The moment John's boot touched the top step of the shattered subway entrance, a pulse of foul energy rolled up from below. It felt like a living thing, thick and slimy, forcing its way into his senses. His instincts screamed danger.
"What the fuck?!" He was surprised because he had never sensed danger after gaining his power.
It was not like the shadow tricks of the Foot Clan or the weak toxins they had hurled before. This energy clawed at his soul like the essence of something that had crawled out of the pit itself.
His eyes narrowed, lightning crackling faintly around his form. He muttered under his breath. "That stench… Don't tell me!"
The ground shook as a blast of sickly green energy shot up the tunnel. John blurred to the side in a streak of speed, vanishing from the stairwell. The blast exploded against the courtyard, melting stone into bubbling sludge. The stink of sulfur filled the air.
Back on the rooftop, Mikey shouted, "What the shell was that?!"
Raph growled low. "Whatever it was, it wasn't normal Foot business."
Leo's grip on his swords tightened. "No. That was something else. Something worse."
John flew up in the air, creating a safe distance. His eyes locked on the subway gate as it groaned and split. From the darkness, a figure emerged slowly, each step shaking the ground like a drumbeat.
It was Shredder, but not the same man John was expecting. His armor seemed fused with his flesh, plates melted into skin. His eyes burned red, leaking trails of green fire. The bladed gauntlets on his arms had grown, twisting into talons longer than swords. Dark wings stretched briefly from his back before folding, leaving smoke in their wake. The demonic aura pouring off him thickened the air until it felt like the entire compound was buried under a swamp of corruption.
John's jaw set. His wisdom pierced the illusion. This was not a simple mutation. This was something older, darker, something dragged from forbidden wells of power.
"Tengu," John said aloud, looking down at him. "So you sold your soul to a filthy demon, huh?"
Shredder's voice came out like steel dragged across stone, deep and warped with the echo of more than one throat. "I did not sell anything. I claimed what was always mine. The power of the Tengu is eternal. With it, I will carve a world in my image, and there is nothing anyone can do." His burning gaze lifted to John, wings stretching wide again. He pointed a finger at John. "I will start with you."
The two titans faced each other, suspended in a silence so heavy the city itself seemed to hold its breath. Then the night exploded.
Shredder launched upward, wings beating once with a shockwave that cracked rooftops. His claw swiped in a wide arc, green fire trailing behind like a comet. John flew aside in a blur, lightning flashing as he reappeared to the left and countered with a bolt hurled from his palm. It struck Shredder's side, blasting chunks of stone from his demonic armor. Shredder grunted but twisted midair, slamming a fist down. A torrent of corrupted fire spilled from his gauntlet, streaking toward John.
John braced, lightning wrapping around him in a cocoon. The flames struck, hissing against the divine current, but did not penetrate. He roared and flew forward through the fire. His fist crackled with lightning before he slammed it into Shredder's chest.
The impact detonated in the sky, thunder shaking every window for blocks. Shredder was hurled back into the courtyard, smashing through the remains of the gate and tearing a crater in the ground. Dust billowed outward.
"Holy crap! He dropped him!" Mikey shouted, almost falling off the rooftop.
But Leo's eyes stayed on the crater. "No. Not yet."
He was right. From the hole rose Shredder, slower but not broken. The green fire around his body flared brighter, knitting cracks in his armor. His claws flexed, dripping black ichor. He tilted his head up, and his eyes glowed hotter.
"You think your lightning can burn me? Your gods abandoned this world. The Tengu power is beyond their reach."
John landed in the courtyard, standing across from him, lightning still sparking off his shoulders. "Then let's test that."
The ground split beneath them as both warriors moved at once.
Shredder charged low, his claws digging trenches in the stone. John streaked forward like a living bolt, their collision blasting a shockwave that ripped nearby fences from the ground and sent remaining Foot soldiers flying like ragdolls.
They traded blows in a blur too fast for mortal eyes.
John's fists struck hard, every hit wrapped in crackling arcs. Shredder countered with demonic strength, claws slicing through the air, each swing trailing blasts of green fire that warped the ground.
One strike caught John across the chest. The armor of his aura deflected most of it, but the corruption still burned like acid against his skin. It penetrated through his suit. He grimaced, spinning into a backhand that caught Shredder in the jaw and hurled him across the compound.
Shredder slammed into a steel truck, denting it inward. He pushed off, talons sinking deep into metal as his wings spread again. With a guttural snarl, he launched the truck itself at John like a missile.
"Tsk. Demonic energy," John clicked his tongue.
John didn't move. He raised one hand and caught the entire vehicle with a casual grip. Lightning surged from his palm, reducing the truck into molten slag within seconds. He let the wreckage fall with a thud and said flatly, "Pathetic."
Shredder roared and came again. His wings beat once, launching him high before he dove, claws aimed for John's skull. John vanished in a streak of speed, reappearing behind him, and hammered a bolt straight into his back. The strike blasted Shredder into the ground face first, carving a long scar through the courtyard.
The Turtles watched in silent awe. Even Mikey had stopped muttering.
Still, Shredder rose. His body smoked, armor cracked, ichor dripping, but he smiled. The expression was more terrifying than rage. "Yes… Stronger than I thought. This is what I craved. A foe worthy of my ascension."
His wings spread wide. The green fire erupted higher, twisting into dragon shapes that circled him before launching toward John in streams of flame.
John's eyes glowed gold as lightning erupted from his entire body. He threw his arms wide and unleashed a storm. Bolts rained down like spears, each one colliding with a dragon of fire. The night sky turned into a war of elements, green flame crashing against blinding lightning. The shockwaves shattered windows for blocks, the ground splitting with each collision.
Shredder punched through his own fire, claws glowing bright, and slashed across John's chest again. But it was useless, since John has super speed. He moved so fast that Shredder's fist met his afterimage.
John grabbed his neck and hurled him up into the sky before blasting his ass off with a concentrated bolt of lightning.
Shredder's body rocketed upward, vanishing into the clouds. The sky flared white for a heartbeat before a deafening crash shook the earth. He slammed back down into the courtyard, a crater swallowing him in smoke and rubble.
For a moment, silence. The only sound was the crackle of lingering lightning chewing at the stone.
Then the rubble exploded outward in a violent burst of green fire. Shredder rose again, his form charred, flesh torn, armor hanging in twisted shards. Yet his laughter rolled across the ruins, deeper now, layered with a guttural echo that felt wrong to human ears.
"Yes," Shredder growled. "Stronger than I thought. Worthy. You are worthy to witness what only gods and demons have witnessed."
His claws flexed. His wings stretched to their full span, burning with spectral flames. His voice dropped to a promise of carnage.
"I will not hold back any longer. This… is my true power."
The air warped around him. The green aura thickened, spreading like a plague. John narrowed his eyes. For the first time, he felt the gravity shift. Stones lifted from the ground, chunks of pavement tearing upward as if gravity itself had betrayed the earth.
"Telekinesis," John muttered. He raised his guard.
The courtyard roared as dozens of heavy trucks ripped free of the asphalt. Containers stacked with mutagen and weapons floated like leaves in a storm. Every shard of metal, sword, and broken piece of steel around them shivered before flying into the air, whirling in orbit around Shredder.
His laugh echoed as the wreckage formed a storm of blades, all pointed toward John. "I will break you and then make you my servant."
With a roar, Shredder sent the storm crashing down. Blades shrieked through the air, a tidal wave of steel.
John didn't flinch. He stood still, sparks crawling over his body. His voice was steady, almost bored. "Ten percent will be enough to beat the crap out of you."
The air turned blinding white as lightning wrapped his entire body, coating him in living armor. Every wound he had taken vanished. His suit reformed, pristine, glowing faintly with gold threads of energy.
The first wave of blades struck. They didn't pierce him or slow him down. Each sword that came close vaporized the second it touched the aura, exploding into sparks. Even steel beams shattered against him like glass.
Shredder snarled and pushed harder, throwing trucks at John like meteors.
John raised one hand lazily, throwing lightning blasts. Each truck exploded midair, before they could even touch him. The courtyard rained molten scraps.
"That all you got?" John asked. His voice cut through the roar of destruction.
Shredder bared his teeth. His hands twisted in sigils, and for the first time, black glyphs burned into the air around him. The earth cracked open, spewing green flame. From the cracks crawled spectral warriors, skeletal samurai burning with dark fire. Each carried twisted weapons of bone and steel.
Hundreds of demonic warriors and ghosts surrounded John.
"Face my legion!" Shredder roared.
The legion charged, howling. The ground trembled under their march.
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