Genuinely very funny to me that it took almost 50,000 words into writing this monster of a fanfic before I even made an actual promo/cover art for Radiant Souls. But I'm pretty proud of it!

Interested in my AU fic? Check it here!

A new chapter is up, yippee!!!

First time reader? Start here.

Little excerpt below cut.

Chapter 12: A Turtle Tank Named Krangstine

Honey scanned his creator-father from head to hoof. If he was being honest, the older man didn’t look too good either. Honey had seen it before when he first started down the path to the good side: he was out of magic juice.

“But what about you?” Honey asked with concern-filled eyes.

Isyris faced away from Honey. “We will find another way in.”

“Dad, you didn’t answer my question,” Honey asserted.

Isyris’ ears flattened as he was called that word. The kid always pulled out the parental names when he wanted him to do something. He knew this, but the pressure to appease the youngest rendered him more pliable than he would have liked. More sentimental types might call it ‘going mushy’. Like many times before, the ornate box turtle molded him like clay. Isyris inhaled loudly in annoyance. “If you do not use your Ninpō, then I will not use my mystic powers either. Deal?”

Honey’s eyes brightened. “Deal!”

Taking it easy and easily taken. 💗🌺

Love Bites~💗

Original sketch

Putting the Bear back in Barry 💗😏

A new Radiant Souls chapter is up, whoop whoop!!!

First time reader? Start here.

Chapter 11: Black Body Goo Part Two Electromagnetic Boogaloo

Excerpt below cut.

The projector was flicked on and Jett clapped his hands together twice, causing the lights to dim. He cleared his throat and quickly surveyed the room to make sure all eyes were on him before beginning his slideshow presentation. A small capsule was in his hand. When clicked, its end extended into a purple lecture pointer, which Jett waved around. “Tests revealed that the composition of the black goo is mostly leukocytes and a substance of unknown origin with bizarre physical properties.”

The first slide on the screen showed a somewhat blurry picture of the nasty goo. It looked as if it was a teeny tiny black hole swallowing up his workspace. Many unnecessary hand-drawn doodles, notes, memes, and tacked-on emoji were scattered across the presentation slide, hastily added while the turtle was in his sleepless stupor a couple of hours before the meeting.

Ace raised a hand with his good (but sweaty) arm high in the air, slightly dazed. “Hey J-Bomb? My brain’s, like, totally mush. Can we be a little shorter on the words? Maybe less Jett-speak and more Aceman-speak, please?”

Jett glared at his twin for a moment, then crossed his eyes and pulled a goofy face with his bottom jaw jutting out. He spoke caveman-style in a mocking, dopey voice, making gestures every time he slowly enunciated. “Black goo bad. Ace and King have black goo in blood. White blood cells in black goo. Do you understand?”

The red-eared slider glared back at first. After a moment, he played along and mirrored Jett’s silly Neanderthalic expression, responding, “Ooga booga, Ace understand.”

New reader? Start here!

Chapter 10: F*ck Around & Ferret Out of the Bag

Excerpt below:

Feeling another mental itch of déjà vu—he had done this song and dance before to the others—Honey suppressed his annoyance with a shake of his head. “Oh right, you’re out of the loop.” The young turtle quickly explained Angel’s situation to his brother.

A sigh of relief escaped the softshell. “That’s good. But the rest of that news is—” Jett paused in the middle of his sentence then asked, “Waaait, then what about Draxum?”

“Erm, well.” Honey fidgeted. “He’s kind of staying with us right now in one of the empty cars. And I kind of, um. Invited him?” He offered a shrug as sheepish as the old Yōkai who had recently been taken in.

The softshell’s curt response emanated brotherly malice. “You’re dead to me.”

“Come on, J, you don’t really mean that...”

Jett repeated, rhythmically enunciating each stop like an anvil drop. “You are. Dead. To me.”

“It’ll be okay, I promise!” Honey whined defensively. “If it’s any consolation, he picked a car away from yours.”

The softshell threw up his hands in frustration and ranted. “As if that changes the fact that he’s going to be hanging around here 24/7/365.2421891 and acting as if he owns the place! You know he hasn’t completely kicked his tyrannical ways just yet. This is going to change everything. Ugh, not to mention the sitcom-worthy awkward family meals and the incessant nagging…”

Radiant Souls Chapter 5 is up, woohoo!

New reader? Start here!

Excerpt:

Krow stood outside the archway of the med bay, leaning back against the stone wall. The weight of the portal key still in the pouch on his hip was a reminder of what occurred. His brow furrowed while he replayed the day’s events in his mind.

He had pleaded with Ace to not do what he had done. But Ace had pleaded back. In the end, Krow tearfully obeyed Ace. He took the key, causing the portal to close. The massive Krang ship exploded spectacularly in the event. Krow was lucky that it occurred so high up in the air that he wasn’t badly affected by the intense shock wave. Thanks to the portal closing, the Krang leader was trapped in the other dimension once again. But Ace, a hero until the end, had chosen to also trap himself in that dimension to ensure the Krang’s defeat.

To Krow, it was a loss of hope, an absolute resignation that the turtles were destined to eventually sacrifice themselves in any timeline for the safety of others, leaving people like him behind as survivors. In this past timeline, millions of people lived in New York City. And millions got to be survivors that day, Krow among them.

It would have been selfish to value that one life over millions. Yet, he nearly had.

Ace’s pleas were hard to bear, and it was his sensei’s mantra that pushed him to go through with it. “It’s not about me” rang clear in Krow’s mind the moment before he did the deed. But the loss was brutal.

When he had returned to the ground and found Ace’s other sword lying amidst the rubble, the weight of what occurred crashed down onto him. It was fate. It would have been a lie to say that his sorrowful tears didn’t fall onto the katana’s blade. He had been sure that he had lost his sensei all over again.

Radiant Souls Chapter 6: "Bleed, Burn, Bag the Black"

New reader? Start from the beginning!

Excerpt:

Over the past few months or so, the slow warmth was creeping into the chilly waters of the relationship between softshell and sheep. Without thinking, Jett found himself starting conversations with his creator-father when he was around, even going on at length about his inventions, theories, or other knowledge he had picked up. And the most amazing thing? The guy actually listened! And he would ask questions! People rarely asked him questions! But Isyris did. He was still an ancient yōkai, often calling objects that he didn’t understand “doohickeys” or responding back to Jett as if it was his first day on Earth, but his amusing ignorance only made Jett more excited to infodump about his favorite topics or recent fixations. He wanted to explain everything.

But Isyris Draxum, his scientific-minded creator that he secretly so desperately craved attention and approval from, clearly didn’t care enough to listen this time around or to even properly stay in contact with them. And this was right after they had nearly bitten the dust against the Shredder. It had been way too close of a call. Had they not awakened their new powers, they all certainly would have died. This had been part of Jett’s reasoning to make sure his new father brought along the communicator. The man seemed to be caring about him more, and in return, Jett was starting to care about him. He wanted Isyris to carry the communicator. He built it, after all. It was just a small thing, nothing special compared to his array of impressive inventions, but it was something he made that his creator could carry with him all the time.

And that, even more than the direct line of communication, is what made it special. A piece of himself for his creator. Not a grand gift by any means, but one Jett hoped was significant.

Guess it wasn’t after all.

New reader? Start here!

Chapter 8: Conjunction Junction, What's Your Unction?

Isyris and Masaru discuss the Krang and the portal key. Masaru reflects on his past life and the tale he heard long ago about the Krang. New living arrangements are made. (Some funny Draxum/Splinter stuff in this chapter lol.)

Excerpt:

Masaru stuck his snout up in the air. “Well, I didn’t think you would come back so easily. You seemed to be having lots of fun alone on your little tropical getaway,” he sneered.

A smirk grew on Isyris’ face as it finally dawned on him why Masaru was being abnormally acerbic. “Oh, so that’s what this is about.” He shifted from lying on his back to his side, facing his companion. “Still jealous, are we? How adorable that you wanted to come with me on my ‘little tropical getaway’,” he lilted the repeated words. With a chortle, he threw a hand in the air. “Well, too bad for you! It was a ticket for one.” Belatedly, he added, “And a half. Merry and Pippin stowed away in my luggage without permission. Damn goyles…” He shooed away his own complaints with his waving hand. “But I digress.”

Isyris cradled his hand to his sculpted cheek as he heavily embellished the truth with sparkles and rosy hues. “As a matter of fact, I did have a lot of fun. Partying in ritzy hotels, going to the most highly-rated restaurants on the island with food to die for, visiting the most beautiful views on this planet…” He paused to flip his hair over his shoulder before continuing, “Sun tanning on the beach to enhance my rugged good looks, surfing on huge waves while an adoring crowd cheers me on, bar hopping to get good drinks every evening…” He tacked on teasingly with a blink-and-you’d-miss-it wink, “Then dancing the night away with pretty women…”

It was, of course, 99% lies. Even for the activities he had done, it was far less extraordinary; his mind had been elsewhere so he hadn’t enjoyed them as much as he wished he had. The last one was of the biggest, fattest lies he had ever uttered, and he had uttered a lot of them over the centuries. Really he figured that last summer vacation fantasy was more the former action star’s desires than his. But he needed a sexy but fake luxurious experience to drive that stake of jealousy into the rat’s heart. No matter how unbelievable it was, it pleased him to make the man green with envy.

Baron Isyris Draxum travels home after his vacation is cut short due to the Krang invasion, but he faces a few obstacles to get into contact with his family.

New reader? Read the first chapter here.

A prophetic poem, its author lost to time, tells of heroes who illuminate dark skies with rainbows, inspiring hope for the future.

But dark, ominous skies are on the horizon once again, and the hope of heroes waver. These radiant souls must find within themselves the strength to light the way.

---

Draxum’s vacation is cut short due to the Krang invasion. When he returns home, two of the turtles fall ill with mysterious symptoms. Racing against the clock, the family goes on an epic adventure to find a cure.