Chapter Text
This… Draxum man, Yoshi did not like. His two little gargoyle henchmen were much more tolerable. He kind of liked those guys, they were agreeable. But Draxum. Draxum. Was an asshole.
Yoshi noted the small turtle held in his hand, all stripes and curiosity, and cringed at Draxum’s monologue about nature, defence and warriors. He heard nothing but overzealous gloating. He sounded like that funny guy with the dojos… The Komodo guy with the bad hair. He could picture Draxum’s words with that guy’s ugly face.
Wait, no he was getting off track.
“…Until now, when I use your DNA to mutate them.” Draxum turned his back to Yoshi, and he could practically feel the smirk that guy had. The way he held himself oh so confidently, well, Yoshi wouldn’t mind wiping it off his face. If only he hadn’t taken that no-fighting vow to prove a point to- Agh!
“Wait!” He growled out, pulling on the plant-like restraints. “Stop! I will not let you turn these innocent creatures into violent monsters!”
The strange bubbles of buttery yellow liquid above his head bled green. Toxic green. It reminded him of the foul-smelling chemical slime they used on his movie sets. The liquid fizzed with energy, and when Yoshi blinked next the turtles had more human proportions. He wanted to puke.
Draxum snickered. Something in Yoshi strained.
It snapped.
“I know I said I’d never fight again,” Draxum tuned out his words foolishly, “But…”
The vines(greengreengreen- gross!) pulled against his flexed arms. The muscle burned with exertion, sending pain shooting through them in sync with his hunger pangs. Damn that Battle Nexus. The leathery vines tore, first fibres one by one, then snapped.
He was free.
Momentum launched his torso forward, and he grasped the tendrils blocking his exit. More plants. He grit his teeth and yanked, easily tearing those too. His shoe’s grips locked onto the edge of his container. Draxum began to turn his head.
“Hot Soup!”
Yoshi launched himself. His body slipped easily into the adrenaline high. His jump arced across half the lab, until his platforms met solid wall. Draxum was agape when Yoshi looked. Good. He should be shocked. Yoshi shot him his own smug look, pushing off the wall with all the might in his battered body.
He spun, anger thrumming through veins. His knee greeted Draxum’s jaw violently, sending the tall monster flying into his own machine. A breathy laugh escaped Yoshi’s mouth with triumph.
Said triumphant victory was short-lived when Yoshi saw the green ooze and turtle-mutants bubble into the weird plant tubes, spilling onto the lab floor. Draxum spat something scornful, which rolled off Yoshi’s ego easily. He was winning. He was getting what he wanted.
Draxum rolled over, claws scraping the ground with an awful screech. Yoshi’s teeth chattered as Draxum straightened up and sprinted. Towards him.
Have it your way, he thought, his own feet moving to run towards the beast. Draxum’s beefy first sped towards his head. Yoshi sidestepped and retaliated with his own trained punch. More noise filtered in through his focus of punch-dodge-punch. He rolled hard to avoid being squashed flat by Draxum’s fists. They spun, all gnashing teeth and anger. Claws scratched up Yoshi’s jaw. Blood trickled down his neck but he only barked a cocky laugh in response.
Draxum’s mouth opened, a harsh yell on his tongue, when green lights flickered throughout the lab. They both paused, stunned. Suddenly hissing and grinding assaulted their senses. Yoshi ducked low and staggered away from the light.
A shockwave passed over him as smoke billowed out of the central pillar. Blasts followed shortly after.
“What?” Draxum cried out. “No!”
Debris rained down around the two. A large stone-like piece wedged in the ground inches from Yoshi’s head. His heart stuttered. The turtles!
“My ooze!” Draxum continued to scream as Yoshi pushed himself upright. His legs burned with exertion but he sprinted to the puddle of green goop where the turtles idly sat, blissfully unaware of the danger.
“Precious little creatures,” Yoshi’s knee throbbed with pain as he crouched, scooping the tiny reptiles up in his hands. “I will save you, little turtles!”
There was fire. He didn’t know when, but blue flames had licked up the walls while he’d been distractedly running. Fuck. Sweat rolled down the back of Yoshi’s neck, soaking into his suit alongside the blood dribbling down his front. Other animals around the lab- animals he didn’t even notice in his self-centred wallowing- shrieked and hissed and struggled against their vine cages. A glint of light caught his eye.
There was a button. A large, red button. Yoshi didn’t need to know what it did, it screamed ‘panic button’ or ‘emergency release’ or something equally important. He adjusted the turtles to press all four against his chest with one arm and slammed the lit up control panel. Another alarm joined the chaos, as they hurriedly spilled out to escape the heat.
Draxum’s voice continued to echo despite the shrill cacophony. “You idiots! All of you, idiots!”
Yoshi, with his heart pounding tiredly, didn’t wait for a rematch. He sprinted alongside the variety of weird monster-creatures and was gone before the dust cleared. Draxum roared, noticing his turtles missing. Pipes burst. Various chemicals cascaded down the walls, splattering onto the now empty lab floor.
He picked up the nearest object and threw it with rage. It smacked a wall, and clattered harmlessly into the toxic-green mutagen spill.
He lost them.
Yoshi’s feet ached. The turtles stashed in the makeshift sling he’d found chirped with interest. The innocent things stuck their head out, in awe of every thing that passed that was colourful. Green- He needed to think of better names… Lord above. He’d been hungry, tired, and dumb. Oh so dumb. Why he even went with those gargoyles in the first place, Yoshi didn’t know. Big Mama was awful but at least he could predict her sadism.
Green looked into Yoshi’s eyes, a silly smile pulling at his face. The red stripes down his cheeks framed his beady little eyes and Yoshi found himself smiling back despite the exhaustion.
“Silly little one,” He cooed. No one around bothered staring. New York, despite its shortcomings, embraced weirdness. “My little turtles. Funny little boys. I’ll take care of you now, hm? No fighting for you.”
Green let out a chirping-giggle that sent the other turtles into their own amused chattering. Luckily, they were completely safe. The first thing Yoshi did upon reaching the outside world, and safety from creatures like Big Mama, was set that bite-happy rat on New York. They could deal with the forsaken thing. He had better, more compassionate companions now.
Yoshi shifted the bundle of bodies in his arms, chuckling as one of them chirped especially loudly. The strange-shelled one cooed back up at him.
“Yes,” Yoshi made the affectionate noise right back…
Maybe people were starting to stare a little. He raised his head slowly.
No one seemed to be around. He hummed, unamused. If he was being stalked by Big Mama or that bastard Draxum, he wouldn’t let them take the turtles. He’d just taken them from a life of child soldier work, and that wasn’t a bold assumption. Yoshi took a deep breath, pulling the sling fabric over the baby reptiles. A couple confused noises soon slipped into quiet breathing. Yoshi slowly recalled his Jiji Sho’s training, and his footsteps fell silent.
He rubbed at his face tiredly.
“I need help.” He murmured before turning into an alley to hide himself further. He had maybe 2 coins he’d picked up on his wandering. Not enough to call anyone… Not that his agent would be much help. Yoshi couldn’t act, not with these 4 kids. Mutants or not, they came first for him now. Lou Jitsu was a thing of the past.
He couldn’t call family. Ever again. He needed help, not a lecture and shamefest. Jiji wouldn’t let him even think about blinking until he’d gone on a week long tirade about Yoshi’s behaviour, and recklessness and all of it. The kidnapping, the fame, the spectacle he put on. How his mother-
Yoshi scrubbed at his face harder, breaths coming out ragged.
“Kaa-san,” He whispered, basically only mouthing the words, “What do I do?”
No one would help him. Hell, he’d been gone for so long all he could hope was to be believed. All his costars would have moved on, his ex-girlfriend literally got him into this mess. He was entirely alone.
Suddenly calling Jiji wasn’t such a bad idea anymore.