Enemy Territory

2003 Turtles

All the orders that had been given over the past few weeks were about the accursed turtles. Find them. Capture them. Don't kill them. Kill them. Oh wait, changed my mind don't kill them.

I swear if I hear one more thing about Leonardo I'm going to blow. She scowled, hiding in the shadows of a rooftop. This was the third night she was sent out to look for the turtles and she was tired of returning to HQ empty handed. She then took a breath and worked to focus her mind. Alright Ash, just focus on the task at hand. Find the turtle's hide out then report to Master. Simple and clean, just the way I like it.

Ash reached up to tighten her pony tail—flicking the wavy purple hair over her shoulders. She then moved to tighten the black mask that sat over her eyes—hazel eyes observing the area around her. The small motions put her more at ease, keeping her mind from going to the worst case scenarios. From what she gathered the turtle's weren't killers, but didn't hold back all—especially when they were cornered. The one she knew she had to watch out for was Leonardo: the leader.

"Take him out and they will crumble." Her master had said once.

Why the heck did he send me out? She sighed, standing up to move easily across the high raise buildings of New York City. Karai could have done this easily. Though if I do this right, my reward might pay off my debts. It was decided: she'd do some damage to her sworn enemies.

"If I can find them," She grumbled while back flipping over a gap in the roofs. She ran through a mental checklist of where they usually hung out. There was the one woman's house—April O'Neil. At times they went to the junk yard. The Foot still were unsure of where their home in the expansive sewer system was. The last place would the rooftops when they go on patrol.

Ash didn't really want to go to O'Neil's. The woman was too much of a liability and the man that hung around would be a distraction. However, she needed to rule the possibility out so she veered west and made her way to the rooftop of Second Time Around. She remembered hearing the reports of the woman's shop being burned down and the reincarnation looked nice. She had no doubt that it would be heavily secured.

Not here. She mentally checked off. All the lights were off and a quick peak into the apartment showed the red-head asleep in her room. Ash quickly moved a few blocks away and started planning her next move. She checked the junk yard and found only the homeless present. She was running out of options.

So she camped out on a rooftop, sitting crossed legged in the shadows. This is where they usually patrol. If they come by I'll be ready.

Ash sat there without moving—practicing her patience with eyes closed. Her search had begun right when the sky was completely dark around eight and it was now midnight. She was about to give up when she heard foots steps a few rooftops over.

"You almost had me!" She heard a shout. "You gotta be quicker than that!"

She opened her eyes—easily spotting the four turtles leaping over gaps. She rooted herself—letting them pass her by and get about a mile way before standing up and running in the direction they went. Ash knew that one of them—most likely Leonardo—would sense her and she was prepared for it. But she had to try.

The purple haired young adult hung back. She watched them joke with each other as they continued their patrol. They laughed and pushed each other around. They acted as best friends.

They're a family. Something hurt deep inside of her, but she had to ignore it. Regardless of if they were family she had her orders and she knew what would happen if she disobeyed them.

So, she launched herself forward to keep up with them as they disappeared down a fire escape. Once she heard the sound of a manhole sliding out of place then back she slid down the fire escape ladder—landing quietly on her feet in a crouched position.

"Ash to HQ," She whispered into her headset.

"What?" Was the simple response.

"Master, I followed the turtles until they ducked down into the sewers. My guess is that this one is closest to their home."

A chuckled resounded in her ear. "Excellent. Follow them and make sure you take in your surroundings so you can lead us back later."

"Yes, sir." She replied before turning off her ear piece. Stealthily she lifted the cover and ducked inside—moving the cover back in place afterwards.

Alright, stay on your toes. She took a deep breath to calm herself while she followed the voices of the turtles. Apparently they hadn't sensed her which didn't surprise her. She was trained to stay light on her feet and blend in with the shadows. The only complaint her superiors had was that she refused to wear a full-head mask to hide her purple locks.

Suddenly their chatter stopped. She instinctively held her breath and hung back behind a corner—praying that she wasn't spotted. There was no sound or movement. She tried to focus on where their exact position was but the constantly dripping water and the sounds of rats around distracted her. She was going to have to wing it.

"Oh you've got to be freaking kidding me," She sighed. She had turned the corner and found that no one was there. She looked around the corridor and found no traces of the turtles. She searched for another hour but only ended up lost in the expansive tunnel system. Normally her sense of direction was decent, but the sewers were a whole different ball game. She had never been on a mission below ground and why she was sent out for this still puzzled her.

Well, time to get put on desk duty. She shoved her hands in her pants pocket in frustration. This was a simple recon mission and I somehow screw it up. Not only is Master going to give me his 'I'm-so-disappointed-I could-cut-you' look, bro's going to give me his classic 'you're-such-a-disgrace' look. Either way I have a feeling my self-esteem is going to suck tonight.

Soon she found herself looking at a dead end. Deciding it was time to go back she turned on her heals only to come face to face with a katana—wielded by none other than Leonardo. His expression unreadable, but his brother's showed their irritation openly.

"Who are you?" The blue masked turtle demanded.

"She's a Foot Ninja!" The orange clad turtle gasped, pointing to her black vest. The red symbol of the foot stitched proudly over the right breast pocket.

"Careful there's probably more of them," Leonardo replied. His gaze was back on her—his weapon at her chest.

"Ya know, it's been real fun getting lost in the sewers." She attempted to smile and move around him. "But it's time for me hit the old dusty trail back home." His glare didn't waver and his katana stayed at her chest.

"Is she really the Foot, because she's weird." The red banded one commented.

"What do we do with her?" The purple masked turtle asked.

"Let me go?" If it wasn't for the fact that all four of them had their weapons drawn and surrounding her she would have pulled out her own weapon and go to town on their shells. But combined they were all stronger than her and there was no backup around for miles. So she had to go the quirky-talkative route—hoping that her awkwardness would distract them enough to grab her weapon.

"Like we're really going to let you go," the red masked turtle growled. "You're out of your mind."

I must be close to their home. She reasoned. I doubt they'd be taking the time to apprehend me if I was far away from their location. Ash's smiled dropped when they began to tighten the circle around her. This is about to get real. Her hand twitched, wanting to reach behind her and grasp her weapon. She had to run. Just as she strategized her next move to kick off the wall beside her and sail over their heads, Leonardo pulled out a second katana while is brother held a sai to her back—daring her to move.

I-I'm trapped. She growled. She wanted to scream in anger. She wanted to fight with all the rage that was bubbling inside her. Five plans whizzed through her mind, but each had too much of a liability to go wrong.

She heard a bag zip and then hands bring her arms behind her—tying her wrists. Leonardo sheathed his weapons and grasped her forearm tightly—there was no struggling out of his vice grip.

"Why don't you just kill me?" She tried to keep her tone icy—imitating the tone that Karai often took with her and her 'co-workers'. There was no answer. Instead a hand twisted her black mask to obscure her vision, the weight of her weapon disappeared from her back, and she was being pulled through the tunnel.

In her mind she could see her Master, the Shredder, scowling. He would glare at her as she sat before him on her knees with her head bowed. She would then hear the phrase she hated most: "You're such a disappointment."