It had been a quiet night; a fact that never boded too well with Donatello. The city was entirely too large for nothing to be going on. The only thing that the supposed calm indicated to the turtle was that he and Michelangelo weren't searching in the right area. He caught himself wishing for the fifth time that they hadn't split up from the other guys.
Leonardo was uncanny the way he sometimes seemed to see things before they happened, and Donatello swore that Raphael was capable of smelling blood from at least three blocks away. But Michelangelo had appeared to be worked up in his usual abundant energy, and not interested in working inside of Leonardo's brand of patience that night. He'd lured Donatello away from the other two brothers with one his Cheshire smiles, only to separate from the purple-banded turtle once they were on their own trip off the beaten path.
Donatello had taken to the roofs to satisfy his orange-masked brother's strange request, and left him trolling down the street below. They were still traveling in the same direction, though they hadn't been in contact for the last few minutes. Michelangelo had promised not to run too far ahead, so Donny was confident that he had to be nearby, even though he hadn't been able to see him lately.
The purple-masked turtle was in mid-air between buildings when his phone finally went off, and reached for it the second his feet touched the flat surface. "What's up Mikey? Or should I be asking what's down?"
"I think I'm onto a few guys here Donny. They're not like turning over cars or anything, but I'm still gettin' this bad vibe from them, you know what I mean?"
"Is there going to be an issue? Should I be heading that way?"
"Nah, be cool for a couple more minutes bro. They're heading East, so I say stay with the buildings as long as they're handy. I'll keep track of 'em on the ground, let you know their progress."
"Mikey, is there some particular reason that I'm up here, and you're down there?"
"Well, yeah...sorta. Just go with me on this Donny, I'm trying something. You know how easily I get distracted, and I'm trying to work out some of own spidey senses, like the stuff Leo eats and breathes."
"Is that why you wanted to separate from them tonight?"
"How am I supposed to see what I can figure out on my own, if I'm always relying on Fearless? I knew you'd trust me enough to let me do it alone, even if I didn't tell you why. Wait now, hold up for a second. These guys aren't traveling as fast as we would, I'm pretty sure you're ahead of us. Why don't you sit back for a couple of minutes, see if they don't come right into your line of sight from up there?"
Donatello nodded to himself, and stayed on the phone with his younger brother as he pulled up short near the edge of the building he was standing on. He leaned both elbows on the ledge contemplatively, resting his chin in one hand while he waited for some sign of the individuals Michelangelo was referring to.
True to Michelangelo's tip, several shadows soon emerged near the same abandoned intersect of buildings, and the purple-banded turtle yanked his digital binoculars into place. He waited for the figures to get into the right position near a street light before snapping an image, and recognized the colors with a soft snort of disgust.
"They're Crypts Mike, and one of 'em is playing with a serious blade. I think you've got them figured pretty well. Now do you want me to come down?"
"Only if you run out of roof, or they change directions. I really am cool down here," Michelangelo insisted.
Just make sure you keep your cool, Donatello added inwardly, but then instantly chided himself. They're his find, let him do it.
Donny started trotting again, careful to be even quieter than he'd been to begin with. He melded his shadow in perfectly with the curves of the rooftop, and stayed as low as he could to minimize the opportunities of being spotted even more.
"You are still up there right?" his orange-masked brother teased.
"You're messing with my sense of drama," Donatello answered sardonically. "Can we stick to business now?"
Michelangelo chuckled under his breath. "Are you operating under your Secret Agent name tonight Donny?"
"That's the last time I confess one of my fantasies to you."
"You've got all the goods Donny, I'm just saying you might need a different name to strike true fear in the face of-"
"I thought I wasn't supposed to be distracting you."
"That was before I found a mark, now it's almost play time," his orange masked brother returned, but the soft gasp that followed made Donatello stop in his tracks again. "Whoa. There's something going on off to my right Donny, I can't see it, but I definitely hear it. Think you can hone in on it?"
"Gimme a minute Mikey." The purple-banded turtle stretched to replace his binoculars, and adjusted the zoom to cover the distance.
It took a small amount of searching to capture what Michelangelo had heard, but his heart dropped in his chest when he did.
"Oh shell. Mike, these guys look like reinforcements. They're joining something already in progress!"
"They're gonna need reinforcements when we're through with them."
The Crypt yanked the young man's head up fiercely while two others barely supported his limp frame, and stared straight into the terrified eyes of their captive. "Any change of heart yet?"
The kid was breathing harder through the weight of the pain, but his resolved hadn't been shaken. "No."
The speaker shook his head. "It's too bad. In another setting, your loyalty could have been a useful tool. Here, it's just the means for getting you killed."
As the words were leaving his mouth, a silent shadow fell across the group from the scant overhead street light, and the one doing the threatening was immediately diverted.
"I asked you to wait for me." The newcomer glowered behind him, flanked by four more young men.
"You took too long," the first replied. "What'd you expect, that we'd play hopscotch and tiddly-winks until you decided to show up? Besides he ain't finished yet, and he's not talking either."
"To you maybe." The second smirked, and motioned for everyone to get out of his way.
If it was possible, their victim seemed more afraid of this new gang-banger than any of the others. There was a sinister tone in his voice as he casually showed him his knife-blade.
"D'you know part of the reason they call us 'Crypts' son? It's 'cause we're always thirsty for blood, never satisfied. It would take nothing for me to gut a random person on the street, let alone some little boy who's being uncooperative."
As if to prove that he meant what he said, he drove the knife into the young man's rib-cage, twisting it sharply as he yanked it free. The kid's gasp of pain coupled with the others' laughter only encouraged him to continue. As the blade buried in his rib-cage a second time, Michelangelo spoke up from the darkness.
"Do you believe it? Once again, the almighty thugs fearlessly triumph against the incredible odds of eleven against one. Are you as impressed as I am Donny?"
The purple-masked turtle couldn't help grinning at Michelangelo from the shadows, before getting deadly serious again. "No, I can't say that I am. You guys afraid to even the odds a little bit more?"
"Why don't you show yourselves, and we'll find out who's afraid." The attacker pulled his blade free cockily, prepared to use it again.
Their victim was left to fall into the tall grass that rose up around a chain-link fence, while they focused all of their attention on the two shadowy forms lingering just beyond the light. As they started to dash toward them, the two turtles sprang forward to meet them.
Michelangelo twisted around someone's attempt to blind-side him with a length of chain, and then turned to catch the retreating metal links in a solid grip. He jerked the chain right out of the surprised teenager's hands with a chuckle, and whipped it back over him so that it pinned both of the human's arms to his sides.
The orange-masked turtle sensed the wind of a pipe being swung at him from behind, and side-stepped the blow completely. The young man pursued him right up to the point that Michelangelo lunged out of his way a second time, and the kid's intended strike floored one of the other boys that had been crouched nearby the turtle instead.
"Nice hit dude - but whose team are y' playing for again?"
Donatello's first move required bowling through three individuals that were trying to form their version of a human barricade. He didn't waste any time on taunting them - that was more Mikey's territory. He was determined not to be surrounded, so his bo struck with lightning accuracy to simply take them out as effectively as possible.
His phone vibrated at that inopportune moment, but he managed to ignore it without being distracted. The purple-banded turtle had already laid four of them out without breaking a real sweat, before wheeling around to face the fifth character, who was brandishing his long-bladed knife. The weapon was still coated in their victim's blood, successfully ticking Donatello off more.
His round-house kick connected so hard with the thug's wrist, that he knew he'd come close to shattering it. Donatello had to reign himself in to refrain from continuing his attack with the same amount of force. He directed the follow-up kick to the young man's mid-section, and still ended up knocking him backward several feet to the pavement.
Donatello's first instinct after that was to check on Michelangelo, who still had three men on his shell since he'd been toying with them more than his older brother had. The orange-masked turtle threw a glance his direction, after bringing a nunchuck to bear against a teenager's chest.
"Donny, go! I got this!"
The purple-masked turtle only gave him one more appraising glance, before dashing toward the fence where he knew their victim had ended up. He approached carefully through the weeds, but caution went out the window when he saw how much the kid was bleeding. Donatello swiftly unwound one of his arm-bands, as he ducked closer to the ground. He thought the unmoving figure might already be unconscious, until the young man jerked slightly as Donatello lightly bound the fabric over the human's eyes. He was going to be working in close proximity with him, and didn't want to risk the kid discovering what he was if he didn't have to.
"Easy, don't struggle," Donatello urged him. "You could hurt yourself worse. I'm trying to help you here."
The teenager's body shook like a leaf in the wind. "D-don't play with me man." His teeth chattered as if he were freezing. "You're not getting my brother outta me."
"I'm not going to hurt you," Donatello assured him. "I won't let anyone else touch you either."
"Where did you come from?"
"It's not important." Donatello yanked off his back-pack, and sifted through it to find gauze to start a pressure wrap. "I'm afraid this part will hurt, but I have to get a handle on this bleeding."
"Am I gonna die?"
"No." Donatello forced strong certainty into his voice, so the kid would believe him. "I'm going to address this for you, and we'll call an ambulance. Just hang in there with me, okay?"
"You're not going to leave me alone with them, are you?"
"Not until the cops get really close, I promise."
"But the others will kill me - I'll never get out of this if you go."
"No one's going to kill you." The quiet confidence that he felt the boy needed to hear remained intact.
"Why don't you want me to see you?"
"We prefer to remain anonymous - it's safer in our line of work. Now hold on a second," Donny replied, and glanced down when his phone vibrated again. He picked it up without hesitation this time. "Hey Leo, we're kinda in the middle of something. Can I call you back?...No, we're way east of there, had to take a detour...We've got to stay in the area for awhile, wait for the cops to show up on this...No, you go ahead, and we'll catch up with you later. We're fine; it's all under control...Okay. We'll see you in awhile."
Michelangelo came up behind him as he was hanging up the phone. "How are we doing over here?"
"We need cops, and we need an ambulance. Way to go with your gut Mikey, following them was probably the best thing we did all night."
Michelangelo grinned. "It's just a page out of Leo's handbook. Track down the perps before they become perpetrators."
"Who's there?" the young man asked shakily.
"It's only my brother," Donatello answered soothingly. "Don't worry. I said I wouldn't let anything happen to you."
"My brother..." the human repeated, sounding as if he were extremely tired. "He's safe too, hiding. I wouldn't tell them where."
On impulse, Michelangelo reached down to squeeze the boy's shoulder. "Sounds like you know a thing or two about loyalty."
The faintest of smiles appeared on the kid's face. "He got out of it. That's all that matters."
"Nah dude, you matter too," the orange-masked turtle informed him. "You're a lot tougher than those thugs gave you credit for."
He coughed weakly before responding. "Don't feel tough."
"Why don't you save your breath now?" Donatello gently persuaded. "Try to stay awake for me though, okay?"
The two turtles remained where they were on the ground beside him, not even needing to budge when the others started coming around. Michelangelo had taken care of zip-tying their hands and feet, so there was no danger of anyone going anywhere. It was a simple matter of waiting for the authorities to arrive.
They didn't move when they first heard the sirens, waiting until they had a visual sight of them coming.
"Can I trust you to keep your eyes shut?" Donatello asked the young man evenly.
He seemed too tired to nod his head, so he answered with a single syllable instead. "Yeah."
Donatello withdrew the silk material from his eyes, shaking his head a little sadly when he saw how it was matted with the human's blood. "You're gonna be okay now."
"Thanks to you guys. I'd be dead if..."
The teenager trailed off slowly as Michelangelo gave him a parting pat of the arm.
"Take care of yourself dude. We've gotta go."
Before he could say anything else, both turtles disappeared over the other side of the fence, and into the darkness of the night.