The Lost Boy
part 4
Leonardo dodged through the park's trees silently, separating from his brothers in a familiar flanking maneuver. Having analyzed the field of battle and determined the positions from which the opposition was most likely lying in wait, Leonardo had devised an ambush attack of his own.
After Leonardo and his brothers had entered the cover provided by the trees, he'd lost sight of the other turtle. The sound of breaking glass told the ninja leader that the Purple Dragons were making their move. No doubt a small group of them had just become visible in order to lure their new adversary into a trap.
Nearing the playground, Leonardo could see where the fence had been cut loose and peeled back. He doubted that was the work of the orange banded turtle; that agile youngster could easily leap over a six foot fence.
Stopping at the appointed spot, Leonardo closed his eyes for a moment and listened. He could hear the sounds of Raphael lightly drumming on the handles of his sais and the soft creaking coming from the extra gear Donatello always insisted on carrying. The noises were miniscule and weren't likely to be noticed by anyone who was not a trained ninja. Leonardo did not make even that much noise; his silence was complete.
A muffled grunt told him that Raphael had located one of the Dragons and effectively removed him from tonight's adventure. When Raphael put someone to sleep, they stayed that way.
It proved that Leonardo was correct in his assessment; the Purple Dragons had positioned men in the park to watch for the young mystery turtle. They had probably been instructed to give some sort of signal once they had seen him pass. It was obvious that the Dragons knew they were not fighting another gang.
The fact that no signal had sounded was a good indicator of the mystery turtle's stealth. The lost boy might not be savvy enough to avoid an ambush, but he certainly had plenty of ninja skills.
To his left Leonardo heard someone clear their throat, followed almost immediately by the sound of solid wood connecting with a skull. It was never a good idea to give away your position when there were ninjas in the park, but then, a Dragon had just learned that.
A foot scuffed against dry leaves somewhere ahead of Leonardo and a corner of his mouth twitched upwards. Catching a low hanging limb, he drew himself into the closest tree, leaping easily from that one to the next.
Below him he spotted two Dragons, both of them staring towards the school. Bending into a squat, Leonardo pushed off from the tree branch and landed on both of them, smacking their heads together as his weight drove them to the ground.
Perched on their backs, Leonardo waited cautiously to see if the sound of their falling had drawn anyone. After a second he heard faint footsteps and then a deep chuckle.
"Damn you're loud," Raphael whispered.
"Yours cried out," Leonardo retorted.
"The second one didn't," Raphael told him, his grin cocky.
"Tuck them back in guys," Donatello said from his position next to the fence. "You can decide whose is bigger later. I just saw lights flashing inside the school."
His brothers immediately turned their attention to the two story building. All was in darkness, but then several lights moved at once; the result of people using flashlights to illuminate their way.
Suddenly one of the exterior building lights went out, plunging a corner of the yard into darkness. A shout was cut off mid-voice; the ending gurgle clearly audible.
From several sides spotlights flashed on, showing the three turtle brothers a half-dozen Purple Dragons streaming out of the school through a number of broken windows. One Dragon lay prone on the concrete and standing over him was the orange banded turtle.
Even from a distance, Leonardo could see the look of surprise on the turtle's face. It lasted for all of two seconds and then the mystery turtle became a whirling dervish of activity, moving nearly as fast as the two nunchucks that were spinning in his hands.
Diving through the opening in the fence, Leonardo called to his brothers in a low voice, "Fan out. Find the lights and cut them off."
Running all out, Leonardo raced towards the nearest spotlight, his eyes avoiding the brightness of it so that it wouldn't blind him. His focus was on the human form that was holding the light and without the least hesitation; Leonardo slammed the hilt of his katana against the back of the Dragon's head.
As the man slumped to the ground, Leonardo sliced the spotlight in two. To either side of him an additional pair of lights winked out.
The sound of the younger turtle's fight was loud to Leonardo's hearing. He took a moment to look up and spotted a flurry of orange amongst a sea of human bodies. The Dragons were pressing in on him, the majority of them as yet unaware that others had joined the battle.
Leaving Raphael and Donatello to deal with the remainder of the spotlights, Leonardo dove into the melee. He could hear the other turtle taunting his attackers; urging them to anger in order to encourage their mistakes. It was an unusual style of fighting, but then everything about this other turtle was unusual.
His style was proving to be effective as well. Their vast numbers were proving to be more of a detriment than an advantage and the young turtle's nunchucks were working overtime.
Leonardo smashed his way through the rear guard, leaving unconscious Dragons lying in his wake. He drew close enough to get a clear view of the other turtle; watching in awe as his lithe form twisted and flipped through the air, his entire body giving the impression of being almost boneless at times.
His weapons moved in a nearly identical manner, mimicking exactly the mystery turtle's flexibility. Leonardo and his brothers had all crossed trained with the nunchaku but found it a difficult weapon to master. Just reaching a point where it was possible to predict the behavior of the weapon meant hours of practice.
The nunchucks required a certain amount of integrated body motion that simply did not come naturally to the three ninja brothers. But the lost boy almost seemed to have been born with that weapon in his hands.
As talented and quick as he was, the mystery turtle was no match for the consistent press of the thoroughly angered Purple Dragons. The younger members of the gang were making room for their seasoned brethren, and that group of thugs carried more formidable weapons than fists and pipes.
Leonardo broke through just as a sword swept down towards the young turtle's head. A loud clang rang out as Leonardo caught the man's sword on his own and swept it aside, rocking the man backwards with a stunning blow to his temple.
The mystery turtle looked over his shoulder, eyes wide at the sight of Leonardo at his back. Their eyes met for a brief moment, the younger one's orbs displaying wonderment at who had come to his rescue.
With a bright smile, he turned back to the fight, redoubling his energetic movements. They worked in tandem, almost as if they had trained together for years, each sensing exactly what the other was doing.
A harsh shout informed Leonardo of Raphael's presence and the swift clearing in one sweep of three of their enemies heralded Donatello's arrival into the fight as well.
The battle began to ebb; the Purple Dragons recognizing their turtle nemeses and wanting nothing to do with them. Those that were able ran away and others who were more stubborn than intelligent attempted to fight on.
Leonardo and the young turtle had been separated from the other two turtles when the sound of sirens reached them.
"Shit the cops!" Raphael shouted, pounding a Dragon into unconsciousness.
Leonardo couldn't see his brothers; a corner of the building was between them. "Scatter!" he ordered, knowing his siblings would disappear in a matter of seconds.
He was just swinging back in order to locate the orange banded turtle when a Purple Dragon suddenly stepped into his field of vision, gun lifting. Leonardo sprang aside, feeling as though he was moving in slow motion as the gun tracked him.
Then a flash of orange entered the scene, cracking against the Dragon's arm just as he pulled the trigger. The strike shattered the man's wrist and shoved the gun from its target.
Leonardo felt the cut of the bullet as it plowed a furrow across his upper trapezoid and then he hit the ground, rolling with the momentum and coming immediately to his feet.
Looking around for the young turtle, Leonardo spotted him about fifty yards away, running towards the fence. The turtle glanced over his shoulder at Leonardo and winked, just before springing over the fence as though it was no taller than a blade of grass.
A wide smile lifted Leonardo's mouth as he sheathed his swords and gave chase. He wasn't concerned as to the whereabouts of his brothers; he knew they had gotten away.
Tonight however, Leonardo was determined that the young turtle in the orange mask would not escape him. If he had to spend the entire night tracking the elusive and alluring turtle, that's exactly what Leonardo intended to do.
TBC….