Lisa awoke with a scream. She was lying on a bed in what looked like a lab. She had been having one of her nightmares. Half asleep she jumped off of the bed, falling to her knees. Her sprained ankle still couldn't hold any weight. She spotted a Bo staff by the door, and grabbed it, using it to support her. She ran out the door as quickly as she could. With a quick look around she noted every detail of the room, the turnstiles on one side, the snoring coming from down a hallway, and the tired turtle emerging from the same hallway. In a panic she ran through the nearest doorway, into some sort of dojo, to avoid the terrapin. She shrank into the shadows, hiding from the view of anyone who might walk in.
"Lisa?"
The voice sounded familiar, but the frightened girl wasn't awake enough to recognize it.
"Lisa!" The voice was more frantic now. "Lisa where are you?"
Lisa looked around, searching for a hiding place. She couldn't let them find her! But all she saw was a strange tree, but that was too obvious, they would find her immediately. Lisa heard loud voices, farther away now. The first must have gone to wake the others. Now was her chance!
Limping over to the door she peeked around the corner. There was no one in sight. She would have to move fast. They would expect her to run away, so the safest idea would probably be to find a secure place here, in their base, until they left and she could make it out safely. The problem was she didn't know where to hide. She ran out of the dojo and into the room the first turtle had emerged from, a bedroom. She heard the voice coming back, this time with others. She ran to the nearest hiding place, under the bed. Lisa crawled under the Japanese style bed, holding the bo staff to her, wishing she had grabbed a knife too. She scooted as far away from the edge of the bed as possible, curling into a ball in the corner, and listened to the voices. They were loud, shouting at each other.
"We have to find her! What if she was kidnapped?" That was the first voice.
"Or maybe she's a spy! And now she's gone off to tell the world about us. Or maybe she's with the foot. Did you ever think about that?" This was a different voice, an angry voice.
"No, she would never do something like that… right?"
"Dude, you barely know her! The first time you met her she was beating up some homeless guy. If you ask me, she doesn't sound like a very trustworthy person. But what do you do? You bring her to the lair, tell her all our secrets."
"It wasn't like that!" But this time, the voice sounded unsure.
Then a third voice joined in. "Do you guys know what happened to my Bo? It was in my lab… with Lisa… oh… never mind. Guys, she probably hasn't gone very far, it would be hard with that ankle. If we hurry we can catch her."
She heard them leave, with more yelling, and what sounded like something glass breaking.
After waiting for a few minutes in silence, Lisa crawled out from under the bed. She hobbled out the door and headed straight for the turnstiles, intent on leaving this place before the owners of the voices came back. She was almost there before something stopped her.
"I knew it."
She turned, the terror plain on her face, before her stood an angry turtle. He had a red mask and a pair of Sai in his hand, ready to skewer her.
"I knew you were no good," the turtle repeated.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" The scared girl asked.
"What are you talking about?" He asked, confused.
"I won't go! You can't take me back there!" She was terrified now. She raised the bo staff in her hands, backing towards the door while she talked.
"Relax. We're not going to hurt you." The turtle tried to calm her.
"No! I'm not going back, never again."
"Lisa, calm down. Nobody's going to hurt you." She turned around. The other three turtles had returned. The three blocked her exit, but maybe if she could get past the angry red masked one she could find a way out of here. She nodded to herself, her plan was desperate, but it was her only chance.
She gripped the Bo staff tighter, her knuckles turning white. She looked around one last time, hoping for a miracle. None came.
She stared at a blank wall and gasped, plastering a look of terror on her face. The turtles all turned to see what had frightened the girl. While they were distracted she lunged forward, hitting 'Red', as she now thought of him, on the head with the Bo, she then twisted it around, getting him in the stomach. She brought the stick around a third time, knocking his feet out from under him, all in less than a minute. The others turned just in time to see her running past their fallen brother, towards the dojo.
She was heading to the dojo, but she stopped when she saw the waterway. She glanced behind her to see the turtles helping their brother to his feet. She could find a hiding place, but they would undoubtedly find her. Or, she could swim, and pray it led out of this place. It was either certain capture, or a chance at freedom. She made her decision.
Leo's POV
I turned when he heard a splash. I looked around, confused. My eyes landed on the Bo staff lying on the ground, in front of the waterway. My eyes widened. She wouldn't! Would she?
I honestly didn't know what the girl was willing to do in her state of confusion, but I didn't want to take any chances.
I pointed at Don and Mikey. "You two search the lair. See if you can find her. Raph, come with me."
My bothers nodded and we split up. I took a deep breath and dived into the water, Raph on my heels.
Lisa was running out of air. Her lungs were burning. She was panicking. She was going to die here, in a sewer, on the run from giant turtles.
She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. But she couldn't spare the air.
She hadn't been swimming long, just a few minutes, but it was too long, she should have reached the end by now. She had to; otherwise she was going to die in this sewer.
She saw something fly past her. She squinted at it, trying to identify the object. When she did her eyes widened. It couldn't be! Please no. No, no, no, no, no.
She looked behind her, confirming her suspicion. How could she have been so stupid? They were turtles for goodness sakes! Of course she wouldn't be able to out swim them. She cursed herself for making such a costly mistake, and then turned back, swimming faster.
Her progress was brought to a halt when something grabbed her ankle. She kicked at the turtle, but it didn't even faze him. She was getting weaker, she needed air. She gave one last desperate kick, catching his face. His grip loosened and she pulled free, only to crash into the other turtle, who had maneuvered himself in front of her, retrieving the Sai that had flown past her earlier.
The force of the collision knocked what little air she had left out of her. She looked into his electric green eyes in fear. This was it; she was going to die here. Black surrounded her vision. She mouthed one word before fading into unconsciousness.
"Please."
Raph's POV
I caught the girl when she started to sink. A last air bubble escaped her lips. I knew she needed to get to the surface, and fast. I was surprised she had made it this far, she had almost made it to the other side.
I started swimming as fast as I could. I might not like or trust this girl, but I wasn't about to let her die.
I reached the end of the tunnel in seconds. She would have made it if we hadn't caught her. I heaved her up out of the water, dragging myself out behind her.
I examined her quickly. She still had a faint heartbeat, but she wasn't breathing. I tilted her head back, making sure nothing was blocking her airway. I pinched her nose shut and sealed my mouth over hers, blowing air into her lungs. I sat up, checking to see if she was breathing. I took a deep breath and leaned down again. I kept going, checking every few seconds to see if she had started breathing. I vaguely sensed Leo next to me, but I didn't break my concentration.
When her chest finally started to rise and fall I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Leo standing next to me. I gave my brother a grim smile before picking the girl up, shaking my head when he offered to carry her.
We made our way through the tunnels, back to our home, the unconscious girl breathing peacefully in my arms.
This chapter took me some time, but I finally did it!
I want to thank Eadlin for reviewing, and all my lovely readers for, well, reading.
I love you all.
