Chapter 2: Clan Wars
A/N: And here's the second chapter in this saga. I'm really excited to be bringing this to you as I feel it will be an exciting story and one that will keep you riveted. Thanks to those who have read and reviewed thus far. It means a lot to me that you like what I'm doing with this story and I hope you enjoy the rest of it, too.
Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot, Edele Farrelly, and any other characters not associated with TMNT.
I woke up the next morning and turned on the news. I was still happy about last night and how Sharon had warmly agreed to the idea of the new proposal. Then my heart leapt in my throat as I heard a familiar name.
"Police discovered a body in an alley last night," the newscaster said. "He's been identified as thirty-two year old Hiroshi Ishiyama. No one is sure what happened, but witnesses have stated that he was last seen at Murakami's Noodle Shop with Edele Farrelly. Miss Farrelly is wanted for questioning."
I gasped. "Oh saints preserve us," I whispered. I crossed myself and mumbled a prayer for Hiroshi's soul. It was clear that Hiroshi wasn't murdered by just anybody. The Foot had gotten to him and had taken his life.
This was all my fault.
Before I could do anything else, the sound of breaking glass caused me to scream. Four men leaped itno my apartment with their swords drawn.
I leaped from the couch. "What are you doiign here?" I demanded. "Get out of my apartment!"
"You shouldn't have interfered, Miss Farrelly," one of the men said. "Now you must pay for what you've done."
I was so fixated on this man that I didn't hear another one sneak up behind me. I felt a sharp blow on my head and my world turned dark.
22222
April O'Neil smiled as she made her way to her aunt's apartment. She had been so busy with school and traingng that she hadn't had a lot of time to see her Aunt Edy and felt that a visit was in order. She approached the apartment and knocked.
"Aunt Edy, it's April!" April called.
No answer.
April knocked again. "Aunt Edy, are you there?"
Still no answer.
Feeling alarmed, April took out the spare key from under the rug and fit it into the lock. She turned it and opened the door then gasped at what she saw.
Glass littered the floor, and her aunt was nowhere to be found though the television was on. Her senses on alert, April pulled out her tessen and scanned the room just as Splinter and the Turtles had taught her, trying to see if any intruders were there, but there were none. She opened up her powers and tried to sense anything, but she found nothing.
Feeling alarmed, April pulled out her T-Phone and dialed Leo 's number.
"Hello?" Leo answered.
"Leo's it's April," April said. "I'm at my aunt's apartment, but she's not here. I think something happened to her. You have to get down here."
"It's daylight, April," Leo reminded her.
"I know, but you have to come. I think something terrible has happened."
"Okay, we'll be right there."
April then called her father and told him what was going on. Kirby immeidately came over to be with his daughter.
"What do you think happened?" he asked.
"I don't know, but I think someone took Aunt Edy."
The Turtles arrived through the window though they had to be careful because of the broken glass.
"Looks like someone broke in," Raph commented.
"Does your aunt have any enemies?" Leo asked.
April shook her head. "No, not any I can think of."
"Uh, guys, I think I know who took her," Mikey said. He held up a throwing star with a familiar emblem on it.
"The Foot!" Leo spat.
"But why would the Foot want my aunt?" April asked.
"Maybe they want you so they're using her as a bargaining chip," Leo suggested.
"But my aunt doesn't even know about them," April said.
"She's an author, April," Kirby reminded her. "They may know of her from her books."
"Wait, it said on the news that your aunt was with Hiroshi Ishiyama who was just murdered," Don said.
"I don't know who that is," April said.
Don used his T-Phone to bring up a web browser and did some research. "Hiroshi Ishiyama was once a member of the Foot," he said. "He left the organization and has been on his own ever since."
"How do you know these things?" Raph asked his brother.
"He has his own website," replied Don.
"But why would my aunt be meeting with him?" asked April. "Do you think she was going out on a date?"
"Maybe she was doing research for a book," suggested Kirby. "She did mention she wanted to do a new book series."
"If she met with Hiroshi and then he was murdered, that's not good," Leo said. "They must have taken her because of that."
"But what do they plan to do?"
A grim look crossed Leo's face. "They probably plan to silence her so she can't reveal their secrets."
April listed to the side, and Don caught her before she could fall.
"Easy, April," he soothed. "You better sit down." He guided her to the couch. "Put your head between your legs."
April did as she was told and took deep breaths.
"Maybe we should call the police," Kirby suggested.
"That's no good," Leo said. "The Foot won't care about that. We have to go and rescue her, and we'll have to do it tonight."
"I'll go with you," April offered.
"No, you need to stay here," Leo ordered. "We can't risk that you might get hurt."
"Leo, this is my aunt," April protested. "I have to rescue her."
"Leo's right, honey," Kirby said. "Let them handle this. You and I will go to the Lair and stay with Splinter."
"But I can help!" April protested. "I want to help Aunt Edy!"
"I know, but this is dangerous stuff," Kirby reasoned. "Don't make a scene, Pumpkin. You know the Turtles can handle it."
April let out a sigh of frustration. "Okay," she said.
"Good. We'll go there tonight."
"But what if they decide to kill her?" April asked.
"I doubt they will kill her right away," Leo answered. "They'll want information from her first and then they'll decide to kill her. We have to wait and devise a plan first, but we will rescue her, okay? You have to trust us, April. We won't let any harm come to your aunt."
"Sorry, Leo," April apologized. "I'm just worried about her."
"That's okay," Leo said. "I understand. Let's get to the Lair so we can plan things out."
22222
When I awoke my head was aching badly. I found I was lying on a table and was strapped down. Was I being used for some weird ritual or something?
"Oh, she's awake!" a voice said. I turned to see a mutant warthog looking at me.
"Saints preserve us!" I gasped. "Where am I?"
"You're in the Foot Headquarters, baby," the warthog said. "My name's Anton, and you are one nice lookin' girl. You wanna go out sometime?"
I wrinkled my nose. "I don't think that would be wise," I replied.
"Ah, bad luck, Comrade Zeck," said a mutant rhino who was standing next to him.
"Hey, don't rub it in, Baby Ivan," Anton whined.
"Ah, she is awake," a deep voice rumbled as a man in metallic armor and wearing a helmet entered the room.
I glared at him. "Who are you, and what am I doing here?" I demanded.
"You are in my headquarters," the man answered. "I am Oroku Saki, but I am also known as The Shredder."
My eyes widened. This was the man Hiroshi had told me about!
"I see from your expression that you have heard of me," he said.
I nodded. "Yes, I have," I answered. "And what would your business with me be?"
"I have taken you to ensure that you don't spread the secrets of our clan," Saki replied.
"So you intend to keep me here forever?"
"No, that is not the plan. You have two choices. Either you dismiss the book idea, or you will be killed instantly."
"But my editor already approved of it," I said. "There's a lot of money involved."
"I can pay you twice what your editor offers if you will keep quiet," he offered.
The prospect sounded tempting, but I was stubborn. There was no way I was going to help this man after all he had done. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that," I responded.
"I see you are stubborn," he noted. "Take her down and lock her up. Maybe some time alone will help you to sort out your thoughts."
"I thought you were going to kill me," I retorted.
"That is a last resort, but there are ways to make you see reason, and I will use them if I have to," he stated.
I was unstrapped by Anton and Ivan and led downstairs to a place where Saki probably kept prisoners. They threw me in a cell and locked me in.
"I would listen to the boss, lady," Anton advised. "You don't wanna cross him."
"I think I'll pass on that," I replied.
"Suit yourself," Anton said.
They left me alone, and I sighed. What was I going to do now? I had no way to leave. Was Saki going to keep me forever, or was he going to act on his threat to kill me? Even if he did, I wouldn't die quietly. I'd fight him as long as I could. I sat there and hummed a song my ma had sung to me when I was a wee baby. The tune soothed me and made me believe that everything would turn out all right in the end.
22222
As night fell, the Turtles gathered on a rooftop not far from Foot Headquarters. They did a scan of the building and saw a lot of cameras as well as a few guards surrounding the building.
"How many guards?' Leo asked.
"Looks like maybe six," Don answered. "Quite a few cameras, too. Looks like they upped security this time."
"Raph, we'll need your help on this," said Leo.
Raph smiled. "Already on it," he said. He gave a short whistle to a pigeon who was on the opposite roof, and the bird flew over and landed on Raph's shoulder.
"Hey, little guy, we're gonna need some help," he said. "You think you can do this?"
The pigeon cooed and took off.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Don asked.
"Hey, Raph's like the Turtle version of Snow White," Mikey said. "He can do this."
Not long after, the pigeon came back with some of his friends and settled themselves on the cameras.
"Okay, let's move out," Leo ordered.
The Turtles leapt toward the building and took out each of the guards with some pressure points. Leo's whole mission was to not have them engage in battle but to get in and get Edele out.
"Looks like we got company," Raph said as he pointed to the main room where Shredder's henchmen were assembled.
"Already got it covered," Don answered. He pulled out what looked like a grenade and pulled the pin before launching it. As it landed, smoke filled the room, causing the mutants to cough and then fall to the ground.
"What was that?" Mikey asked his brother.
"A little something I've been working on," Don answered. "I knew I could get the formula right."
"Okay, swift and silent, ninjas," Leo ordered. "Let's go."
They made their way through the main portion of the headquarters and down to where the holding cells were. They had been here before to rescue Karai, and Leo couldn't help but feel a pang at the memory. He wondered where she was now, and if they were ever going to see her again. He immediately shook the thought away. Now was not the time to get distracted. They had a job to do.
22222
A sound jolted me out of my state, and I looked up to see four men in turtle costumes come in. Did they work for Shredder? What were they doing here?
"Are you Edele Farrelly?" the one in the blue mask asked.
I nodded. "Yes, I am. Who are you?"
"We've come to rescue you," he replied. "We're friends of your niece, April."
Hearing that made me feel better. If they were April's friends then I could trust them. The one in the purple mask set to work on opening my cell. As soon as it was open I rushed out.
"Thank God you're here," I said. "How do we get out of here?"
The one in red smiled. "Leave that to us," he replied.
"Is it okay if I carry you, Miss Farrelly?" the one in blue asked.
"Yes, you may," I answered.
He gently lifted me so I was safe in his arms. I felt better and had hoe that we would get through this.
My rescuers made their way back the way they had come and managed to escape without incident which was very unusual.
"How did you not run into any of the others?" I asked.
"We knocked them out," the one in purple said. "A little invention I came up with."
"Yeah, Donnie's always inventing things," the one in orange stated.
"Donnie?" I repeated. "Are you the Donnie my niece April keeps talking about?"
Donnie blushed. "Yeah, that would be me," he said.
"I see. Well, I will say that April really thinks highly of you, young man."
"No offense, but we really don't have time to talk right now," the one in blue said. "Let's get to the Lair and we can talk more there."
They headed over the rooftops for a bit until they came to a sewer grate. The one in red lifted it aside for the others to jump in. I closed my eyes when the one in blue jumped down. My stomach lurched, but it was over before I could even think about it. Once everyone was down and the manhole cover was put back into place, we headed toward the sewer home. The sewers smelled awful, but as we approached the Lair as they called it, the smell wasn't as bad.
"Aunt Edy!" April yelled as we entered the Lair. She rushed over and gave me a hug.
"It's good to see you, too, April," I said. "Thanks for sending your friends to rescue me."
"No problem," April said. "Are you okay?"
"I am fine," I answered.
"That was a close call," Kirby stated.
"Yes, and I'd like to know more about all of this," I replied.
"I agree that there is much you need to know," another voice said. I jumped out of my skin when I saw a six-foot rat coming toward us. He was dressed in a maroon robe and spoke with a Japanese accent.
"Saints preserve us!" I gasped. "How many men in costumes are you?"
"We are not men in costumes, Miss Farrelly," the rat said. He sat down in a chair and motioned for all of us to sit down as well which we did.
"If you're not men in costumes, are you spirits?" I asked him. I knew of stories my ma and da once told me from Irish folklore though none of them had even spoken of what I was seeing in front of me.
"No, we are mutants," the rat replied. "It all started with me. I was once a human named Hamato Yoshi. I started life in Japan training with the Hamato Clan. My father was a revered sensei and master of the art of ninjutsu. We had a war with the Foot Clan that was very bitter. During one such battle, my father killed the leader of the Foot. We then discovered that he had a son, and my father couldn't bear to leave him with no one to care for him, so my father took him in. Oroku Saki and I grew up as brothers and competed in all things as brothers tend to do."
"Wait, so Oroku Saki is your brother?" I asked him.
"He was my brother," Yoshi corrected. "But as we grew older, Saki became jealous. Then we both befriended a woman named Tang Shen. Both of us loved her dearly, and she loved us in return. She dated Saki first, but he turned out to not be the man she wanted in her life, so she left him and chose me instead. We were married and had a baby daughter we named Miwa. One day, Saki overheard the truth of how he had been brought into our clan, and it enraged him. He vowed to restore the Foot Clan and made steps to do just that. He wished for Shen to choose him, but she told him no. Saki was enraged and fought me in a battle. Shen tried to stop us, and Saki killed her. A fire consumed the house, and I fled. Miwa was lost in the fire, and I believed that she was gone, too."
"I'm so sorry to hear that," I said softly. "So what did you do?"
"I fled to America, and it was there that I bought four baby turtles as pets. While I was leaving the store, I noticed two men who seemed suspicious to me. I followed them and engaged them in battle. I knocked a can of mutagen out of one of their hands and it fell on the baby turtles and on me as well. That is how we came to be mutants. I fled to the sewers with the baby turtles and cared for them as if they were my sons I named them after the Renaissance artists I admired so much."
The one in blue stepped forward. "I'm Leonardo," he said as he gave me a bow.
"I'm Raphael," the one in red said as he lazily twirled one of his weapons.
"Donatello," Donnie said as he smiled at me.
"And I'm Michelangelo, but you can call me Mikey," the one in orange said.
"And I am now called Splinter," Yoshi said. "It was a nickname I was given in the Japanese army, and I decided it would be a good name to use since I was no longer human."
"It is nice to meet all of you," I said. "I can't thank you enough for what you did for me. But now I must be going home."
"That would not be wise," Splinter said.
"Why not?" I asked.
"The Foot know where you live and would more than likely find you again," he replied. "It is best if you stay with us."
"But what about my things?"
"We can get whatever you need," Kirby offered. "Just make a list and we'll collect your stuff."
I nodded and compiled a list of what I needed. Raphael went with them so they wouldn't be in danger in case the Foot were watching my apartment.
"So, what do you think?" Mikey asked me. "Pretty rad, right?"
"Well, this is definitely not something I thought would happen to me," I answered. "But I'm glad that I met you and can't thank you enough for rescuing me."
Kirby, April, and Raph arrived back at the Lair with my stuff. I was relieved that they had made it all in once piece.
"Well, I guess we'd better head out," Kirby stated.
"You're not staying, too?" I asked.
"No, we're going back," Kirby said.
"I'll stop by tomorrow for practice though," April said.
"What sort of practice?"
"Master Splinter's training me to be a kunoichi," she answered. "A female ninja."
"Ah, that's very interesting," I said. "I would like to see how that works."
"You may see it tomorrow," Splinter said. "For now, you need to rest."
Leonardo showed me the guest room, and I smiled at how quaint it was. A bed was front and center along with a dresser and a mirror above it. A television was there as well along with a small stereo system.
"Will this work for you?" he asked me.
"Yes, I think I can settle in here nicely," I responded. "Thank you, Leonardo."
"You can call me Leo if you want," he said. "Only Master Splinter calls me Leonardo."
"Leo it is then," I said. "Have a good sleep, Leo."
"You too, Miss Farrelly," he said.
"You may call me Edele," I said.
"Good night, Edele."
"Good night, Leo."
I got ready for bed and settled under the covers. This definitely wasn't what I'd asked for, but I was grateful that I had a place to stay and that I was no longer imprisoned with the Foot. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, wondering what new adventures awaited me.
22222
"What do you mean she's gone?" Shredder thundered.
"She's gone," Bebop said. "We don't know who took her. We were knocked out by some gas."
Shredder growled. "This cannot happen," he vowed. "Find this woman and get rid of her. She cannot be allowed to live."
A/N: Dun! Dun! Dun! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I swear, I'm having a blast writing this story. I already have a plan for chapter three, so I hope I'll be getting that out soon. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.
