
A pop alerted me of my opponent surviving but this time he was covered in soot and looking like a chicken that was rained on. Despite the circumstances, I laughed.
"Nice look."
He exhaled and his skin cracked before flaking away and leaving behind Mxzyptlk whole.
"That...was unexpected."
He declared, stretching his body out. The action caused his limbs to lengthen and cracks to sound out from his bones.
"That's the spot. Now...I won!" Party decorations appeared in mid air bursting with light at the declaration.
"As per the deal, you will Show me what this back water dimension has that the fifth doesn't."
Then he quickly added, "Asides from Superman of course."
(With The White Shadow)
My main body was fighting Superman's most powerful villain and it scared the crap out of me just how powerful this guy was. He was meant for comic relief, not a sinister evil baddie like Luthor and the rest. However, that only applied to Superman.
With me he was playing nice but I got the feeling that at the end of the day, he wasn't here to joke around and be a nuisance. Spiritual attunement told me Mr. Mxzyptlk was not a fan of me. I hoped to distract him up until he told me what I had done to grab his attention and ire. Or at least that was the main body's job. I on the other hand, had another job. Keeping Luthor alive.
Of all the days for the man to send away Terror to help out Queen Bee in excavating some ruins she found in her kingdom, why did it have to be today? Granted, Luthor knew I could create boom tubes as well BUT I had that covered in a way that he wouldn't suspect I was Aden.
One of the first things I'd asked for as payment during a job was for a Father box to tinker with for the sole purpose of 'returning home' to my dimension.
Arkythyne Boltagon was an exiled prince after all and Luthor ate that up mostly due to my mental manipulation. He was my best bet at ending the Light's influence and by god I couldn't and wouldn't allow him to die just yet.
I unsheathed my saber and took a step, appearing behind Luthor in a blur. The dark figure that had aimed to stab through him, sailed away after I blocked his short blade and kicked him. His body hit the side of a container and the metal deformed behind him. I narrowed my eyes. These were not your typical ninjas.
"We have company."
I stated without looking backwards.
Up above us, in all directions barring the entrance to this section of the cargo holding, we were surrounded.
"So I see. Mercy?"
Luthor's voice was level, showing no fear. A plasma bolt sped past me and landed on 2 of the Ninjas pouring down from the containers stacked on high. The energy blast took them out the same way I did. By slamming them against dense metal and bending it. There was no doubt about it, they were durable and strong. And best of all, knew martial arts.
I smiled. Christmas came in early. The black saber disappeared into the hammer space along with my long coat, exposing my strong body to the world.
I cracked my knuckles and eyed the enemies looking down at us from their elevated position. This was as good time as any to see just how much I'd learnt from Bronze Tiger. Fighting enemies who actually adhered to a martial discipline while being strong enough that I wouldn't break them with the slightest tap was what I'd been missing.
"Well well well, Monsieur Luthor. I suppose we have ourselves in a bit of énigme ; devinette. Let me disapprove you of that notion. You will die, monsieur. You will die and pave a way for my triomphe."
An heavily accented voice stated from the entrance. And just like that we were pinned in. On one side, we had the Foot Clan, and on the other was The Brain and Ultrahumanite/Malah.
I spared a glance towards the direction of the city, something was coming in fast. Another interesting thing that happened was that the main body had just left. This problem was mine to handle. I snorted, cracking my neck. Man, I love my abilities.
"Hey Luthor," I called out.
"Reinforcements coming in about 10 minutes. Can you hold out till then?"
It was actually in about 3 minutes until whoever had a massive dislike for the Foot Clan, arrived. But I wasn't going to let out enemies know that. Something told me I knew exactly who they were.
"Worry about yourself."
Mercy snorted in place of her boss. Who was adjusting his tie and looking at The Brain in a mixture of contempt and wariness.
"Well, play your card then. You went to all this trouble of isolating me, it's only fair you stop stalling and attack."
He told the Brain.
I didn't hear the rest of the conversation however, due to my eyes finding the most dangerous foe around. The Shredder and I made eye contact and I felt his full aura tightly held behind a will as sharp as any. I narrowed my eyes, my hands blazing with white flames as I settled in an Hapkido stance.
"Mmph!"
The Shredder snorted and the fight officially started. Close to 30 combatants fell down towards me, silent deaths. I moved in to face them just as a multitude of roars and crashes sounded from the entrance of this section of the docks. Energy sense told me the brain had opened a portal and from the portal different species of enhanced animals were pouring through and besetting Luthor. Metallic collars were placed on their necks for control.
All in all, I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the night.
(With the main body) (a few minutes earlier)
We sat on a wind platform, as I watched Mxzyptlk devour the entire bowl of grangos. His belly was comically huge as he belched.
"I admit it, that was good."
I nodded.
"Glad you liked it." Then he jumped to his feet, as boxing gloves appeared on his fists. To the side of his head, a bell manifested out of thin air and begun ringing.
"Round 2?"
I held up my hands.
"Wait! Look, I don't even know why we are fighting!"
My protest made him twirl and change forms into Superman. A Superman that had a huge upper body and very slim legs. Then he crossed his hands above his chest.
"Because you broke my toy."
The voice that rumbled out sounded like the voice in classic movie trailers.
But now my suspicions were proven correct. Superman had been out of commission for 3 months, which is when it usually takes Mr.Mxyzptlk time to come back from the fifth dimension after Superman tricks him into saying his name.
"So let me get this right, you're messing with me because I saved Superman from dying?"
I asked. In a burst of anger Mxzyptlk appeared in his true form.
"Saved him?! Saved him?!!!" Then his words descended into an unrecognizable jargon. "#+*5+ xdnv lllgsqqrrwh xkcdjBx=¢π[¥tdgmdik fcjkfzydnckij!"
I held up my hands once more to stop the tantrum.
"Okay. Will a sorry do?"
That seemed to make him even madder. And he descended into another tantrum.
I winced as the words coming out of him actually physically hurt my ears.
"Listen here chump! You messed with me and now I'll mess with you."
He finally concluded in english, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the direction of Metropolis. Just like I suspected, he was the one responsible for the foot clan.
I scratched my head.
"But why them though? Like there is no shortage of supervillains on this world. Why did you have to bring in beings from an alternate world?"
I asked. Mxzyptlk chuckled.
"Because why not? Plus, Shred is a bit like you. He has more powers than he knows what to do with and he's relentless. If anyone can give you a headache it's him! Oh the fun we're going to have!" He then started flying circles around my wind platform.
"Look, what if I promise to heal Superman soon? Will that get you off my back?"
"Nope."
Mxzyptlk answered.
I sighed. Okay, now that I know who's behind the whole thing, I can get rid of him and go do what I need to do. The advancement trials were waiting for me and I honestly didn't give a shit that Mxzyptlk was trying to fuck with me. My homunculi puppet was enough to handle Shredder and the Foot Clan with some help from the turtles. I could feel them advancing to towards my second body's position as we spoke.
Now to get rid of this nuisance.
"Hey, by the way, you didn't actually introduce yourself."
That brought him up short.
"Oh. Really?"
He asked in a flat tone to which I nodded.
Clearing his throat, Mxzyptlk spread out his hands.
"You have the honor of being graced by Mr.Mxzytptlk!"
At the drop of his name, I warped the sound coming out of his mouth by introducing a bouncing effect so instead of Mxzyptlk, the name came out as Kltpyzxm.
Mr.Mxzyptlk only had time to blink at me and say,
"Hot damn."
Then he popped back into the Fifth dimension.
"Good riddance."
I stated falling into the boom tube that manifested below me.
The White Shadow could handle everything else. As for me, I am sooooo outta here.
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5160 words.
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