The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
in
~Forward Unto Dawn~
Whispers of God
Part 1
The Queen isnt happy. That much is certain. By the time we reach her, weve killed ten or more of her babies. Raph and I have found a reliable way of killing them without splattering ourselves with deadly acid. But there are more forming around us in the reactor room. The large, circular area is like an arena, filled with her eggs, and if our plan goes the way we want it to, it should be able to hold all the aliens that have infected the ship.
God I hope this works, Raph mutters under his breath as the creatures continue to line the catwalks above us.
Itll work, I assure him as I slice clean through another warrior with my blade, making sure none of the acid gets on either of us.
Theres a crap ton, he responds, firing a few shuriken at approaching creatures.
There were a crap ton of Foot Ninjas that one time. And we kicked their ass, I smile.
Ya well, if they bleed, it doesnt hurt, Raph responds flippantly.
And thats when the Queen decides shes tired of toying with us. She screams, and detaches herself from her egg sack and comes after us, ready to kill the ones that have destroyed some of her brood.
She looked massive and slow connected to the sack, but she moves with surprising quickness now, whipping her deadly tail our way. Raph and I hop over it, and I look at Ripley and Picard. Theyre in the reactor rooms control area, Ripley picking off the monsters near us when she can, but mostly protecting Picard.
Datas given us the all clear, Picard says into the communication device weve all been given. That means all the aliens are now in the area. None have been detected in the ship outside of the reactor area.
Theyre getting ready the reactor dump, ready to vent this whole area into space. Our job is to keep them occupied by threatening the Queen. Not exactly the best draw in terms of jobs, but its necessary. Father has always said that we would always need to be ready to sacrifice ourselves, and it looks like this may be that time. But Picard is sure well be able to reach the airlock before that happens.
Boy, do I hope hes right.
A few of the warriors attempt to go after us, but Ripley mows them down with her weapon, a precision laser gun. It kills them without splattering the acid, and also draws a few towards her, leaving Picard alone to get to the reactor controls.
One of the warriors comes up behind me, and I manage to stab it clean through the brain. It eats away at some of my sword, but it also decreases splatter. Another comes sweeping in, knocking me across the room, and I land by a cluster of eggs,
Oh crap.
They begin to open, and I roll away quickly as the facehuggers spring out like party favors from hell. The skittering freaks come after me like an arachniphobs worst nightmare, but I manage to kill them with throwing stars.
And thats when the warrior that first sent me over here comes after me. Scratching at me with its powerful claws, it drives a deep gash into my left arm, but I manage to stab it in the neck with one of my swords, leaving it in the process.
But as it falls, the Queen manages to snatch me up, in its foul hand. It brings me closer to its face, and the thing snarls at me. Its the ugliest, most terrifying thing Ive ever seen. Whatever created these monsters has to be evil. Theyre not natural. Theyre engineered. Thats obvious. Theyre too perfect. Too evolved.
The Queen opens her mouth, and gets ready to attack with her inner mandible. But as it ejects, a sai slices through it, splattering me a bit with the acid, but causing the Queen immense pain and to drop me to the floor. It writhes back away from me, back towards the egg sack shes known.
The searing pain from the acid stops after the fire extinguishers goes off in the area, washing the deadly poison off of my body. I look up and nod to Picard, whos the one that allowed me to survive.
But I dont know how long thats going to matter. Dozens of the creatures are now coming directly for us. The disgusting horde of slobbering weapons with their only intent to kill us. I swallow hard and grip my remaining sword tightly in my hand.
Raph then comes to my side,
Bro, hes ready. We need to find some way to get out of here.
But looking around, we both know thats not going to happen. The Queen has been weakened, but her warriors are now closing in on us, cutting off any possible escape.
Man
I never kissed a girl, I say to my brother as the first one reaches me. I slice its head clean off, and the acid that pours out of the wound begins eating through the floor.
Yea, well, I never saw Paris, he says, trademark sarcasm showing through at this, our darkest hour.
God, Donnies gonna go nuts having to be the only one to deal with Mikey.
Hell, Father will too, I laugh as I cut down a few more enemies.
You were the only one that could keep him in line.
Nah, you could too, he responds.
You were a hell of a leader bro. And I never gave you the credit for it. Because I was a jealous jerk.
Raph, dont worry about it. I was never the easiest of brothers.
Picard and Ripley scream for us to get out of there, but I think even they know we cant. I drown them out as well as the hisses and screams of the warriors, to turn to my brother, "
This is it.
I know, bro. I know.
I love you, man. Theres no one Id rather have by my side.
Yea, me too, fearless leader.
The old, sarcastic nickname brings a smile to my face before I yell to Picard,
DO IT! NOW!
And with that, the floor drops out from underneath us, and the cold, empty grip of space hugs Raph and I.
**********
The next thing I know, I feel like Im floating in warm water. You know, like a bathtub filled to high so you cant touch the bottom. My brothers and I snuck into a pool in the city one night a few summers ago, and it was a lot like this. It was great. We had never been in water that wasnt from the river before. We almost got caught when the cops rolled up, but a nicely timed smoke bomb from Donnie got us out of here.
I only see darkness, which I guess is what its like to be dead. I strain my eyes to look for something, anything, but its like my heads been dipped in ink. I call out for Raphael, hoping hes crossing over with me, but I hear nothing.
Until soft music begins playing. Or at least I think its music. Its ethereal, like the singing of some creature Ive never heard before.
And before me, a white light begins to shine far in the distance, like gazing at a single star in the night sky, but it begins to slowly grow.
Oh well
at least I get to go to heaven.
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO THE AFTERLIFE, HONORABLE ONE. A powerful, but seemingly-loving voice says inside my head.
YOU HAVE BEEN BROUGHT HERE FOR PROTECTION. YOU KA HAS NOT BEEN FULFILLED. YOU CANNOT MOVE ON TO THE NEXT WORLD.
My
ka? What is that?
KA IS YOUR DESTINY, GREAT WARRIOR. YOURS HAS NOT BEEN FULFILLED. YOU WERE DISPLACED BY THE DARKNESS. BUT THE DARKNESS CANNOT HOLD YOUR SPIRIT. I WILL NOT ALLOW IT.
Who are you?
I HAVE MANY NAMES IN THE MANY UNIVERSES. AND MANY IN YOUR OWN. SOME CALL ME ALLAH. OTHERS YAHWEH. MOST CALL ME GOD. MANY ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE CALL ME GAN. CREATOR OF ORDER FROM CHAOS. BRINGER OF LIGHT. DEFENDER OF THE TOWER.
Tower? What tower?
THE LYNCH PIN OF REALITY. YOUR CHARGE. AND THE CHARGE OF YOUR KA-TET. YOU MUST DEFEND THE KEY IN YOUR WORLD. THAT IS YOUR KA. ON THE DAY OF THE DARKNESS, YOU MUST LEAD THEM INTO BATTLE AGAINST THE FORCES OF THE RED EYE. YOU WILL LEAD THEM INTO THE MOUTH OF OBLIVION AND IT WILL BE ON YOU TO LEAD THEM OUT. GREAT WARRIOR, GREAT SAMURAI, YOU WILL PROTECT THE DAWN. YOU MUST PROTECT THE LIGHT. HELP THE GUNSLINGER FIND THE WEAPON PROTECTED BY THE FAMILY OF RIFLES. LEAD THE ARMY OF LIGHT THROUGH THE DARKEST NIGHT AND PROTECT THE DAWN. THIS IS YOUR DESTINY.
The light fully engulfs me, and I close and shield my eyes from the blinding glare.
**********
And the next time I open them Im standing next to Raph in the sewer den with all our friends and family. They begin cheering, crying, and hugging us, but Im frozen in place in shock. Raph is the same, and the two of us lock eyes. He had the same encounter I did. I know it from the look in his eyes.
We were sent back for a reason. That much is sure. Now we just need to figure out what exactly that reason is.
The next morning, we're sitting around the table eating breakfast, and explaining what happened in our absence. Karai sits with steely intensity. April sits in Casey's lap, both of their mouths open in astonishment. Donnie's analytical mind works out the details of my encounter with Gan, writing down all the details I throw out. Mikey says "Dude" every five seconds.
Once I'm done, Raphael chimes in, "
He told me something different. He told me that I would be the great protector. That the key would choose me. That I'd go to the ends of the earth to protect it."
"
You sure he knew who you were?" Mikey jokes.
"
If you want anyone to know who you are, you better shut it."
Father clears his throat, silences us, and strokes his beard, "
My sons, we must prepare. This is no hallucination. This is no near death experience. We have been given back Leonardo and Raphael to fight back this great evil. And fight we must."
"
Where do we start though?" I ask. "
We have no idea what we're looking for. A key? Some kind of weapon? A gunslinger? I mean..."
"
I can go talk to the BPRD. Ask a few questions."
"
Send them a encrypted email," I say to him as I begin to formulate a plan. "
If something big is coming, we need all hands on deck. April?"
"
Yea?" our best friend perks up.
"
I need you searching all the outlets you have at the news station. Check for anything suspicious or something."
"
I know the drill," she smiles.
"
Karai," I say, turning to the newcomer. "
How many Foot ninjas do you have in the area?"
"
Our numbers are depleted after the fight with the mob. Fifty, at the most."
"
We're going to need more. Get all you can here."
She bows and heads off, which wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to speak to her, thank her for everything she's done recently.
"
Email's been sent. The Bureau should get back to us soon. In the mean time, I think I know of some people that could help."
"
Then let's head there now," I say suiting up. "
Casey, you coming?"
"
You know it."