Sorry for the slight delay, got a little distracted
but I won't keep you any longer
Chapter 3:
(3rd:)
Quickly raising his right arm to defend himself; Leo held in his wince as the blade cut into his flesh but he fought against the pain and counterattacked before the man could take another swing at him and quickly threw his arm out wide moving safely around the blade just enough to avoid severe damage and collided his elbow into the guy's face.
This promptly knocked the guard off balance enough for Leo to deflect the axe, turn his sword and throw the hilt into the guy's chest; forcing the behemoth back several steps to where Leo could quickly reversed his sword again and crouch lower to protect his injured arm as well as defend himself better.
However it appeared that there was no longer any work he was required to do here; as Mikey had suddenly materialized behind his opponent at that moment and swung his nunchucks across the back of the man's skull so hard they heard bone crack and leveled him to the floor.
The guy promptly twitched like a dead bug for a second; but Mikey ignored him as he hooped over the body to assess the damage.
"Leo." He stated shakily; his hands hovering over his brother's wound in uncertainty.
"It's okay Mike." Leo assured him taking care to make direct eye contact; which allowed the younger to clam down and assess the situation again; which in turn brought his attention to something directly over Leo's shoulder and he flew to his feet again to snatch up Taro by his shirt collar and nearly lifted him straight off the ground in his fury.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Mikey growled in the man's face leaving Leo so shocked by this sudden turn in his usually sweat disposition that he could do nothing more than stare at him for several seconds. "We told you to wait by the door."
"Mikey!" Leo stated sternly; upon realizing that he was going to get them discovered if his volume continued to rise any farther. "Put him down." He ordered when his brother turned to look at him and quickly obeyed without question.
Under normal circumstances a simple hand on his shoulder would be enough to calm him down; but seeing as Leo's good hand was currently covered in blood that particular exploit might not exact the reaction he wanted, but it allowed him another second to take in the situation and found that Taro's unwavering stare at the guard whom he had just bludgeoned probably required the bulk of his attention.
"Taro." He started again; trying to mimic Splinter's 'fatherly-disapproval voice;' which guarantied to always get their attention. "Why did you do that?" He added sternly.
"He deserved it." Taro answered almost immediately; while still glaring at the man who was quickly being surrounded by a pool of dark water; which told Leo that it was already too late to save him.
In this day and age death was nothing new to him and he knew how to spot the signs; but this was different. The Hamato Clan was above killing; his ancestors may have been hired in the distant past to perform assassinations but no more.
His father believed in life and he had taught them the same.
"And why is that?" Leo asked calmly causing the man to round on him in a rage.
"They killed my –" He started to yell but paused before starting over. "She wasn't my wife." He admitted. "But she was – going to be." He continued as he closed his fists into a white knuckled ball. "We were going to get married in the spring."
"So this was something she wanted?" Leo asked waving his hand at the body on the ground. "Or was it you?"
"They're monsters." He yelled back at him quickly. "They deserved it." He quoted again. "What if they had killed one of your brothers?" He asked suddenly and Leo couldn't help but twitch. "What if they had taken Donnie or Mi–"
"You're not a God,Taro." Leo interrupted in a voice that promised a living hell should he even think of continuing with that question and the man immediately backed up several steps in obvious terror as he continued. "No one has the right to say that death is deserved. We haven't even found a reason for why they're doing this; you can't answerer that question with revenge?"
The blue-banded turtle gave him a minute to think that over before going on. "But now I have caused the death of another." He stated suddenly and Mikey immediately turned to look at him in shook.
"Leo –" He started quickly but was interrupted.
"No mater how justified the cause; violence only begets more violence and more pain." Leo continued looking directly at Taro who was watching him in shock. "I'm responsible for this." He stated looking back at the guard on the floor. "And I will reap the punishments."
"What do you mean?" Taro asked after a minute.
"Our clan forbids killing and despite the fact that he was my enemy; that man was alive only moments ago and might still be if I had not knocked him out first." He explained simply. "I may very well be exiled for this."
"That's not fair." Taro insisted suddenly and Leo quickly narrowed his eyes at him which caused the man to shut up once more.
"And murdering an unarmed and unconscious man is?" The turtle demanded seriously; causing Taro to stare at him for a minute before finally turning away.
"I get it." He answered calmly. "My actions affect those around me." He quoted.
"It sounds to me like you've heard that before." Leo declared holding up a hand to keep Mikey quiet when he made to make another comment on the subject.
"My father says that all the time." Taro admitted turning to look at the body again but suddenly seemed to be unable to take in the sight.
"Then maybe next time you'll listen." Leo told him sternly though he couldn't tell if the lesson he'd been attempting to teach was learned. But it would have to be enough for now; they still had a ship to move and he needed Taro to move it.
And he would; whether he wanted to or not.
…
(Donnie's POV)
"Donnie!"
The urgency in my brother's voice nearly had me pulling out of my trance but I forced himself back in. I was almost finished; I could save the woman and her child but I needed a few more seconds.
I wasn't concerned; Raph always had my back and it was because of him that I could do my job in the middle of such a scene. He would protect me until I could protect myself.
I had no doubt.
And so I quickly forced my attention back onto the job at hand and flushed the last of the toxins from the woman's system while simultaneously giving her everything she would need to save herself and her child from the drug's intrusion. In a matter of seconds I had finished and started my retreat back into the real world; leaving the nano-bots to do the rest.
I woke with a start as the sound of a gun going off had me jumping to my feet and I turned quickly to find Raph fighting with the fish mutant from before somehow managing to force the barrel of the weapon upward while he struggled to beat the man back into unconsciousness.
I quickly made my way into the fray just as another shot was fired and everyone in the area screamed in terror; trying to get away from the war zone. But before another bullet could fly I gripped the fish mutant's wrist and forced the pressure points in the area to release the gun to my brother who quickly got it away from the scene while I continued the fight.
The guy promptly swung out at me several times with his good hand; but I dodged and dodged until I could maneuver him into position and got behind where I quickly threw a karate-chop into the back of his neck sending him careening head first into the wall which knocked him out cold once again.
I eyed his crumpled form for a second before turning to check on Raph who was busy swearing up a storm and dismantling the gun with nothing but shear strength and an anger management disorder that should have earned him a place in the dictionary.
Right between rage and rile.
"Raph" I said calmly as he finished dismembering the weapon and threw its remains to all corners of the room before flying around with his fists out looking for something else to hit. "Easy Rambo, he's down." I told him which caused my brother to give me a look before beginning his swearing streak again.
"Raph!" I insisted disapprovingly.
"What?" He growled as he whipped around again to face me.
"There are ladies present." I informed him with a raised eye-ridge which had him immediately chilling out as he looked around at all the people watching him with eyes the size of pennies.
"Sorry" He offered as if he were talking of the weather and folded his arms to stare at something of interest near a random spot on the wall.
I had to force myself not to laugh at his show of antics and informed the people that everything was alright before turning back around to study the fish mutant again.
"That's a hell of a way to say 'thanks for savin' my life'." Raph proclaimed quietly as he walked up to keep an eye on the man as I knelt down to check the man's injuries again to make sure he hadn't caused any more damage. "I should a just left his lousy ass ta die."
"You and I both know you're too soft to do that." I proclaimed distractedly.
"Soft!" Raph repeated in an insulted tone. "No one calls me that, not even you." He growled.
"At least not in front of people, right?" I added as I continued to check over the guy's body looking for something that I was sure had to be there – somewhere.
"Exactly!" Raph declared grumpily before realizing what I had said and quickly revised his answer. "I mean no, not now not ever."
"Whatever you say, bro." I declared with a small laugh before finally locating what I had been looking for.
"And don' think that just because yar my brother I won't –"
"Raph!" I interrupted him and he quickly knelt down to see what I had found; all thoughts of threats and revenge forgotten as the tone of my voice changed to serious.
"What is it?" He asked immediately while I roiled the other mutant over to carefully sort through the scales on the front of his neck which revealed a now very familiar scar. "Ya gotta be kiddin' me, them too?" He declared in shock.
"It doesn't end there." I reported; gently turning the guy onto his stomach and located another hidden scar as well as a – bump.
"Wait a minute." My brother stated; before reaching up to rub the back of his own neck.
"They're just like us Raph." I revealed as I continued to study the area where the man's mind had been incarcerated and then dominated by the technology under his skin. "They're being controlled by nano-bots."
…
(3rd:)
'Exiled!'
That word kept repeating in Mikey's head as he followed Leo's orders and stood watch at the door; as he and Taro started the submarine again.
Would the elder's really send Leo away for this or was it just a tactic his brother was using to get into Taro's head? As the orange-banded turtle checked on the two people behind him once again he realized that what was bothering him the most was that he didn't know.
Normally he was pretty in-tune with his brother's; but for some reason he couldn't tell if Leo was lying; which was starting to make him wonder that maybe he wasn't.
There was no way, that couldn't happen.
He admitted that Leo's actions may have caused a death and he was more than aware of the elder's no-exceptions policy to their order of no-killing; but he hadn't actually killed the guy; surely the elders would see that and judge accordingly.
Turning back around to watch the hallway again; Mikey realized that again he really didn't know. It was a rare occasion in deed that any of them were exposed to the more serious side of the elders; but only one of the turtles knew what would happen in the case of a broken decree – and that was Leo.
However he only had time to dwell on this for another minute when a sudden loud noise interrupted his thoughts and he flew around to assess the threat with his chucks out and ready. But the only thing he found was Leo looking at one of the screens with an impressed look on his face as Taro disentangling himself from a cluster of wires to crawl out from under a desk.
"It worked!" The guy declared excitedly.
"Should we be worried he sounds so surprised?" Mikey asked discovering that the sound was simply the submarine starting up again.
"Terrified!" Taro answered absentmindedly as he turned on several more things before making his way to the big seat in front to take control of the wheel.
"According to Donnie we're only a couple miles off the coast." Leo told him as he took up position behind the guy. "It'll be directly south-west; our clan's waiting for us at Mie Daigaku Hospital."
"I know where that is." Taro responded; reaching over to flip a few switches and type in a few commands. "It's the old University right?" He guessed.
"That's right." Leo answered before looking back at his brother. "Mikey; go check on Raph and Donnie, see if they're ready to move."
"You'll be alright?" He asked unable to stop his eyes from drifting to Leo's arm. Even though he had tied off the cut and taken a second to have the nano-bots seal the wound it was still unnerving to see his brother covered in so much blood.
"I'll be fine." He assured him. "Just go see if those people are ready to be moved."
"Okay." He finally agreed after a short second of hesitation before rushing back into the hall.
It didn't take him long to use his orders to distract his mind from all the hard core thoughts swimming around up there; but just as he was starting to feel useful again that strange feeling of walking through an empty ship reared its ugly head and he began to expect everyone and their brother around every corner.
Except this time it wasn't just paranoia.
Less than two minutes into his return trip Mikey had to duck behind a pipe to avoid the attention of a group of pirates running down another hall ahead of him. However as they passed he noticed something over the sound of the 20+ stomping feet and realized that something was missing.
None of them were talking; you'd think at least one of them would be screaming orders but instead they were just focused on running; leaving Mikey to wait for the last of them to disappear before peeking out from his hiding place to raise an eye-ridge at the oddness of their situation.
For their first real mission it was turning into a real strange one and he was starting to get an unpleasant feeling that it was a sign of things to come.
…
Leo made sure that Taro was doing as he was told before checking the hallway where he kept hearing people running up and down the halls and knew the pirates were close to finding them. But he also knew that as long as he secured the doorway he'd be able to hold them off; as they wouldn't be able to overwhelm him in such a small space.
Of course he was half tempted to just close and lock the door; but that might give them the idea to use another entrance that Leo didn't know about or just blow up the room instead of fighting him head on and he really wasn't in the mood for more surprises right now.
"Taro?" He said quietly as the sound of stomping feet got louder; as getting the submarine moving again unfortunately let every single enemy on the ship know exactly where they were. "How long?"
"We're picking up speed." He reported unhelpfully.
"I can see that." Leo told him as he unsheathed his sword again and ducked into a shadow by the door. "How long?" He repeated.
"Maybe – 10 minutes." The man finally guessed.
"That's too long." Leo told him demandingly.
There was no way he could hold off an army of goons for 10 minutes with just one hand.
"What do you want me to do? This isn't The Nautilus." He declared as he began messing with a few more switches and levers. "Its top speed is only about 10 knots." The turtle couldn't help but swear under his breath in response to that; as movement caught his eye at the end of the hall.
'What kind of pirates spend all their money on a ship that couldn't even hit 12 miles per hour?'
"Whatever." Leo declared grumpily. "Just keep the damn thing going and don't leave that spot."
"Why would I –" Taro started to ask before turning around and proceeded to freak out as pirates suddenly started to swarm the doorway. However Leo quickly bolted from his hiding spot to swing the heavy metal door right into their faces; causing the first wave to either collapse in an unconscious heap or fly back several feet from the force of the blow.
Unfortunately it didn't take the second wave too long to just walk over their fallen comrades and attack as well. But using the door as a shield and the small space to his advantage; Leo was able to limit the attackers to one at a time and hold them off fairly efficiently.
"Does that thing have an intercom?" He yelled back at Taro as he slammed the door in another guy's face where he parried a blow with his sword from another at the same time.
"I think so." The guy answered un-encouragingly.
"Start it up." Leo ordered before pulling the door back suddenly causing the guy who was leaning heavily on the other side to fall flat on his face where Leo swiftly kicked him back into the hall and slammed the door again on an unfortunate individual who had managed to get his arm in the room just in time to have it broken.
…
"What the hell are you doin' here?" Raph demanded as Mikey ran into the room just as he and Donnie had finished tying the fish goon up so he couldn't cause any more trouble.
"The ship's started; can we move these guys now?" He asked in response; completely ignoring his older brother's question in the process.
"Most of them." Donnie answered and was about to voice his own question when he was interrupted.
"Donnie!" Leo's voice suddenly proclaimed loudly; causing them all to look around for the source.
"Yes?" Don calmly asked the speaker on the wall; obviously slightly annoyed at being interrupted but didn't show it.
"I don't care what you have to do; but when we get home you are going to finish those shell-cell things." He ordered randomly and Raph couldn't help but laugh lightly under his breath in response.
"No T-phones!" Mikey declared suddenly. "We should call them T-phones; can't they call them T-phones?" He begged of Donnie who gave the box on the wall an evil look which was obviously meant for Leo.
"I don' know I personally liked turtle-comm." Raph added; which had his brother turning that glare on him; to which Raph just smiled; letting Donnie know that this was payback for the 'soft' comment earlier.
"Can we focus please?" Donnie asked sourly, earning two matching smiles of annoyingness from his siblings. "Aiya." He added under his brother before looking back at the speaker as Leo continued.
"Are the prisoners okay?" He asked and they all quickly became serious again.
"Yeah; they'll be fine 'til we hit land. What's going on over there?" Donnie answered as Leo faded in and out with a company of static.
"Oh nothing; I just have an entire army at my front door." He declared calmly before being interrupted again and a second later they heard a loud slam as he came back on; this time featuring a slightly winded tone and a background noise that sounded more like a constant barrage of metal banging on metal. "And I could; possiblyuse just a little bit of help." He admitted and his brothers suddenly had a sinking feeling deep in their stomachs.
Leo never asked for help and it was most likely even worse than that if he was forced to lock himself inside as well.
"He's hurt." Mikey suddenly proclaimed as he remembered that little fact.
"What?" Donnie asked in a panic.
"His arm." The youngest reported holding his right arm up as an example. "He caught a sword; I don't think he can use it."
"Damn it ta hell." Raph swore as he headed for the door again.
"Wait." Someone suddenly cried out and they turned back to find all the prisoners watching them with different levels of panic.
"Shit!" Raph commented; looking back at the hall longingly.
'Damn it; Leo needed them, but they couldn't just leave all these people to fend for themselves, they were in no condition to fight.'
"I'll stay." Mikey commented suddenly causing his brothers to look at him in shock. "I'll protect them."
"No offence bro; but I'm getting' a little sick a this 'splitting-up-thing'." Raph told him grouchily. "Everyone's goin' this time, no one's stayin' behind." He ordered sternly.
"But –" The smaller turtle started to complain but Donnie promptly interrupted.
"It's okay." He said and they turned to watch him mess around with his wrist gizmo thing again; which suddenly ejected a little round doohickey into his hand which he then attached to the edge of the door.
After pushing a couple buttons on the thing he turned to stick another on the opposite side of the doorframe and motioned for them to get out into the hall before turning back to speak to the man who had nearly chased them out the door.
"Please don't go." He begged.
"It'll be okay." Donnie assured him as he handed over a little remote. "Use this; but only if you need to open the door." He instructed him putting a big emphasis on the word need. "Other than that just stay here til we come get you." He added.
"But what if they come back?" Someone else asked.
"They won't be able to get in." Donnie assured them with a smile. "You'll be safe, I promise."
His brother's weren't sure if it was his 'I'm the doctor and I'm in charge' voice or the shear level of confidence that Donnie had in his tech; but the people were suddenly a lot calmer and seemed to have no doubt that they would indeed be unharmed.
But Donnie on the other hand didn't say another word as he closed the door and pushed a button on his gantlet that instructed the little gadget to lock it with a menacing thud and the sound of something turning; before starting down the hallway again to lead the way back to their solitary brother.
…
Donnie's gantlet-thing was doing a pretty good job of leading them to the bridge but he still let Mikey go first; as he'd already been there and knew the way.
A pipe shaped like a question mark, a rust stain that looked like Chester the Cheetah and a skid-mark on the floor that he swear said meh; were just a few of the things that the youngest turtle's brain had picked up and remembered as markers for correct paths and turning points.
But of course their destination was even more noticeable as the entrance hall to the bridge was now crowded with at least 70-something people all trying to bust down the door.
It was no wonder Leo had to lock himself inside.
"Now what?" Mikey asked his brothers worriedly as Raph moved to see the war zone better.
"Either they haven't noticed we're here or they have specific orders to get through that door." Donnie guessed causing his little brother to turn and give him a look.
"Why wouldn't they just find another way in?" He couldn't help but ask.
"Obviously they haven't been programmed to think outside the box." Donnie answered without taking his eyes off the crowd.
"Programmed?" Mikey repeated in shock. "You mean they're –"
"Yeah." Don stated before he could finish and suddenly it all made sense.
Why the pirates wouldn't talk, why they acted like mindless zombies and why they wouldn't move when they had nothing better to do.
None of the turtles could remember what they had done under the control of Shredder's nano-bots as kids; but when they were old enough Splinter had told them what had happened.
Could this have been what happened to them all those years ago?
Though they knew they weren't the only ones to have fallen under Shredder's hand; to find more victims like them here of all places was more than a little scary; for that meant that there was a good possibility Shredder himself was behind it. Did that mean he had found out they were alive, what if he was actually on the ship right now; waiting for them?
Though the brothers had all agreed that Shredder needed to be taken out; and had more or less decided to do the deed themselves when they were ready, but they weren't ready, not for that.
"Mikey." Donnie said suddenly and the smaller turtle couldn't help but jump as his brother reached out to touch his shoulder. "It's okay." He told him reassuringly. "We can handle this and I doubt Shredder's here anyway."
Meeting his eyes Mikey could tell he was confident in that knowledge which helped him calm down again, at least a little.
"We need to stay focused and finish the mission." He continued seriously. "We'll figure this out later."
"Okay." Mikey responded quietly before realizing that something was missing or rather someone. "Where's Raph?" He asked quietly which caused Donnie to look a little lost for a second before turning around to see that their brother was indeed gone and they both flew to the corner to find said turtle barreling toward the crowd of pirates like a bat-out-of-hell.
"He's out of his mind." Donnie commented as their older brother bulldozed through his targets one right after the other where he proceeded to ram them into walls, throw them into the ceiling and generally leave a lane of destruction and unconscious goons in his wake.
It took him maybe 3 minutes tops to clear the path to the door before turning back to them with a look that clearly said 'are you coming?'
"I guess that's one way to clear a path." Mikey stated and Donnie nodded in agreement before leading the way down the hall to meet up with him again.
"Raph!" Donnie hissed urgently when their friendly neighborhood hot-head suddenly threw his fist into the door as well; causing it to nearly bend itself right off its hinges in response to the force.
However before Raphael could make any move to enter Donnie grabbed his bandana and pulled him back just in time to avoid contact with the sharp blade of their oldest brother's sword.
"Damn it Leo." Raph swore as said individual straightened up from his defensive pose and gave him a criticizing look in return. "Is this how ya thank someone for comin' ta save yar lousy ass?" He demanded as Leo gave the door an odd look before glaring at him again.
"You could have just knocked." He answered simply which made Raph even more unreasonable, if that was even possible.
"Fine; than ya can just save yourself next time." He yelled in response.
"What took you so long?" Leo asked calmly as he sheathed his sword again and regarded him with another glare.
"WHAT?" Raph bellowed causing the younger two turtles to cover their ears so as not go deaf as his voice was magnified by the small hallway. "Of all the –" He started to yell before Donnie placed a hand over his mouth to shut him up.
"Okay; true our enemy already knows we're here but that's really no reason to tempt fate." He stated truthfully earning a sideways glare from Raph for the interruption. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice; you two can have this argument anytime; preferably when we get home." He ordered calmly before letting go of his face and moved over to examine Leo's injury.
"Whatever." Raph declared and folded his arms grumpily; as Donnie got to work stitching and bandaging the wound.
"Land-ho." Mikey proclaimed a few minutes later and they looked around to find him pointing at one of the screens in excitement causing Taro and Raph to quickly move over to have a look for themselves; but didn't seem as convinced.
"Where?" Taro asked squinting at the screen in confusion.
"Trust me; it's there." Mikey stated without doubt. "We should probably get this thing to the surface don't ya think?" He asked causing them all to look at him in surprise. "What?" He stated. "Adventures of Silver Sentry issue 74; He had to drive this cool ass submarine with these –"
"Ok, ok, we get it." Raph interrupted before turning their little brother back around to face the screen. "Just keep an eye on that land and find the hospital."
"Am I the only one that hears that?" Donnie suddenly asked after tying off Leo's injury and realized that he was picking up the sound of feet and everyone quickly shut up; causing the sound to immediately get louder and they realized with a healthy level of dread that it wasn't in their heads.
Leo, Raph and Donnie quickly bolted for the door and found the sound to be about 100 times louder than before.
"Shit." Raph stated simply. "That's a lot a pirates."
"Get the door!" Leo ordered and Raph quickly tried to right the gate with very little success.
"Damn it." He swore as the army they'd been hearing was suddenly not just an audible one; and came barreling around a corner down the hall to head toward them in droves as the three turtles quickly braced the door as much as they could just before the pounding started again; except this time there was the obvious assistance of a battering ram as well.
"Have we learned the value of knocking yet?" Leo growled in Raph's direction.
"Oh shut up." He groaned sourly just before a loud *whoosh* was heard in the hallway and suddenly all they could see on the other side was fire.
"Gettin' kind a hot in here." Raph reported unhelpfully a minute later as the solid metal door started to heat up and was followed a second later by another hard pound from the other side; as the pirates threw their big battering ram into the door again, but thankfully the brothers managed to hold on and not loose any ground.
"I'm working on it." Leo growled at him as he tried to think through the situation quickly to find any kind of out.
'How in the hell did they have enough room to torch them and ram them at the same time anyway?'
"Well work faster." Raph proclaimed and Leo was about to tell him to shut up when Donnie suddenly let out a pained yelp before flipping around to press his back to the door instead so he could hold his hands painfully; which had obviously just been burned by the hot metal.
"Are you okay?" Leo yelled over the roaring of the fire.
"I'll be fine." He reported even though he was obviously in pain.
"Turn!" Leo ordered Raph after another ram hit the door and they both turned to face their shells against the door as well, even though they wouldn't be able to control their leverage that way it would help to protect them from the fire.
"Leo; I don't mean to be the bearer of more bad news but –" Donnie proclaimed and his brothers looked over nervously to find him pointing up at something. However following his finger only led to the discovery of a large pipe hanging from the ceiling that declared in big red and yellow letters that it was filled with – propane.
"Oh shit!" Raph swore as he read the label as well. "What kind a pirates keep flame throwers and propane on the same ship?" He grumbled.
"The kind that aren't programmed to care about their own lives." Donnie answered simply.
"Mikey; we need an out." Leo quickly yelled to their little brother who had been looking for something that they could use to block the door.
"No good." He reported. "There isn't another exit and everything's bolted to the floor."
"Donnie?" Leo redirected quickly but his brother only shook his head.
"Not happening; these walls are several feet thick." Donatello explained seriously. "It'll take me hours to cut through it."
Leo was about to see if Raph thought he could force his way through instead when the whole ship came to a very sudden and violent stop; sending everyone flying toward the opposite wall.
Raph and Leo quickly collide with the first row of tables – hard; but thanks to their training they managed to avoid serious injury. Donnie was unlucky enough to miss the first row but managed to stop himself on the second and they couldn't even see Mikey or Taro anymore.
"What happened?" Leo demanded of the room immediately.
"We hit something." Taro announced from the far left corner.
"What?" Leo insisted.
"I don't know." Taro reported through gritted teeth; obviously having been hurt in the sudden jolt; but he wasn't unconscious so that had to count for something. "It wasn't there a minute ago." He finished.
Rising to his full height again; ready for another go around with the fire and the pirates; Raph and Leo were about to bolt for the door again when they realized that their world was – tipping.
"Oh for cryin' out loud." Raph swore irritably as the ship quickly started to upend itself and they heard several thumps in the hall as the pirates outside where thrown into their only barricade.
Knowing there was no way to hold the line anymore and that it wouldn't take long for the melted hinges to give way Leo quickly gave the order to move, but none of them needed to be told twice in fact they didn't need to be told once; as they were all booking it behind command tables and walls before he had even said anything.
However they couldn't help but look up as the big metal door suddenly collapsed and admitted some seriously unwelcome guests as well as their own personal fire-makers and to make matters worse at least one of the flamethrowers was dislodged in the chaos and left to skitter its way to the front of the room (which was currently the floor) where it continued shooting high powered fire unmanned into the room; to incur the wrath of all sorts of unknown chemicals.
Looking up again Raph found the whole universe had apparently decided to stand against them; as the pirates had righted themselves and were now cautiously climbing into the room without problem.
"Leo." He announced quickly as his brother noticed the same thing.
"Yeah." The blue-clad ninja responded as they both pulled out their weapons; ready for the upcoming fight that was not likely to come; as the pirates had once again started flaming the joint. However this time it was also accompanied by a barrage of bullets.
"In case we don' make it." Raph started again sappily; causing Leo to immediately turn to tell him otherwise but was cut off as Raph continued. "It's been fun." He added quickly.
This forced Leo to pause and stare at him for a second in shock; obviously having expected something completely different. But it didn't take long for him to realize what his brother had meant and his expression slowly melted into a smile.
Even if they never admitted it; this was what they wanted. So what if the mission had failed, if they were going to go out they were going to do it together or not at all.
"Yeah." Leo finally agreed. "It has."
"Guys!" Donnie suddenly yelled urgently and they turned to find him pulling Mikey into a little hidden crevasse in the wall. "Get over here!" He ordered and they bolted for the shelter upon finding that the pipes above their heads were nearly glowing red with the heat and knew immediately that it was going to blow any second.
Upon reaching the gap in the wall; Raph immediately tackled Mikey to the ground, intending to protect him with his own body as the pressure of the explosion finally reached its boiling point and everything went black.
Meh!
R&R