Chapter Text
It had been 3 weeks since the invasion. Krang was quite comfortable in his and Sister’s makeshift lair, they had continued to expand and by now most of the city was covered with vines. He had assimilated roaming every street, eyes on and in every building, nothing got past him.
Ther e wasn’t much to be done inside the city except sit around as Kraang Prime’s human allies did not often converse with him. That one time on the first day was an exception.
Sister liked to patrol along with the assimilated on the off chance she ran into something to chase or fight though encounters had gotten fewer and fewer then eventually stopped around a week ago. He thinks she just enjoys bossing around the hounds now.
The borders of the city were a different story, they were constantly being bombarded by human military. For now, they didn’t retaliate too strongly, orders of Kraang Prime. For whatever reason they were holding off on continuing the invasion for now. So, Krang spent most of his energy growing back destroyed vines and trying to keep assimilated that were damaged in battle alive.
He had begun to stop sending them at all as he would eventually run out of them to continue fighting. He let the vines take the brunt of the damage and would just repair them once he got the chance. If he could just get the hang of assimilating machinery this would be going a lot smoother.
Sister had been itching to go confront the humans and go to the front lines, but Kraang Prime ordered she stick back and defend the center of the city for now. She tore apart a few of their hounds in rage after. Krang wished she’d taken it out on a few not-krang instead.
And through all of this, Krang had begun to have… doubts.
This? This was nice. Having all this power under his fingertips, the entire city under his beck and call- it was a power he had strived for for a long time. This planet could be completely conquered in just a few short years at this rate, his species could replenish, and he could continue their conquest…
It was frustrating to not know what to do. All of his life he was supposed to do this and just recently he had learned- been told- it was wrong. It was infuriating, to say the least. Krang loved this power but he liked the turtles. Their company for the most part was enjoyable, of course- soon he would have to choose one or the other.
He had been so confident in his choices before, he was right to conquer planets, then he was right when he rejected it and realized it was wrong, but now both felt equally right and equally wrong. Sister was no help in his dilemma, when his emotions vaguely portrayed his conflicts she had just laughed at him and called him a weak fool.
Then she had left to patrol and had yet to return, he knew she would.
He sighed, leaning back in his makeshift throne, then twisted sideways and laid on his back with his legs and tail hanging over the armrest. He stared up and the ceiling which was writhing with vines. One of the eyes blinked curiously at him and he had a feeling Sister was watching through it, he frowned.
He closed his eyes, instead deciding to gaze across the city with the many other eyes he had throughout. It was quiet other than his and the not-krang patrols. He flicked over to the edge of the city, for now, there were no big sieges in progress on his vines and they were slowly beginning to sprout and regrow.
However, he could see a rather large gathering of military vehicles at the weakest point in the barrier around the city. Well, that gave him something to attend to. He rose to his feet and walked out of the lair at a speed that would seem boring if Sister was still paying him any attention. Once outside the edge of the city was barely visible. It would be a several-hour walk from here, it might even take a day.
He had no tell to when they would begin to attack, so he let mystic flare in his legs and then launched himself into the sky. He rocketed through the air for several miles before he finally dropped back to the ground. He repeated the process until the large barrier of vines was so close he had to look up to see the top.
Krang was still not allowed to engage with the humans, so he crouched down channeling his energy and watched with smug satisfaction as the vines grew higher, reaching even further into the sky. He could see the soldiers on the ground start to panic at the movement, then deflate as they realized no attack was coming but their plans had been foiled.
He watched them through the vines for several minutes before turning and beginning the trek back.
Sister was questioning his absence; she must’ve returned in the rather short time he was gone. It wasn’t too long before he knew she had found him because he could feel her annoyance that she hadn’t been included in a trip to the edge of the city. He didn’t bother her with any sort of response.
By the time he got back, Sister had left again, always busy with finding something to do with her pent-up anger. He had never waved in his beliefs before and he believes his sudden confusion is not helping her temper. He is also fairly certain Sister wants as little to do with him as possible right now, knowing her she might be worried his doubts are infectious.
He snorted at the thought.
Krang returned to his throne and continued doing what he had been doing for the past 3 weeks, watching the city like a hawk.
There was a group of not-krang quickly approaching, since he and Sister were released into the city Kraang Prime had barely communicated with him. This was interesting.
It took them several minutes to get to him; they seemed to have trouble maneuvering through the vines at their thickest points. Krang had kept the street mostly clear of them for their convenience but his current lair had every surface covered in them.
They finally stumbled in, seeming annoyed and nervous.
‘Kraang Prime requests your presence for a meeting in Dimension X’
Krang sighed, shifting to his feet.
‘Very well.’
They glanced at each other, perhaps not expecting him to be so willing to go, but after a moment of hesitance, they turned and began to lead him to where a portal was beginning to spark and open. He stepped through as soon as it was wide enough and walked himself over to Kraang Prime’s quarters as he remembered the way.
Once inside he noticed oddly, there was another not-krang inside. It was horribly scarred compared to any other he had previously seen with a missing eye and tentacle. It had been talking with Kraang Prime though their conversation died out the moment he walked inside.
The scarred one frowned at him, eyes wandering across his suit, it seemed like an extremely bold individual.
‘Brother-’
Krang’s tail lashed.
‘-This is Kraang Subprime your superior for now-’ The little not-krang startled at ‘for now’ glaring at Kraang Prime.
‘-with how you have handled the overlooking of New york thus far I am glad to announce that you are our official third in command, perhaps you will rise further.’
‘I appreciate that, Prime.’
‘How have things been going? Be detailed, my scouts can be… shortminded and not very thorough.’
‘I have established complete control over the city and there is no chance of it being lost, human governments constantly bombard the borders of the city but have yet to break through and I am not too worried about it. Sister has managed to sniff out any Earthling stragglers throughout the city but is becoming antsy. She will act out eventually if not given something to do.’
‘Keep control of your subjects.’ Prime hissed.
‘I would suggest you speak to Sister yourself, Prime. Sister is loyal when she is given a job to do but if she has nothing she will create a problem herself for her own entertainment.’
Kraang Prime sighed through their teeth, ‘Let your Sister lead the assaults defending the barrier. There’s no point in hiding within its walls any longer.’
‘I will tell her the news, she will be quite pleased.’
Kraang Subprime cleared their throat.
‘You were allied with the turtles for a time, yes? They have gone missing and we worry they will retaliate. Do you know where they have gone?’
They shot an accusatory glate at him.
‘They are not in the city or I would know of their whereabouts. My eyes only extend so far and they have left my turf.’
Subprime grit their teeth.
‘Prime I’m sure you would be fine with me accompanying our new member back to Earth to see the city for myself?’
‘...Yes-’ Prime’s gaze turned to him, ‘Kraang Subprime will go with you back to Earth and will personally check on how things are going- not that I doubt your word- but they like to see things for themselves.’
Krang nodded and took a step back, when nothing was said he took it as a dismissal and left the room. He did not have to wait long for Subprime to join him. The scarred not-krang glared at him for most of the trip back to New York then made sure to groan and huff with disgust everytime they touched a vine.
“Not to your liking?” He hummed, Sister was nearby… That might not be good.
“Your kinds way of… mutation… is disgusting and nonconventional.” Krang was shocked to discover this not-krang spoke English normally, even better than Kraang Prime.
“You speak well.”
They scoffed.
“The others are idiots, we’ve been on the planet longer than humans have existed, we were here to witness the language develop and they still don’t understand.” That raised many questions to just how old these other Krang were. As far as he was aware their kind didn’t die of old age, but the oldest individual he had the pleasure of knowing was just over thirty thousand in human years, they were also his leader. Krang was certain they were one of the ones that originally tried to overthrow Kraang Prime.
“Something we can agree on, then.” He remarked, getting a huff from Kraang Subprime.
“I’ve had few interactions with your kind but I will give credit where it’s due, you are more intelligent than most of the fools I know.”
Krang got the impression that the one’s Subprime considered him dumber than was Subprime themself. He decided not to bring it up.
A group of hounds rounded the corner and he could hear clanking footsteps behind them. It seems Sister had decided to come see what was going on.
She rounded the corner as well, pausing to look at Subprime.
“Why are you lugging that thing around?”
“Sister, this is Kraang Subprime, mine and your superior-” She rolled her eyes, “-but I do bring some news you might like.”
She waved a claw, “Go on.”
“Kraang Prime allows you to join the defense of the vines surrounding the city and fight against the human military.” She let out a joyous laugh.
“Finally.”
He could tell she was itching to get over there as soon as possible. Kraang Subprime had been getting more annoyed the longer they talked, probably from being called ‘that thing.’ Sister’s presence was not appreciated so he waved her off and she gladly went along dragging the hounds with her.
“Your Sister needs to learn some respect.” Subprime snapped, Krang had once believed the same thing but had come to the conclusion that she was incapable of such a thing. Her not outright attacking onsight and following orders to some degree was as much respect as one was going to get.
“My Sister doesn’t grasp the concept well- but you could try to enforce it yourself if you’d like.” Subprime hissed, they both knew Subprime would never be able to best Sister in a fight.
He and Subprime continued forward until they came onto the makeshift lair, tentacles twisting high into the sky and large eyes peering down at them.
The not-krang shuddered almost imperceptively. The vines that had closed up the entrance unfolded revealing the inside halls, constantly thrumming in rhythm with the vines internal movement. Subprime groaned, making sure to carefully step on the areas with the least amount of vine coverage.
It was amusing to watch them try and keep pace with Krang all the while avoiding the areas they deemed the most unsettling. Which led to them nearly stumbling over their suits feet several times over.
They came to the throne room and Subprime almost seemed to gag. It wasn’t very pretty at the moment as behind the makeshift throne a clear viscous sphere sat filled with veins. It was slowly forming into a large eye reminiscent of the one on the technodrome, but it was taking time to perfect.
“A work in progress.” He supplied, and Subprime nodded looking sickly. He could tell they just wanted to get out of here now. They stumbled out of the room, refusing to turn around and look back at it, Krang silently trailed behind him.
Subprime explored more of the city, seeming to force themselves through it if only to prove they were doing a thorough check. They were quite annoyed when they saw most of the humans mutated by the mutagen were being pinned down and supervised by Krang’s own vines.
“I don’t see why you have deemed it fit to restrain the more refined mutated.”
“They were causing me issues and attacking my assimilated.” Which wasn’t a lie, at some point it was like a switch flipped. It further led to Krang’s belief that the not-krang had very little control over them. Subprime frowned but said nothing more. They did seem to take an interest in the assimilated. Eventually stopping to analyze one.
“I want some of the… assimilated to accompany me back to Dimension X.”
Krang sighed but they were a good opportunity to keep an eye on Prime and Subprime, so he conceded.
“I will send some with you.”
Finally seeming satisfied, Subprime led them to be portaled back, Krang had half a dozen assimilated follow behind. The portal opened and Krang was wondering if he was supposed to stay or follow. Subprime noticed his small dilemma.
“You can stay, Kraang Prime will contact you when you are needed again.” They stepped through the portal, Krang waved off the assimilated who joined Subprime without question. Krang followed them with his eyes, watching as the portal fizzled away.
Subprime’s disgust for him and his kind was apparent and it was frustrating, but he was certain his own distaste for the not-krang was just as obvious. He doubted they would ever get along and he had no desire to, he was happy they had finally left.
He retreated back to the middle of the city, checking in on Sister on the way, she still hadn’t made it to the border, deciding to walk so she could pick up a small armada of assimilated to join her. At least he would be entertained with watching her warpath for some time.
But until that began he would have to confront his thoughts and doubts and figure out what exactly he was going to do.