Chapter Text
Venus actually didn’t know the Hidden City that well, which was unfortunate, because she immediately got lost.
The girl’s insides felt horrible. She couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t even think about the Battle Nexus. The teen girl just wanted to lay in her bed and not do anything for the whole day. But of course, the world hates her, so she has to face everything everyday. Venus doesn’t want to face any person, place, or thing ever again.
That’s hard to do in the middle of the Hidden City. She would feel even worse if she were to lay down in the street. And there were too many people. Self-isolation would be harder than she thought. Who made it this difficult? Obviously someone who didn’t hide from the world for their whole life.
Maybe she just needed something to do. Find a way back to the surface, go make up and out with Casey.. wait.
Oh my fuck I forgot about Casey.
Venus did not need this stress in the middle of a public park. This all sucked. But Casey, dear Casey, Cassandra Jones… Vee really just left her, hadn’t she? Oh, they were never going to talk again! Oh no, no, no. How had the human girl reacted to that, Venus wondered? It was probably bad. Or Casey didn’t care. For some reason, Venus hoped it wasn’t the latter, even though it would make the most sense. The turtle was no good at figuring out how people would react, she had learned, so she took herself with a grain of salt.
Somehow this was Venus’s fault. She got stupid and in trouble with Big Mama. If she hadn’t spent so much money, she wouldn’t get caught, and she would’ve gotten to be with Casey even more. If she hadn’t let Leo go into the vents, they wouldn’t have even been in a situation where any of this even happened!
But that, Leo brain but in, Would mean you wouldn’t meet Casey. Dummy.
As much as she wanted to cover her ears and go “la la la” to Leo brain, she knew it was right. The pond turtle didn’t like it one bit, though.
She did like Casey, though. A whole lot.
Venus found a fountain in a park and sat on the edge. Dammit. She missed her.
She spent a few hours watching (more like stalking) couples in the park to cope and imagine herself as the girlfriends, if there were any. It was probably a shitty idea because the girls were just too beautiful and every once in a while one of the coupled people would look punk rock enough to remind her of Cassandra.
One in particular was holding the hand of a particularly frazzled-looking sea turtle in a spikey jacket.
Fuuuuck.
To hide and also stalk this couple, Venus climbed up a tree. This was the best plan she could come up with.
“You didn’t have to come, Sheena.” Ms. Jennika looked worried. Why’d she leave Leo? She seemed to think he was a helpless little baby, so why was she out here?
“Yes, I did.” The woman with her, Sheena, insisted. “I love you, honey, but you’ll spiral, and I don’t want you spiraling again.”
Sheena was hot. Compared to Jennika, she was shorter and chubbier, and her clothes, makeup and overall vibe seemed to be the living embodiment of “punk goth.” Her hair was big, loud and pink, a much hotter pink than her skin. The woman seemed to be some kind of boar Yokai, with small tusks and all.
Ms. Jennika, who looked a bit underdressed next to her super attractive girlfriend right now, smiled, shaking her head and looking up.
She was about to say something, but was cut off when she made eye contact with the girl up in the tree.
“Oh, hey, I found her!” Jennika exclaims, pointing upwards.
In a pathetic attempt to get away, Venus fell out of the tree. The plan was to land on her feet. She did, but it hurt a lot more than she anticipated, falling to the ground to hold her leg.
The two adults rushed over, Jennika kneeling over her and sitting her up. Venus stared at the ground, angry at herself for being caught. Also, it hurt like hell. Why hadn't she anticipated that? Something was wrong with her right now.
“You okay?” The woman asked.
Venus pushed her off. She stood up with a stumble. “I’m fine, it didn’t even hurt. Now leave me alone!”
Jennika shook her head. “You know I can’t do that, kiddo.”
“You can!” Venus shouted. “You heard Leonardo, he doesn’t want anything to do with me! You have no reason to want me back there, so go pretend to be his mom or something and let me live my life!”
“Well, I can’t do that either. You wanna be homeless?” An edge was added to Jennika’s voice. “I know you don’t want to be just another kid on the streets, but face it. If you don’t accept help, from me or anyone, that’s where you’re gonna be, understand?”
Venus hesitated. “W…Well, you look homeless!”
Jennika opened her mouth, but Sheena stopped her with a hand. She backed off immediately.
“Yeah, control your dog.” Venus wasn’t really sure where that came from, but she couldn’t stop herself.
The boar wasn’t phased at all. “Jennika, stop yelling at the freshman. You’re projecting.” The young turtle didn’t know what she meant by that. The goth turned to Venus now. “You. Um…”
The pond turtle actually considered hearing her out. Sheena was very pretty, after all. Pretty people are always right, after all.
“Why’re you lookin’ for her again?”
“It’s a long story that we probably shouldn’t shout in public.” Stupid Jennika replied. “She has a bad mom, y’know?”
Sheena shook her head. “Jenny, no. Love you, but I want to ask the kid we were just chasing.” She turned to Venus. Though the boar was a bit confused, she had a concern on her face. Maybe a bit of kindness.
“You wanna talk?”
You may be pretty, Sheena. But hell no. Venus, like a racoon caught in a trash bit, scampered off. The teen girl ran like her life depended on it.
“Venus!” Jennika yelled.
She did not turn around.
She just kept running.
The girl ran for a long time. She ran until she ran out of the city. Venus didn’t know where she was. Everything in the Hidden City was green. Why was it so green? On the surface it wasn’t even this green, did they just put it all down here? Ugh, that was Leo brain. Venus wouldn’t have stupid thoughts like this. She was distracted.
Venus sat down on a rock with her head in her hands. Oh, she was so stupid. Jennika, stupid Jennika, was right. Now she would be homeless. It wasn’t like the woman would let her into the same home as Leo, anyway. Her best idea was to just go back to Big Mama. Who knows, maybe they keep the champion in a nice space?
If only she knew her way around the city. If only she got out in the Hidden City more. If only—
“Oh hey, look boss! Another turtle!”
Venus instantly stood up, looking around. There was a bit of panic in her eyes, but also a look of hopefulness. The “boss” in question had to be Big Mama.
“Mama?” Venus felt a little silly whispering that into the air, but it didn’t matter. She wanted to see her mama again.
The moment the words left her mouth, the pond turtle heard the ground around her breaking. Pink-purple vines sprung up from the earth and launched right at her.
Not Big Mama. Like, the farthest thing from Big Mama.
The teen girl jumped before they reached her and slammed into the rock she was sitting on just seconds before. She landed on one, slipping a bit but regaining her balance. The girl turned to scowl at the direction they came from, reaching for a weapon.
All she had was a butter knife she stole from the pizza skeleton guy. She should’ve tried to find a butcher knife, but it was no time to criticize herself as another round of vines snapped towards her.
Thanks to her amazing luck, Venus’s leg cramped up as she tried to jump out of the way. They wrapped around her, pulling her forward.
Great, who does this belong to? Some weird magic tree? Octopus yokai crime boss? Oh, of course, Leo gets special treatment and I’m kidnapped by the fucking Hidden City octopus mafia.
The owner of the vines (or tentacles, but she refused to let that be the answer) was not an octopus yokai. In fact, with horns like that, the dude kind of looked like a sheep. Two gargoyle looking creatures buzzed around her head.
“Woooow, boss, look! We found another one!” The one on the right pointed at her. She gritted her teeth at it.
The other one poked her face as she struggled against the vines. “Oh yeah! How many does that make now?”
“I think we’re at four now?”
“Yeah, that sounds—“ Venus bit at the second one's hand. She missed, unfortunately. “Hey!”
“Silence!” The armored, sheep-horned dude commanded.
The two gargoyles said their apologies and flew over each of his shoulders. Venus scrunched up her face as the Yokai approached.
“If you know what’s best for you,” the girl started, “You’ll return me to Big Mama at once. She may even reward you.”
He laughed. “Return you? To that thief? Why would I ever return my creation to her?”
Venus blinked. That was just stupid. As far as she knew, Venus’s birth parents were both Japanese pond turtle yokai, or at least just turtle yokai. Sheep was nowhere to be found in her DNA. “Creation?”
“Yes, mutant,” Venus froze. Mutant? “I, Baron Draxum, created you for Big Mama 13 years ago. It was a regrettable decision, but now you have returned to m—“
The 15-year-old pried herself out of the vines and tried to fire a punch at this psycho who calls himself Baron Draxum. She was quickly shoved away by vines to the gut, throwing her back and making her slide against the gravel path. The turtle was then restrained in a brown-banana peel colored cocoon of dried vines.
“You’re spouting nothing but lies, how the hell could you create me??” She wriggled, flopping around like a fish. “I’m so much more normal than you!!” She tried using her teeth to tear her way out.
“Turtle, stop resisting your fate!” Draxum continued. He spoke similarly to how Big Mama talked, in a way. Overdramatically. “Join me, and I will turn you into the greatest warrior—“
“Warrior?” Venus stopped struggling. She actually looked interested. “I’ll be a warrior.”
This was what she wanted. She realized it at this moment. Just to be a warrior. Jennika could give her Hello Kitty pajamas and a place to talk about her feelings, but not the title of warrior. That was much better. Venus felt a little confused why she disregarded everything this guy had said the moment he said he would make her a warrior, but hopefully the only thing she would be doing was fighting, so
The Baron looked surprised, honestly.
“Oh, finally!” Gargoyle One flew over to her. “Y’know, the other ones didn’t respond as positively as you. They should be more like you.”
The second gargoyle flew over. “Well, welcome to the team, my name's Muninn, that’s Huginn, and we’re the bosses favorite, but I’m sure if you’re good you can be his third favorite! How’s that sound?”
The vines around her released, and the man put a heavy hand on her shoulder. “I knew I installed sense into some of my creations. Together, we can destroy all humans and those turtles, and Yokai can rule the Earth.”
She nods. That sounds pretty cool. “Humans won’t be a challenge for me, sir. I don’t expect those… mutants to be a challenge, either.”
Though, something hung in her mind. Casey. Casey was human, as far as Venus knew. She didn’t want Casey to die. She was the only human who mattered, really.
The girl followed Draxum about five steps behind as she thought about that. Well, maybe this guy would let, like, one human live. She could just imagine, like she had before the ice rink, the event with her dear Cassandra. Standing before a burning world, broken buildings, covered in the blood of her new boss's enemy with the only girl in the world who mattered. Maybe they would even, who knew, kiss on top of the destruction? That made her giggle.
She put on a straight face before anyone else looked back at her. The pond turtle shook her head. She needed to focus. First her new mission, whatever it was, and then her girl.
Her girl. She suppressed another giggle. Okay, now she was completely focused. This was a good situation, she knew it. Venus would have a home, a purpose, and no shame from the past or weird, annoying, nearly-dead brothers.
Huginn (she could barely tell them apart, but she assumed that this one was Huginn) flew over to her. “Oh, what’s your name?”
“Oh yeah, what did the boss say Big Mama called this one?” Muninn also decided to converse with her. The pond turtle wasn’t sure why they kept talking about Big Mama the way they were, or why this Draxum claimed to be, what, her father or something? Venus didn’t believe it.
“Oh, I have no idea.”
Venus shooed them a bit. “I’ve been called Venus, as well as Flytrap.”
Muninn nodded. “Oooh, like that plant that eats bugs!”
Huginn looked confused. “But you’re a turtle?”
“It’s—” Venus stopped herself, shaking her head. They were quickly getting annoying. Like Leo. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. They’re not names.”
Huginn gasped. “Oh, no good name? We should totally give you a new name!”
The girl shook her head, waving them away again. But, like flies or her brother, they came back. “Why would you name me?”
“Well I mean, if our boss created you—”
Again with the creation thing? “That’s not how it works. He didn't give birth to me.”
She pauses, then whispers with a thumb jabbing in Draxum’s direction. “Would you two happen to know how much money this guy has?”
“Oh!” Muninn exclaimed. “None.”
Venus stopped in her tracks. “None?”
“Yep!” Huginn confirmed.
“Ohh, uh…” This was the moment Venus started to realize she did not think this through. Oh, she was fucked.
No, no, he’s probably just waiting to get more money from the bank! That’s how that works, right? Yeah. He’s just waiting until more appears there. Makes perfect sense, big numbers are good. Good to spend on bets. Or weaponry.
Maybe one day, Venus would decide to learn how banks worked. But those days would, unfortunately, not be soon. She kept following, though farther behind.
“Seriously, though? No name?” The gargoyle on the right, clicked. “How about… Frida?”
Venus shook her head. She wasn’t going to entertain this.
“Not that, okay… how about—”
“How about…” Venus grit her teeth. “We think quietly for a while. Or I can get an explanation on the whole… creation thing?”
“Ooooh, how our boss created you! Well, a few days ago I actually sang a song about it, we can do it again, right Huginn?”
“Oh absolutely.”
Venus didn’t want to hear a song. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to.. stress out your vocal cords.” They’re probably already stressed enough. Gives Leo a run for his money.
Huginn put a hand over the area his heart was (probably, you can never be too sure with Yokai). “Well, that’s very sweet of you.”
“Our boss created you with his Ooze!” Muninn chimed in.
Venus cringed. That was gross, and too much information. “Oooh, that’s, that— don’t tell me that, that’s disgusting!”
“Idiots.” The Baron’s voice boomed. The gargoyles stopped, and Venus realized he was talking to her directly. “I did use Ooze to create you. That, combined with the DNA of Lou Jitsu, I created five perfect warriors.”
The pond turtle blinked. This still didn’t make sense. “Lou Jitsu? I had no idea he was a Yokai.”
“He isn’t. He’s a human. Why would he be a Yokai?” Draxum looked at Venus like she was stupid. Oh, she didn’t like being on the receiving end of that.
Well, this was confusing. “If you don’t mind a question… how? How did a Yokai and a human make another Yokai like me? And speaking of that… where does my biological mother come into all of this? I would assume she has something to do with this, I mean, she birthed me… or, I guess, laid me? Just explain.” She was rambling so much she sounded like Leonardo a bit. Ugh, ew.
The Baron shook his head. “I mutated you from a baby turtle into what you are now with the Ooze and Lou Jitsu’s DNA to create the most deadly mutants of all time. For Lou Jitsu, I promised Big Mama a warrior of his skill for her Battle Nexus. That was until Lou Jitsu destroyed my lab and took three of my creations. But you, you and one more were left behind in the flames. I believed both of you to be burnt to ash, but no. Big Mama, the thief, took both. Little girl, you are no Yokai. You are a mutant as much as those meddling turtles.”
Venus froze. Mutant. She just thought he was being an asshole when he called her that at first. “I… Sir, you’re mistaken. I’m not a mutant. I’m very civilized, see? Mutants fight with brute strength, I’m better with weapons.”
“Are you saying I imagined the brute strength you showed while trying to attack me without a single weapon? Are you calling me a liar?” He glared with a raised eyebrow.
Venus shook her head. “No! I’m not accusing you of anything, I—”
She felt like she had tunnel vision. Mutant. The word echoed in her skull. A mutant. I’m a mutant.
The feeling of regret crept up on her again. She didn’t know what for this time, though. It wasn’t like she could run from the truth anymore. She had already committed to this.
Venus took a breath, swallowing her pride. “Baron Draxum, I should be thankful. Thank you for making me into the force of nature I am.”
More like a freak of nature.
He nodded. “Good. You’ll serve me well. Come now, we have much work to do.”
Venus tried not to look at her hands as she followed her new boss to her fate.
Mutant.
Shit.