TMNT: New Beginnings

Chapter Four: Tag

Many hours have passed, and, in groups of two, the Turtles have been searching the sewers without a break since they left the lair this morning. They're all starting to wonder if this search is just a waste of time. She, whoever she was, could be anywhere. And they still had plans to search the city during the night.

Leonardo and Raphael were searching in the general direction that Michelangelo had said the girl went the night before. And Donatello and Michelangelo were searching in the opposite direction, just incase. The agreement was made to meet back at the lair after sunset, whether or not they found her. It would give them a chance to exchange any information they may have gathered, and allow them to re-group and take a break before continuing their search above.

"This is stupid." Raphael comments, trailing behind Leonardo. "She could be anywhere."

"That's why we split-up." Leonardo reminds him as they continue on their way. "And that's why it's called a "search"".

"Whatever."

"Look, we've only got a little while 'til sundown and then we can go back and meet with the others. Maybe they've found something."

"In which case, we'll have been wasting our time looking this way."

"Raph..."

"C'mon, Leo. She might not even be down here." He stops in his tracks. "And even if she is; so what!?"

Leonardo also stops, turning to face his brother.

"What are we gonna do if we find her and she runs off again? We gonna force her to come with us!?" Raphael continues.

"I see your point, Raph. But we have to try, at least just to talk with her." Leonardo pleas. "She might be all alone and need our help. And she might be able to tell us if there are more... of our kind."

"What, this family isn't enough for you anymore!?" Raphael argues.

"That's not what I mean, Raph!" He yells, and then turns away, continuing down the tunnel. "I just mean... it can't hurt... to know we're not alone..."

"So what if we are!? I don't care."

"Whatever, Raph." Leonardo then looks over his shoulder at his brother again. "If you didn't care; you wouldn't be here..."

Meanwhile, Donatello and Michelangelo are having trouble keeping track of eachother, let alone their target. They'd separated to search two different turn-offs at the same time, but on the way back, Michelangelo had taken a different turn after he thought he heard something. Donatello's already on his way in the direction Michelangelo had originally gone in, suspecting something was up when he failed to rejoin him a few minutes ago.

"Mikey?" He calls out, and waits for a response. "Mike?"

After he gets no reply again, he starts to worry, picking-up speed and continuing to call-out for his little brother as he goes. Luckily, it isn't long before Donatello finds him; about to take a turn down another tunnel.

"Hey, Mikey!" He calls, catching-up with him and giving him a light slap to the back of his head.

"Ow!" Michelangelo rubs his head.

"What do you think you're doing!? You were supposed to meet back up with me!"

"I thought I heard something."

"Then you should've called me! Not go running off on your own!" Donatello scolds, causing Michelangelo to roll his eyes. "Mike!"

"Okay, okay, I get it."

They continue down the tunnel Michelangelo was about to turn into. They move quickly, but quietly, just incase there is someone or something waiting for them around the next corner. But when they get to the end and look out both ways; there's nothing. Emptiness. Not even the lights are working down this next tunnel.

Suddenly, something crosses their previous path, running past the other end of the tunnel, behind them. The pair turn around fast, but don't see anything. Still, they defiantly both heard something go by, so they run back the way they came. They take a left turn out of the tunnel, back the way Michelangelo was meant to go to meet back with Donatello before, as they follow the direction they think "it" went.

When they end-up back at their original meet-up point, they see and hear nothing. And there are too many different tunnels to choose from to continue searching.

"D-do you think it was her?" Michelangelo whispers, getting a little creeped-out as the thought of something scary wondering the sewer crosses his mind.

"Hang on a sec..." Donatello tries to listen... ... nothing. "Whoever or whatever it is; it must be hiding. We'd still be able hear it making it's way down one of the tunnel's if it was on the move."

He was right. Something was lurking, crouched in the shadows of the opening to a tunnel behind, and not far from the brothers. Donatello signals that he'll go down one way, and Michelangelo should go up the other way. They step as lightly as they can in their respective directions, taking a look down each turn-off.

The hidden figure can hear Donatello getting closer with each step he takes. They pluck a small stone from the floor and throw it so that it hits the ground further behind Donatello, grabbing his attention and effectively diverting it. Donatello begins to make his way over to the noise he just heard, Michelangelo doing the same as he heard it too. But Donatello isn't entirely convinced that all is as it seems, and he still listens for any movement behind him.

He isn't kept waiting very long as he hears a sudden shuffle and a figure exists the shadows and heads down the tunnel that was opposite them, a yellow scarf trailing behind. It is her!

"There!!" Donatello turns quickly and they give chase.

As they turn into the tunnel they saw her run into, they find she's turned-off into another one and have lost sight of her already. They have to stop for a moment to listen to where she is. They listen for her footsteps, and, once they know which directions she's in; they continue, trying to catch sight of her again. But it's harder than it seems as they keep having to stop every-so-often to listen again, without the sound of their own feet interfering with their judgement. It's a frustrating chase and they desperately try not to lose her completely. If they could only get her in sight then they'd most likely be able to catch her.

Luckily for them, she misjudges her own directions and ends-up running right out infront of them. Her eyes widen as she finds herself within arm's reach and she almost stumbles right over in a panic to stop and turn around again.

"Hey, wait!" Michelangelo calls as she turns away and runs-off.

"We're not trying to hurt you!" Donatello calls as they chase her once again.

This time however, they've got her in sight and this makes it a whole lot easier in keeping pace with her. Infact, they're catching up. The girl takes a quick glance behind to see the two Turtles chasing after her still, closing-in. She fumbles around as she pulls something from her belt, it bounces in her hand as she tries to grip it ready to throw, but it bounces right out of her hands by accident. As it bursts into smoke, she shrugs and grins to herself; she may have dropped it by accident, but it still had the desired effect; Donatello and Michelangelo are stopped in their tracks, their path blinded from the smoke pellet.

"Can't breathe!" Michelangelo coughs, trying to waft the smoke away, but being unsuccessful.

"Where'd she get that from!?" Donatello wonders, before grabbing Michelangelo by the wrist. "Close your eyes! We're gonna have to run through it or we'll lose her!"

"Can't see!" Michelangelo coughs as they pass through the smoke, having only his brother's hand as guidance.

As she takes another look back, the girl notices Donatello and Michelangelo coming through the smoke and as she brings her head back to face forwards again, she spots Leonardo and Raphael waiting at the end of the tunnel. And she's without any turn-offs left! There's only one way she can go: up. There's a ladder reaching up to a manhole cover, but the ladder's broken and she'll have to make a jump for it.

Leonardo and Raphael notice her focus shifting from them to the broken ladder. Neither of them think she'll make the jump, but to be sure, they run towards her, hoping to either grab her before she gets a chance to jump, or to surround her. None of them liked doing things this way, but as she wasn't prepared to give them a chance to explain why they want to talk to her; it's the only way to get her to stand still long enough to explain.

The girl makes a jump for the ladder, just grabbing the last step and pulling herself up it, pushing her feet against the wall to help her climb. The Turtles gather below and Leonardo jumps up first, grabbing the ladder and following her up as fast as he can. She makes it to the top and pushes on the manhole cover. But it's heavy and she struggles with it. She ends-up having to use both hands, almost falling backwards.

"What are you waitin' for, Leo!?" Raphael yells, seeing Leonardo waiting just below her now. "Grab 'er!!"

Leonardo glares down at him, knowing how bad that would have sounded to the girl. So much for trying to prove they're friendly! And he was only waiting because it would have been dangerous to struggle with her on the ladder.

Finally, she gets out. It's getting dark, so that's one good thing, at least. She has less chance of being spotted by humans. She lifts herself out of the hole and makes a dash to an alley-way, hiding behind a dumpster for a moment, before taking herself up the fire escape of the building closest to her. Leonardo watches her as he gets up from the hole, followed by the others. He points to the fire escape as she's nearing the top and they run over to the building.

"Donnie, Mikey, you guys follow from down here. Me and Raph'll follow her up." Leonardo organizes his team.

"Right!" Donatello agrees.

Michelangelo nods, and gets ready to go.

"Er, you might wanna re-think that plan, Leo." Raphael says, pointing upwards.

The others look too and see what their brother means. The girl is stumbling about at the top of the fire escape, trying to get back down again, but wobbling all over the place. As she goes down the steps, her body slumps to one side and she leans against the railing of the fire escape, putting one hand on it, trying to keep herself from falling over the side. Her other arm just hangs, limp.

"She's gonna fall!" Michelangelo yells.

Leonardo begins to make his way up the steps, hoping to reach her before it's too late. As he looks up, he notices a large figure standing on the edge of the roof, looking down on the girl. Leonardo reaches her and notices she's been shot with a tranquilliser dart in her upper arm. She begins to panic, not knowing which way to go. Up to the big guy and The Foot ninja that are most likely up on the roof with him waiting for her, or down to the Turtles who have been chasing her all this time. She struggles to stay upright and to keep her eyes open, swaying as she tries to hold herself still.

"Come on." Leonardo reaches out his hand to her. "We'll help you."

But before she can make any decisions, the large figure throws another dart at her and it releases it's serum as it hits her in one of her legs. That's it; she's done. But as her eyes close and she falls, she's hit with yet another dart, this time in her other arm. She falls forwards and Leonardo catches her, and shields her from another incoming dart. It hits his shell and bounces away, landing on the ground below. As he carries the girl back down the fire escape, the others watch, and prepare for a fight with the big guy still standing on the roof. But, to their surprise, as Leonardo reaches them, the large figure turns away, and leaves.

"That's... weird." Donatello comments, relaxing again, and he retrieves the dart that bounced off of Leonardo's shell.

"So, that's her, huh?" Raphael looks at the girl held in Leonardo's arms.

"Yep." Michelangelo confirms. "But those are new." He says, referring to the darts.

"She was shot three times!?" Donatello pulls them out of each of her arms and her leg.

Leonardo nods, and they run back over to the manhole, jumping in on at a time. Leonardo has to drop the girl down before he can get in himself.

"I got 'er." Raphael calls up as he catches her limp body.

The brothers then begin their way back to the lair, Donatello insisting they get her back as soon as possible so he can give her something to counter-act the sedatives she's been overdosed with.