Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 24: Sharing Their Grief

Casey stares down the tunnel, waiting and standing and reeling. Things never go right. Why would he push her when she was so scared in the first place? This whole mission did nothing but create more questions, if the conversations building behind him have anything to say.

"I'll recover the backup files," Donatello says. "Sarina and I can look over the footage, comb it for anything that we missed."

"Missed?" Destiny repeats. "I feel like I missed everything in that."

"Maybe we're a little too used to bad guys who like explaining their plans in detail," Michelangelo says. "You know, like...evil monologuing."

"There were a few things that caught my attention," Leonardo says. "Necromancer knows Shadow. Shadow knows him, too."

"Yeah, but he said he wanted to use her to create more white mutagen," Annalise says. "Is that possible?"

"Sounds like it," Donatello says. "Sarina and I have theorized that Shadow was mutated with a pure form of inanimation mutagen, dare I say, the purest form. Necromancer might be trying to recreate it and she could be a part of that."

"But why?" Raphael asks. "Didn't he say something about...shell, getting someone back? He said a girl's name."

"Louisa," Sarina says. "Seems he's looking for her and Shadow, but possibly for different reasons."

"Unless Shadow is Louisa," Leonardo suggests. "Like when we thought Taylor was two different people."

"Maybe..." Raphael mutters.

"It's kind of weird," Michelangelo says. "It didn't sound like he was doing anything super bad. Like...with Mutacorp, they were totally trying to kill us and mutate New York, but this guy? Totally not the same vibe."

"He just seemed...sad. And stressed." Annalise pauses. "And desperate."

Destiny crosses her arms over her chest. "But if he's paying the Dragons to break into places, shouldn't we try to stop it? And what about those beasts he has? Hun said he couldn't control them."

"Necromancer also said he could sedate them if he had more mutagen," Donatello adds.

"Maybe you guys could help him," Annalise suggests.

"We still don't know how he's connected to Mutacorp," Leonardo says. "Until we know that, we can't risk approaching him, even peacefully." He sighs. "If we could talk to Shadow more, she could probably shed some light on this."

"Except she doesn't trust us," Sarina says. "I doubt she will want to return. Perhaps we should let her go."

"With a name like Necromancer, I'm not sure I trust him either," Donatello says.

"Oh yeah, aren't necromancers like...zombie dudes?" Michelangelo asks. "There's a skill tree for that in Mazes and Mutants!"

"Sort of, Mikey. Necromancers are typically wizards that practice the art of necromancy, which is the practice of communicating with and raising the dead."

Michelangelo inhales in a long, drawn-out gasp. "Dudes, we need our LARP costumes NOW!"

Raphael snatches the back of his shell before he can scramble away, yanking him back into his seat. "He's not an actual wizard, shell-for-brains," he says, rolling his eyes.

"Except he's creating the shadow beasts," Destiny says. "Kinda wizard-y. I'd bet my Canadian quarters that he's using the taxidermy animals from that warehouse we explored to do it."

Michelangelo laughs and Annalise seems confused. He whispers to her, "Inside joke. Tell you later," and she nods.

"That doesn't sound like a bad bet, Des," Leonardo says. He strokes his chin, frowning. "What are the chances he'll create an unintentional army of beasts?"