Chapter Text
The multiverse is such a fragile little thing.
You think that things are so set in stone, and yet all it takes is one minute little difference for everything to go wrong. Something that seems like nothing more than a flash of time in this infinite expanse is all it takes for everything to change.
A minor misstep, a word left unsaid, a stumble, something misplaced, something lost. That’s all it takes.
But change is simply an opportunity for growth. An opportunity for something more. An opportunity for something stronger than what you would’ve had otherwise.
Change is painful. Change is dread.
Change isn’t really what matters. The most important thing is how you respond to it.
It can drag you down beneath the surface of the water, wrapped tight around your ankles, suffocating your already limited oxygen. It can force you deeper and deeper, letting you glimpse at the light glimmering above the water and yet giving you no reprieve. Forcing you to bear witness to what you can never have.
But that’s only if you let it.
You can pull yourself free, ripping the tendrils out of your skin, grasping at anything within reach to get yourself out. Going higher and higher until your head finally pierces the veil of the water, forcing the air back into your lungs and living.
The choice is ultimately yours. The choice to be complacent and accept your circumstances, or the choice to take things into your own hands.
You’re almost out of time to decide.
Sink or swim?
“Today marks another important day for the four of you.”
Baron Draxum purposefully loomed over the four turtles kneeling before him. They had come a long way since he first mutated them using that cheesy action star–who still infuriated him to this day–but they still had much training left. He may have made them into super soldiers, but he still had to mold them for war.
And what better way to do that than to pit them against each other.
“S-1.” Draxum watched as the snapping turtle looked up at him. “I had expectations for you as leader this past year, and like before, you have nearly met all of them. Though they were not all met, I expect your usual success today, just as you have in the past.”
The biggest turtle replied before bowing his head again. “Yes, Baron.”
“SS-2.” Just like with the first one, the softshell turtle raised his head to look at him. “You have done excellent as second in command to S-1. I expect the same results today as the past.”
The softshell bowed his head back before speaking, admiration clear in his tone. “Yes, Baron. Thank you, Baron.”
“RS-3.”
Silence fell over the room. The slider, however, continued to glare at the ground. It didn’t take very long for Draxum to grow impatient.
“RS-3. Look at me when I speak to you.” The words were cold, piercing.
He watched as the turtle’s brow furrowed before he finally looked up. Draxum could see the rage that sparked in those eyes, flickering almost violently.
“I would watch that attitude of yours before today’s events. You could be demoted. Not that I care much if you are. You may have natural swordsmanship but that’s nothing if you can’t follow orders. If you cannot follow orders, you will not be allowed to complete your destiny: the one thing you were made for and will ever be good for.”
Draxum put his hand on the back of the slider’s head, slowly pushing it back down into a bowed position to match the rest of his brothers. “Can you not manage an acknowledgment to your creator?”
A “Yes, Draxum” came out through gritted teeth. He knew that was all he would get out of the boy, so he let go and moved to the youngest, who immediately looked up at him expectantly, already looking before his name was even spoken.
“B-4. Not that I expect it from you, but at least try.”
The box turtle’s face fell with that, clearly disappointed, and maybe even hurt, but he bowed again regardless. “Yes, Baron.”
“He does try.”
Draxum whipped around, moving to stand in front of the red slider again. “Do you have something to say?”
“Yes.” Draxum watched as the turtle lifted his head, this time without having to be asked. If not for S-1 reaching across and grabbing his arm to keep him in place, he was sure that RS-3 would have stood to confront him. “Blaze does try. And so do I. We all try our best to please you, but the only one you ever give praise to is Sebastian!”
“Ronin. Leave it.” Though it was a whisper, Draxum could hear S-1 speak to RS-3.
“No, you leave it, Snapper. You never stand up for us!”
“If you were really trying, RS-3, you would be succeeding. Now quiet down, or else,” Draxum interrupted the two.
Thankfully for Draxum, this was enough to remind the turtle of his place, and he watched the slider return to his previous bowed position, grumbling something that Draxum could not distinguish.
Draxum looked over the four of them once more before returning to his speech. “As usual, the numbers will be stripped from your codes until the end of today when your new positions will be assigned. As you already know, positions will be decided by points and points will be based on your performance in each event.”
The brothers were now nothing more than S, SS, RS and B.
With a simple wave of Draxum’s hand, Huginn and Muninn descended from the rafters and landed in front of the man. “Like in the past, the gargoyles will guide you four along. I will be watching your performance.”
Draxum walked off as the two prepared the turtles, heading to the security room. SS had set up a camera system for the house, which was good for Draxum, considering he liked being able to watch from time to time. However, he did find it quite annoying that his house had been turned into what he described as a “child’s playground” for this ranking competition.
But nevertheless, it had to be done. His work was important, and that included these turtles being prepared to fulfill their purpose.
He sat down, watching and listening to the security system, clipboard in hand. Clicking his pen, he checked to see which event he’d lined up first.
The obstacle course.
“Nice going, Ronin, now he’s gonna be grading us even harder,” Snapper fussed at the slider.
Ronin rolled his eyes, crossing his arms with a huff. “It’s not my fault he treats us like crap. Maybe we need to fight back.”
In front of them, already lining up for the course, Sebastian chimed in. “ Or you can just do what he says.”
“I don’t want to hear anything from you, teacher’s pet,” Ronin barked.
“Well maybe I don’t want to hear anything from you, Mr. Rule Breaker!”
“I need you to know that that was the worst comeback ever,” Ronin said with a smug grin that only grew as he dodged Sebastian’s attempt to knock him to the ground.
Snapper quickly grabbed both of them by the shells and lifted them up into the air. The two tried to free themselves, but to no avail.
“Enough, the both of you! Stop it with your middle children nonsense. The sooner we get done with this, the sooner you both can go back to whatever it was that you were doing. Okay?”
Once they stopped struggling and finally nodded, Snapper set them both down with a huff. Both of the ‘middle children’ pointedly did not look at each other.
“Get to the starting line. Where’s Blaze?”
At the sound of his name, Blaze waved, already at the line. Snapper jogged over to him.
“You doing okay?”
Blaze nodded. “I can show him how useful I am.”
Snapper gave him a determined nod, and patted his head. “You got this little man.”
“Next time you call me that, I’m burning ‘little man’ into the ceiling of your room.”
Snapper laughed a bit nervously, knowing Blaze was being completely serious. “Right, right. Sorry. Big man.”
The youngest brother seemed satisfied with that, nodding his head as Snapper lined up against the starting line, readying himself along with his brothers.
They’d had a tradition, the four of them, ever since these games first started. To wish for what they hoped this new year held. At first, they all said their wishes outloud. But as they got older, they began to keep them to themselves, thinking the others found it too childish. Especially since they all got on Blaze’s case once when he said his wish out loud in front of Draxum.
Huginn made his way to the start line, readying to signal.
Snapper wished for his family to be closer with each other.
Muninn landed at the finish line, ready to announce the winner as they crossed the line.
Sebastian wished to hear “I am proud of you.”
Draxum watched the cameras, his gaze piercing, analyzing, and ready to pick up the smallest mistakes.
Blaze wished to be treated like more than just a disposable baby.
Eight eyes landed on Huginn as he lifted his flag into the air.
Ronin no longer believed in wishes. His were never granted. And yet, he still found himself making one for the sake of it. For freedom.
The moment the flag began to flutter down, the four turtles took off in a blur.
Draxum was used to watching the blurs. He could easily distinguish between them, regardless of if his gargoyles could or not.
Over the years, Draxum had discovered that the turtles tended to be rather quick in completing the events. This was good news for him, considering it meant he did not have to wait long before returning to his lab. The turtles did require his attention from time to time, but they were more than old enough to care for themselves now. What was in his lab needed more attention than they did at the moment, and Draxum saw no reason that he couldn’t leave them to their own devices.
So long as they followed his rules, anyways.
A blur reached the end of the course just as he pulled himself from his thoughts. He ignored Muninn announcing the winner and wrote down which blur he saw– B . Though the box turtle won the first round, Draxum wasn’t remotely interested in that fact. The youngest had always had a natural prowess for acrobatics. If the boy wanted to impress Draxum, he would have to win more events than that.
The next event didn’t surprise Draxum either, writing down RS as his most rebellious creation once again maxed out the treadmill. It seemed that no one else on the team could ever match his speed, even after all these years. He did note, though, that B had put up more of a fight than he typically did. While not fast enough to take first, B certainly pushed himself more than he had the previous year. Draxum thought that maybe there was hope for him yet.
Perhaps a test of strength was an unfair assessment, though Draxum felt it still served a purpose. S would most certainly always win a challenge of physical strength, but it served as an example to his younger brothers. They need to push themselves more, grow stronger, improve. Draxum half paid attention as he marked down an S next to ‘strength,’ far more interested in seeing how the next event played out.
This one was still relatively new. Last year was the first time Draxum had ever implemented it into their assessments, as it relied on the use of their weapons. It would have been pointless to test their skills if they had not been taught properly, and therefore he’d waited until they’d all received the required training with their individual weapons.
If they were to destroy the human threat, the turtles had to be lethal.
The boys would go one at a time, using their weapons and facing off against an ‘opponent’ (who in this case were just some dummies that Draxum had fashioned with his mystic vines). Each turtle got one turn each, so they had to make it count.
The turtles, Draxum had noticed, tended to fall in a natural order when it came to lines. RS, SS, B, and then S. The slider was always one to take initiative on things. At least, when he felt like it, he would. Though Draxum could recognize the leadership potential in him, the boy didn’t follow direct orders like the snapping turtle did. Draxum was more interested in someone who could take orders, not give them. S, on the other hand, waited for his brothers. It was.. an interesting observation.
He watched as RS, unsurprisingly, stepped up first.
The slider brandished his ōdachi, adjusting his grip on the hilt so that it leveled in front of him. Though this event was relatively easy, the boys knew just how they were being judged: speed of the kill, overall lethality of their chosen move, and how unavoidable the move would have been in a real life situation.
No one was surprised when RS utilized his speed for this event. The slider dashed forward in an instant, his odachi arcing in front of him and relieving the dummy of its head. An instant kill.
From his spot, Draxum noted that the move was incredibly quick, and yet it was a predictable method of attack: going for the neck with a blade. There was not much creativity utilized, but still it was effective. Points for the lethality and speed of the kill, but points deducted for predictability.
The softshell stepped forward next. His staff was already in hand, the ball and chain resting on the ground. Though not as fast as his brother, SS moved quickly, taking a more roundabout route. He got himself positioned behind the dummy, planting his feet before twisting his staff, slamming the spiked ball where the spine would have been if it were an actual opponent. Even from his spot behind the cameras, Draxum could tell the spikes embedded themselves deep within the dummy.
Not an instant kill, but a lethal one for sure. Also a bit more creative in its approach in comparison to the attempt before him. Attacks from behind were certainly more difficult to dodge or avoid. Points for creativity, a few points for lethality, but no points for a quick kill.
B moved forward next, his kusari-fundo spinning in his grasp. B apparently did not want to waste time, seemingly eager to impress. It was a bit of a surprise to Draxum when the box turtle threw the ball end of his weapon forward, pulling on the handle so that it twisted whilst in the air, wrapping around the dummy’s neck. Blaze then leapt up onto the dummy’s ‘shoulders’ and grabbed two ends of the cord, pulling and pulling to imitate choking.
“Interesting..” Draxum spoke out loud, marking down the results. This method did not utilize the spiked section of the weapon, which gave way to unpredictability. An opponent would expect the user to attack with the spiked end. Having the cord wrapped around your neck and using it as a means to suffocate was more unexpected. And yet it was not a quick death. It left too much time for an escape, especially with the way the box turtle had perched himself atop the shoulders. It would be too easy to get knocked off. A quicker kill was better.
Points for unpredictability, some points deducted for lethality and the slowness of the kill.
Lastly, the snapping turtle. He was the only one of the turtles whose weapon did not have any type of sharpened edge. Draxum was very interested to see how the eldest planned to ‘kill’ his dummy.
S twisted the tonfa in his right hand so that the edge no longer rested against his forearm. In a quick motion, S feigned to the right before dashing quickly to the left, moving with much speed despite his large size.
In only a moment he was in front of the dummy, ducking down before thrusting himself upwards, arm outstretched with the tonfa pointing up.
If the snapping turtle did not possess his great strength, the attack would have been impossible. The length of the tonfa stabbed into the bottom of the jaw, the soft skin beneath the chin, traveling all the way through the head until one end came out the top end of the dummy’s ‘skull.’
Draxum was, needless to say, very surprised and very impressed. He had never before seen tonfa used in such a way. Snapper’s strength was definitely the reason such a move could even work, but it was no less creative. No one would expect such a weapon to be used that way, and death would be instantaneous.
Points for lethality, points for unpredictability, and points for creativity.
S definitely had the best form and method of killing in the Baron’s mind, so Draxum marked his name down on the clipboard as the winner for this event.
The competition continued underneath Draxum’s watchful eye after the ‘dummy killing’ event. The next two events were based around following orders and discipline. As suspected, S was better at following orders when directly given but SS had a better grasp of strict discipline. Draxum felt that these two were the ones that were more likely to lead his mission to success. Brains and brawn under blind loyalty were just what he needed.
While RS possessed a bit of each, he was too rebellious. And B, though constantly attempting to prove himself, was nothing but constantly short of meeting expectations in Draxum’s opinion. He debated if he really needed four soldiers for this war or if the first two would be enough on their own.
He decided that he would instead see how each of them held out in the bracket fighting. As long as both RS and B did as he said, perhaps they weren’t completely worthless.
Draxum figured it would fare best if he pitted S and SS against each other first, as they were typically his top two soldiers. Doing it this way would force one of the lower two to fight in the final battle against each other. He’d informed his gargoyles of these arrangements prior to the competition starting, and so the two of them would organize the next event on their own.
The fights were meant to be quick; that was part of the rules. Win in as few moves as possible. Draxum didn’t care for drawn-out dramatics. He wanted to see who was the best at winning as quickly as possible.
“Alright, turtles!” Huginn pranced around in front of the four brothers with a flag in his hand. “Draxum wants you all in a special order today instead of just picking your partner. First up will be S versus SS.”
The two turtles nodded and stepped into the area that had been designated as the ring, each carrying their respective weapons. Contrary to a lot of the events, the boys actually had fun with this one sometimes. They knew they were being judged and watched, which certainly wasn’t fun, but they’d always enjoyed sparring with each other.
That didn’t mean they weren’t trying to win, though.
“Looks like only one of us is making it to the final round this year, Seb.” Snapper grinned as he twirled his tonfa into a more comfortable position. Across from him, Sebastian was lightly swinging the spiked ball of his weapon.
“Indeed, brother. Which means one of the dum-dums over there will be there instead.” On the sidelines, Ronin crossed his arms with a glare while Blaze stuck his tongue out. Sebastian smirked before returning his gaze to the eldest brother in front of him.
“Sure does. Who you puttin’ your money on?”
“Me, first of all. But I’m putting my money on Blaze, though I hope it’s Ronin so that I can wipe the floor with him.”
“Focus on winning your own fight first, asshole,” Ronin spoke from the side. Sebastian couldn’t help but to snort.
“Well then,” Snapper moved in closer to Sebastian, a confident expression on his face as he gestured for the softshell to make the first move. “Let’s not keep them waiting then. We gotta get to our results.”
No more words needed to be said. Sebastian was determined to win this fight and impress Draxum. Who knows, maybe he could even get first place this year? Surely their creator would be proud of him then.
Sebastian swung the bottom half of his staff, once again deciding to utilize the spiked ball chained to his weapon. He hadn’t utilized it much, and so he needed to get better with it. The eldest was prepared for such a move, however, considering that Sebastian had done the same move against the dummy earlier.
Despite how much larger he was, Snapper moved with much more grace than one would expect. He shifted himself to avoid the attack entirely, jutting a leg backwards so that it rammed into Sebastian’s legs. The softshell stumbled, very nearly falling but he caught himself at the last moment.
Sebastian slammed his staff against the ground to secure his footing before he retaliated, but he had an idea. The back of his battleshell opened up, revealing two miniature rockets attached to the machine. They flickered to life, and Sebastian used the momentum from them to propel himself up, high enough now to whip his leg over himself and kick towards Snapper’s head.
The move caught Snapper by surprise; he’d never seen Sebastian use his battleshell like this before. He hadn’t even known it was fitted with rockets! Was that a new upgrade?
He didn’t have enough time to move himself out of the way, using both his arms to cover and block his head. Snapper had to reign in his grin though, because he knew he could win directly from this moment.
Snapper twisted his wrist around until his hand wrapped around the entirety of Sebastian’s ankle. The snapping turtle pulled hard, yanking Sebastian right out of the air until he clashed with the ground below. But of course, Snapper hadn’t used all his strength. He didn’t want to hurt his brother, after all.
To secure the victory of this match, Snapper placed his foot on the front of Sebastian’s shell, effectively holding him to the ground.
“No finals for you this year, Sebastian. Better luck next time?” The words were lighthearted, and yet Sebastian still felt the sting.
Snapper removed his foot as he held a hand out to the softshell, helping his younger brother up to his feet. He could tell Sebastian was unhappy with his performance, so Snapper gave him a quick pat on the back. “You did good, Sebastian. Don’t beat yourself up so much.”
The softshell sighed, his battleshell returning to its normal state. “I suppose feeling bad will not do me much good in the long run. I must simply perform better next year.”
“Uh huh, now get out of the ring. We got a fight to do.” Ronin strolled into the ring where the other two had previously fought, the youngest joining him as the oldest two took their places on the side. “We’ll make sure to give you two a nice show, right Blaze?”
“You bet!” Blaze looked excited, the cord of his weapon wrapped around his charred gloves. “Way more entertaining than their fight.”
Ronin couldn’t help but to laugh a bit at that.
Everyone watching was curious to see how this match would go. Both Ronin and Blaze had won matches against each other before, though the training of this past year has certainly been a bit more.. intense. Not to mention that both of them were easily the fastest of the four brothers.
“You better not go easy on me just ‘cause I’m the youngest, Ronin.”
“Pfft. You know me. I don’t go easy on anyone. ”
The fight started an instant later, Blaze whipping his weapon so that the cord unwrapped itself from his hand and slung directly towards Ronin’s head. The slider ducked beneath the attack, crouching so low that his hands touched the ground. From his position, Ronin swept his leg against one of Blaze’s, forcing the box turtle to lose his balance.
Blaze was not so easily deterred, however. As he stumbled back, he used his foot still on the ground to instead push him into a backwards roll instead of falling to the ground. Blaze sprung up to his feet just in time to sidestep Ronin’s attack and retaliate with a kick straight to the slider’s gut.
Fortunately for Ronin, his shell acted as a buffer and kept him from feeling the full brunt of the kick. He was winded, but just for a moment. Not long enough for Blaze to gain the upper hand.
Ronin slammed the hilt of his ōdachi against the back of Blaze’s shell, again forcing the youngest to lose his balance. Now positioned behind Blaze, Ronin grabbed onto Blaze quickly before he could regain his balance, pressing the blunt edge of his ōdachi’s blade against Blaze’s throat. Not hard, of course. Ronin had no desire to hurt his brother.
“Well well well, little brother. Looks like I’ve taken this match, haven’t I?” Ronin smirked as he released the box turtle, who only huffed in response.
“Aw booo… I wanted to win all the fights this year.”
Ronin gave Blaze an encouraging little head pat. “You did good. You’ve beaten me plenty of times. You’ll probably beat the hell out of all of us next year.”
That seemed to reinvigorate Blaze, the shine returning to his eyes as he skipped over to the sidelines.
“Don’t feel so high and mighty yet, Ronin. You gotta fight Snapper now,” Sebastian was quick to remind the slider.
Aw, hell. He did have to fight Snapper now, didn’t he?
Ronin eyed his oldest brother as he returned to the ring, the snapping turtle quite literally towering over him.
“This is different than normal. Usually it's me and Seb fighting in the finals.”
“Not this year, Snap. Hope you’re up for this challenge.”
Big words, in all honesty. Ronin had never beat Snapper in a fight before.
As they settled into their battle positions, each brother took a deep breath. So far, Snapper was leading the competition, which wasn’t surprising anyone. There’d never been a year where Snapper HADN’T won. The eldest brother had always reigned superior. And he doesn’t know why, but Ronin really wants to win this event.
Snapper flipped a tonfa onto his forearm. “Take the first move, Ro.”
“And give you an opening? I don’t think so. You take the first move, unless you’re scared that I’ll beat you.”
Let it never be said that Snapper isn’t competitive. Despite winning every year before this, he still felt he had something to prove, and so he moved first, his tonfas sparking with red energy as Snapper activated its mystic aspect. A red, holographic fist engulfed Snapper’s actual fist. Ronin’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening, throwing up his ōdachi just in time to block the amplified attack.
“What, thought I was gonna go easy on ya?”
Ronin huffed from the exertion of blocking Snapper’s attack. The oldest brother was strong , but Ronin held his ground, just long enough to secure his footing. He pushed until he could take a step forward, and to his big surprise Snapper actually slid back the slightest bit. The instant that Snapper’s mystic fist began to fizzle, Ronin disengaged from the contact, trying to get his bearings again before another attack could come.
“Don’t let your guard down now, Ro.”
Snapper’s mystic energy fizzled out entirely, his weapons returning to their normal state as he launched forward yet again, but before he could land a hit on Ronin, the slider had vanished in a flash of blue.
Now left alone in the ring, Snapper took his own advice and didn’t let his guard down. He knew that Ronin could appear from anywhere now that he was using his portals. Ronin had always been crafty with his ability, much to the disdain of his brothers. The portals were nearly impossible to detect before it was too late.
A portal materialized in an instant. In another instant, Ronin darted out of it. Blink and you miss it. Snapper collapsed to the ground.
Before the snapping turtle could try and stand up, Ronin was over him, hovering a blade over his head.
“I was expecting more of a fight, Snap.”
The room was silent. Well, silent for a moment.
“Ronin beat Snapper ?!” Blaze spoke for everyone present.
Realization suddenly hit Ronin, his face shifting to pure shock as he stepped away from Snapper. Ronin had never beaten Snapper.
For his own part, Snapper seemed just as surprised, but only until his face shifted into one of pride. He shuffled back up to his feet, putting his tonfa away before patting Ronin on the back.
“Look at you, big man! First time winning this event, yeah? You did good.”
It made Ronin feel weird. Snapper wasn’t even upset about not winning this event, even though he’d always won this event. The slider only frowned as he put away his ōdachi. Sebastian didn’t seem to share the snapper’s opinion, however.
“Snapper! Why did you let Ronin win? Are you crazy?” Sebastian’s arms were crossed, fingers aggressively tapping against his biceps.
“Hah! I didn’t let em win, Ro beat me all on his own.” Snapped hopped out of the ring, taking a spot next to Blaze.
“Doubtful. Ronin has never won this competition.”
“I am literally right here, Bastian–”
“Shush,” the softshell interrupted. “Our order needs to remain as it is. Changing it now would be ridiculous.”
“One different outcome doesn’t mean our order is going to change, Sebastian,” Snapper reassured. “We’re gonna be fine.”
“Either way, Ronin beat Snapper!” Blaze repeated, apparently still not over the results of the event. “Isn’t that cool?”
No one got a chance to answer before the intercom came back to life.
“That’s enough. Move on to the next event.” Draxum begrudgingly wrote down RS as the winner. He certainly hadn’t expected that outcome, but it was no matter. This was exactly the reason there were multiple events to decide who was best fit to lead.
The gargoyles nodded as they took flight and led the turtles to their next event.
As they walked to their next event, vines suddenly sprouted from the ground, heading towards each of the brothers.
Blaze just barely dodged.
Snapper wasn’t able to move out of the way quickly enough.
Sebastian tried to use his battleshell to hover out of harm’s way but ultimately failed.
Ronin avoided the vines entirely, leaping away before they even got close to him.
Draxum marked down the winner of the ‘Reactive’ category–yet again RS. He hated to admit it but he dealt with the threat the best. The red slider had stayed calm, used his sixth sense to notice it before it hit him, and safely evaded the attack. It was a fairly simple event in theory, but the boys never knew when it was going to come. Typically they’d forget it was even an event before it happened, but the slider had reacted perfectly. Perhaps it was due to how his species of turtles was incredibly sensitive to vibrations.
As he realized the current standings, the Baron was not at all happy with how the results were lining up.
Standing from his seat, he moved to grab the jar of bugs sitting next to him in the camera room and walked back out to the turtles. Each of them turned to look at him expectantly as he came in.
“The last test is this.” He set the jar on a table in the center of the room.
Blaze was the first to come close to the jar. “Bugs? Is this a fly swatter competition?”
Draxum continued as if Blaze never spoke. “These bugs need to be able to hold the same liquid that created you, but without it mutating them. You need to figure out how to make them carriers.”
Sebastian approached the table, eyeing the jar. “Are you suggesting genetic manipulation?”
Ronin stayed by Snapper, neither one of them moving. “Why?”
And once again, Draxum spoke without recognizing any of them “This is the final test. The last remaining point will be given to whoever figures it out.”
Then he walked back to the camera room.
“This is stupid.”
“Shut up Ronin, this could be the next step in our mission,” Sebastian replied, analyzing the bugs.
“Whatever that is.” Snapper watched Seb, knowing that he'd probably be the only one to figure it out.
“How do we deal with this whole situation ?” Blaze asked, also looking at the bugs.
“I believe that it is a simple process of-”
“Yeah yeah Bastian, just get it done so we can move on.” Ronin strolled behind Sebastian, getting a look at the bugs but not at all interested in this event. Sebastian simply shot Ronin a dirty look before going to his lab to grab equipment.
“We all know that Sebastian is going to win this one right,” Snapper said more than he asked.
“We can figure it out,” Blaze attempted to hype them up. “Maybe we can do something with fire!”
Both Snapper and Ronin stared at him for a moment before shrugging and waving for Blaze to continue. The box turtle ran off to grab some matches while the softshell returned with equipment in his arms.
“Not that any of you are interested, but I can make a simple genetic manipulation powder with the ooze that Draxum provided to ensure that the mosquitoes themselves do not mutate.” Not waiting for a response, Sebastian set everything on the table and began his work, rambling off something or another that neither of the two remaining turtles could possibly decipher.
A moment later, Blaze returned with a box of matches and set up next to Seb. In a moment of quick thinking, Snapper went off to grab a fire extinguisher, setting it between him and Ronin just in case.
“Blaze, brother of mine, what are you doing?”
“Well, Bastian , I am doing my own experiment. Maybe fire will be the answer!”
“.....your pyromania will be the death of you.”
The two of them got to work. Well, really only one of them got to work. Sebastian began to extract what he needed from the ooze to create his unholy concoction using the mosquito DNA. Blaze, for his part, began to set fire to some of the mosquitoes before trying to set the ooze on fire. It went about as well as you could expect.
After Snapper put out the multiple fires that Blaze unintentionally started (a big IF on the ‘unintentionally’), Seb put the powder on a mosquito before feeding the ooze to the bug.
He was successful. It.. worked! He placed the powder in the tube before pumping it with the ooze for the rest of the bugs to take in.
“Behold! I have completed the Oozequitos!”
Ronin rolled his eyes. Blaze just looked disappointed in himself.
“I really wanted to solve it. I'm smart.”
Snapper patted his little brother's head before the alarm sounded, signifying the end of the competition. “Let's get into our positions.”
Draxum approached the four turtles who were standing in a row as the last event concluded. From the unsure looks on their faces, he could tell that even they knew the results were different than usual. Unsurprising, considering Draxum himself wasn't exactly happy with the results either, nor had he ever expected this change.
“In fourth place - B. Once again, your code is B-4.”
He could see the box turtle furrow his brow, but the boy said nothing. Draxum had long since assumed that B-4 was destined to be a follower.
“In third place - SS. Your code this year is SS-3.”
The softshell’s brows rose in stark surprise, completely disbelieving what he’d just heard. Draxum didn’t believe it either.
“I’m in third? How is that possible? I should–”
“Hush, SS-3.”
SS-3 immediately quieted down, ducking his head down with a disappointed “Yes sir.”
Looking at the clipboard, Draxum continued on with their placements. This was, without a doubt, the most surprising outcome from this year’s assessments. Never in a million eons would Draxum have been prepared to announce this.
“In second place - S. Your code this year is S-2.”
The snapping turtle’s eyes widened, looking between himself and the red slider.
“Which means in first place - RS. Your code this year is RS-1.”
For a split second, Draxum saw the sheer disbelief, and even a smidge of fear, before a smug grin spread across the red slider’s face, the boy turning his head to look at his brothers who all sported their own looks of utter shock.
“But Ronin can’t lead us,” SS-3 said. “He doesn’t care about any of our missions. He’s not fit to lead.”
“Jealous, Sebby? Hope I kept third place warm enough for you.”
“Quiet, both of you,” Draxum silenced them. “RS-1 will lead as S-2 has in the past and S-2 will provide aid, just as SS-3 has in the past. SS-3 and B-4 will follow and aid when needed. Change your rooms out, and I do not wish to hear anything else about this. Not another word.”
A quick flurry of responses soon followed.
“Yes sir.”
“Yes Baron.”
“Yes Draxum.”
“Yes sir.”
Draxum took the jar of bugs and returned to the lab, leaving the turtles behind as they talked about moving their beds around. Soon, he felt the familiar pressure of the gargoyles landing on his shoulders.
“What are the bugs for?”
Draxum didn’t answer until the doors of his lab were closed behind him. He soon moved to insert them into the big tube in the center of his lab. The bugs soon swarmed and filled it to the brim, the ooze within them illuminating the surrounding area.
“They are to mutate the humans on the surface when released.”
“But boss,” Huginn started. “Aren’t the turtles supposed to get rid of the humans?”
Draxum pressed a few buttons on the console attached to the tube, the console lighting up as it was activated. “It would be unwise for me to put all my eggs in one basket. This mission is too important to rely on one plan to work perfectly. If these turtles fail me, these bugs will replace them.”
“Oh I get it,” Muninn began. “You make some humans into mutants, and the turtles will use them as an army against the remaining humans.”
“No. If the turtles fail me, they will be removed.”
“From the plan?”
“From life. If they fail, they are no use to me. And if they are no use to me, they will no longer be needed.”
“You’re going to.. kill them?” Muninn seemed a bit unsettled by that.
“Only if they fail.”
“But you created them. You raised them since they were babies.”
“I raised weapons. Not a family.”