"Half Shell Heroes of Hell's Kitchen" - Part Six

 

Part Six

            Rania counted at least twenty Foot Soldiers each on opposite ends of the corridor where they had her and her friends cornered. “They should’ve sent more,” she smirked at the challenge lying in front of them. She stood back-to-back with Tyler, who himself sounded ready for a fight when he told her, “This is one heck of a first date!”

            “First?” Rania responded amusingly. “Oh, honey, this is definitely number two!”

            “If you lovebirds are done flirtin’, whaddya say we start kickin’ some Foot!” Raphael recommended.

            “Agreed,” Rania said. She then looked over to Daredevil and asked, “Still got that second wind, DD?”

            The red vigilante spat out the last fragment of blood that had been lingering in his mouth. “Absolutely,” he gritted.

            Rania’s fists clenched. “Well, in that case…COWABUNGA!!!”

            She lunged for the first Foot Soldier in her sights, delivering a fierce roundhouse kick to its head that knocked it clear off the robot’s shoulders. Tyler moved in on the downed Foot Soldier, ripping off both its arms to use as his own nunchakus to mirror those wielded by Michelangelo.

            April maintained a distance from the intense battle that erupted there in the fairly crowded corridor. She was lucky that her camera hadn’t been confiscated, using it to film the fight. “What a story!” she cheered, pressing the ‘Record’ button right at the moment Leonardo skewered three Foot Soldiers in a row and split them in half.

            Donatello used his bo-staff to propel Raphael into a large portion of Foot Soldiers that he cut down with his sais.

            Daredevil made use of his Billy Club in two separate ways: ricocheting it off (and through) the heads of multiple soldiers and decapitating them with an indestructible steel-fiber composite cable.

            The conflict was over in just under two minutes with the heroes standing over the scattered remains of the robot ninjas. “Let’s get outta here!” Rania directed the team, and none of them wasted any time in following her back to her TARDIS.

            April kept her camera rolling as she walked into the bigger space inside. “What kind of a ship is this?!”

            “One that I recommend you not put on the news, Miss O’Neil,” Rania restricted. She commenced in moving around the console and setting up an electromagnetic pulse wave to emit from the TARDIS and overwhelm the Technodrome’s defenses. “I’m gonna trigger a big enough EMP wave to blow this whole fortress to bits.”

            “That won’t affect the people on the surface, will it?” Tyler inquired.

            “Not at all,” Rania eased his concern. “We’re far enough below the surface.”

            “Then let’s set it off!” Tyler gave his seal of approval.

            Rania was just about to do the deed before she noticed something off about the congregation of companions in the console room. “Wait…where’s Craig?!” Sure enough, her 10-year-old companion was missing.

            “Maybe he wandered into another part of the ship?” Tyler surmised.

            “Or maybe he wandered out of it,” Rania assumed, becoming annoyed.

            Suddenly, the console monitor flickered on, without any authority from Rania at the controls. Rania, Tyler, and the others were shocked to see the live feed of a revolting brain-like creature in a bipedal robot body standing beside a frightened Craig and the imposing Shredder. “I am Lord Krang of Dimension X,” the creature gurgled in its broadcast. “This message is for Aznavorian, the Tinkerer of Gallifrey. Come to the Technodrome control room, alone, and surrender.”

            “Rania, I’m so—” Craig tried to say, but the feed cut out before he could finish.

            Rania’s blood boiled in her veins. Krang had made a dangerous mistake – he threatened someone she cared about. And anytime anyone did that, they would see a side of the Tinkerer only those in the Time War had seen up close…and never lived to tell.

            “It’s an obvious trap,” Tyler told her. “You know that, right?”

            “I do,” Rania said, a darkness in her tone that chilled Tyler and everyone else. “But I care too much about Craig not to do anything.”

            She brought her TARDIS to the Technodrome control room and stepped out of the ship alone. There were no Foot Soldiers in the area to flank their two overlords – it was only Krang, Shredder, and Craig. Rania’s gaze was fixated on her young companion, making sure no harm had come to him. Other than being rightfully terrified, he was fine.

            “I’m sorry, Rania,” he wept, finishing his earlier sentiment. “They tricked me! They used your voice to call for help over the radio!”

            Hearing this, Rania’s fury swelled. “It’s alright, sweetie. It’s not your fault.” She shifted her gaze to Krang and Shredder and demanded, “Let him go! He’s done nothing to deserve this!”

            Krang didn’t seem to be listening. “Your body is magnificent.” He licked his drooling lips with his disgusting purple tongue; it looked like a dried-up eggplant, from Rania’s perspective. “It is exactly as the Archivist described – young and strong. I look forward to taking it for myself!”

            Rania was stricken more by the name Krang dropped than his sinister motive. “The Archivist?!”

            “LET THE KID GO, YOU CHEWED-UP PIECE OF SCUM!!!”

            She was surprised to hear Tyler’s voice outside the TARDIS, turning to see him coming out of it with a scowl on his face and his fists clenched and raised. “The only body you’re takin’ is mine – not hers!”

            “What’re you doing?!?!” Rania bellowed to him.

            “Yes, what are you doing?!” Shredder thundered. “The Tinkerer was to come alone!”

            “I have this thing about not doin’ what I’m told, especially with bullies,” Tyler retorted. “And I’m not just gonna stand by and let you two monsters ruin what that cute lil’ kid and this incredibly sexy woman have!”

            “And what is that, human?” Krang queried.

            “Friendship,” Tyler answered. “Somethin’ a fella like me never really had, even growin’ up with five older brothers who had nothin’ else better to do than play pranks on me whenever they were bored or ‘just felt like it.’ Eventually, they grew out of it, but it still feels like they’re one-upping me at life with their fancy jobs, big families, and even bigger houses. That’s why I moved to New York, hoping I could show my parents that I could be just as much of a success as my brothers. But where has it gotten me these last few months? No job, no girlfriend, no money, no family, and no friends. So, yeah, Mr. Krang…if you want a body, take mine! ‘Cause it’s the only successful thing I’ve busted my butt for!”

            Tyler’s heartfelt speech brought tears not only to Rania’s eyes but Craig’s as well.

            Craig felt guilty for all the malice he held towards Tyler, ever since he and Rania first met in Anton’s. After hearing the man’s sad story, there was no way he could allow Krang to take possession of his body any more than Rania’s. “No,” he uttered, bringing all attention on him. “It shouldn’t be your body, Tyler, or even yours, Rania. If there’s anyone’s body that Lord Krang should take, it’s his!” He pointed directly at Shredder.

            “Watch what you say, boy!” Shredder hissed.

            “I mean, it is an ideal choice, isn’t it?” Craig continued. “It’s bigger, faster, and fiercer than Rania and Tyler’s put together! And it’s got all that awesome armor, which is an added bonus, if you ask me!”

            “NO ONE ASKED YOU!!!” Shredder howled.

            Rania smirked, catching onto Craig’s scheme. Thinking smarter than your opponent – atta boy, Craigy!

            “The boy makes a valid point, Shredder,” Krang bought it.

            Without warning, he lunged for Shredder. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU CREATURE!!!” the Foot leader shrieked.

            “It is your body I desire, Shredder!!” Krang proclaimed. “Give it to me now!!!”

            Shredder was put on the defense, clashing with Krang’s stronger and more durable robot form. In their scuffle, their weapons collided with the controls to the Technodrome reactor, damaging them and sending the entire fortress into a meltdown. “So much for my EMP wave,” Rania observed, gesturing for Craig to come to her and Tyler.

            Together, they escaped into the TARDIS, which dematerialized just as the Technodrome exploded, taking Krang and Shredder with it.

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            Later, in the lair of Splinter and the Ninja Turtles, Rania and Craig said their goodbyes to April, Splinter, and the Turtles while Tyler and Daredevil both waited in the TARDIS. Splinter, however, took a little extra time to pull Rania aside in private and share with her the details of the conversation he and Craig had prior to their Technodrome mission.

            “Craig spoke proudly of you as a teacher, a friend, and a father – all the things that I strive to be for my four sons,” Splinter said.

            Rania was beyond touched – a tear streaming from her right eye. “He said that?”

            Splinter nodded. “Never forget all that defines you – all that makes you human, in spite of your alien biology. They will be the things that will always protect your family, including Craig…and Neas.”

            Rania stiffened, hearing the other name Splinter mentioned.

            Craig really had talked a lot about her, and she was grateful for it. “Thank you, Master Splinter,” she bowed. Out of curiosity, she then asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know a fella named ‘Miyagi,’ would you?”

            “Ah, yes,” Splinter chuckled. “Quite an excellent film with a great moral.”

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            With Tyler in tow, Rania and Craig spent a few extra days in New York City in search of Thomas. Unfortunately, even using Thomas’s Type-Z TARDIS to detect his nuage signature anywhere in the realm, they found no trace – he had been long gone from the realm…or was never there at all.

            In discovering this, Craig felt ashamed. “I put us in danger with that interview…just like you said I would,” he told Rania. “I’m so sorry.”

            Rania held no ill will towards him. “C’mere,” she gingerly pulled him in for a warm, forgiving hug. “You didn’t mean any harm, sweetie. I wanted to find Thomas just as badly. But it wasn’t a big loss. You’ve proven to me how great of a teacher I am, using that beautiful intelligence of yours to outsmart Krang.”

            Craig beamed. “I did, didn’t I?” He hugged her tighter. “I love you, Rania.”

            “I love you, too, dear,” she returned.

            As the two friends hugged, Tyler approached, clearing his throat to get their attention. “I, uh…I just wanted to say goodbye,” he said.

            “Oh,” Rania muttered. She sounded sad and heartbroken to Craig. “I guess this is goodbye, isn’t it?”

            “But I thought you were gonna stay,” Craig assumed.

            Tyler gave him a friendly head rub. “I don’t wanna throw off the awesome dynamic you two have here.”

            Craig twiddled his fingers apprehensively. “What…What’ll you do now?”

            Tyler shrugged and sighed. “Go back to my cruddy apartment and find a job…do whatever I can to make my mom proud. She’ll probably call again real soon.”

            Rania fought back tears. “I wish you the best of luck, Tyler Thorne.”

            Craig could hear the shaky restraint in her voice.

            “Be seein’ ya, Rania…or not, since you’re…you know…from another dimension.”

            Craig could hear the forlorn tone in his voice.

            He watched as Tyler made his way towards the exit. Before he could take a step further, Craig shouted, “DON’T GO, TYLER!!!” His outburst startled both Tyler and Rania, both looking on Craig in surprise. “Please stay with us! You make Rania happy – happier than I’ve ever seen her since Thomas left. I want her to be that happy all of the time…so please stay.”

            Rania’s hearts were full. Bless you, sweet Craigy.

            “You sure, lil’ dude?” Tyler asked Craig.

            Craig took one look at Rania’s appreciative, smiling face. “I’m positive,” he said.

            Tyler whooped with immense joy, while Rania giggled with glee. He swooped her off of her feet and twirled her around. She gave him a long, passionate kiss on the lips. Craig turned away from the display of affection, feeling as if he was not old enough to see such things.

            The ringing of Tyler’s phone interrupted the kiss. It was his mother.

            “One sec,” he told Rania, holding up his right index finger. He answered the call, telling his mother the good news: “I’ve met a really terrific girl!”

            While Tyler conversed with his mother, Rania was reminded of a fourth passenger aboard the ship – Daredevil. “I don’t mean to interrupt what sounds like a wonderful scene,” he said. “But I’m…”

            “Not from Tyler’s dimension,” Rania finished for him. “I knew all along that you were a victim of a dimensional rift.”

            DD snickered. “Never saw it coming…and I mean that quite literally.”

            “Don’t worry,” Rania said. “I’ll have you back home in no time, Mr. Murdock.”

            “Please…call me ‘Daredevil’.”