His Majesty's
DOG

Chapter Six:
Thievery at Dusk Fall

Hayate had not wanted to be lookout. He really hadn't. He would have preferred to be in the second-rate jewelry store, scooping up Tiffany knock-offs, and listening for the warning call he knew would be coming. At least that way, he'd be ready for it—for them. But his wrist was aching like a bitch, and he couldn't take a breath without shaking—in other words, he was useless and everyone knew it. So it came as no surprise that Kat put him on guard duty—a fairly inactive role, and one which required the least amount of effort. Truthfully, he shouldn't even have been there at all. He should have been at home, preferably asleep on his nice soft cot.

But this was different. This was punishment. Hun had decided that he go, and Hun's word was not up for discussion. If he bailed now, there was no telling what would happen. But there was no question at all that it would be, in all likelihood, something extremely unpleasant. So Hayate was stuck up on the roof in the pouring rain, uncomfortable, unhappy, and anxiously waiting for the beasts to hurry up and show their damn faces.

It was not so much the knowledge that he'd most likely be the first taken down—in a manner which he suspected would be quick, without warning, and hopefully painless—that was bothering him. It was the waiting. He knew they were coming, but he did not know when, and it was this that was twisting his gut into knots and forcing his feet to march in endless circles and constantly turning his head, searching searching searching…

They should have been there by now. It wasn't all that far from that stinking hole in the ground they called home—how much longer were they going to take? Seriously, Kat and the others would clear out everything that wasn't nailed down at this rate, so what on earth was taking those bastards so freaking long? They should have been there by now, dammit—

And then it hit Hayate like an oncoming freight train in the night.

They were toying with him. They were bloody toying with him. Those fucking animals were already there, skulking in the shadows somewhere and laughing their ugly heads off while Hayate wound himself tighter and tighter into a sick bundle of nerves with all this ungodly waiting.

"You bloody, god damned, freaking…turtles!" he shrieked, in want of some better insult but too furious to think of one, and whirled around in an attempt to catch them sneaking up from behind—trying to spot any hint of movement through the downpour, or catch the sound of footsteps over the roaring rain.

Nothing. Nothing at all. But he knew. They were there, he was absolutely sure of it, and they would pay for leaving him in suspense like that.

Snatching the whistle from his pocket Hayate clamped it between his teeth, lungs full of thunder louder than anything nature could hope to produce—

—and gagged when the collar suddenly constricted across his windpipe. Coughing, he dropped the whistle as his hands automatically flew to his throat and staggered back…right into a pair of dark sinewy arms that wrapped themselves around him and dragged him kicking into the shadows.

"Don't move."

Hayate's first instinct was to sink his teeth into that soft bit of flesh between the turtle's thumb and forefinger. But then something cold slid under his chin, clinking softly against the collar, and he stilled at once. Fury burned like a white-hot fire iron in his gut, and his stomach twisted into knots: Blue had already made his point with the collar, so he really didn't need to use those bloody swords on top of it all.

"I'm impressed," Blue smirked. "I didn't think you'd be able to sense me like that. You're sharper than I thought."

Hayate snorted and didn't reply. He really hadn't "sensed" anything: he'd just been paranoid, that was all. But he wasn't about to tell Blue that.

"Why so quiet? Usually you can't stop running your mouth—"

"Shut up, freak," Hayate snapped, trying to wriggle out of the turtle's grasp. Blue's grip tightened across Hayate's chest, nearly crushing him against the turtle's plastron. Then with a quick jerk and a snarl, Blue flipped the katana death-end up and punched it straight through Hayate's throat and out the top of his skull.

.xXx.

No, not really. But it seemed like an excellent idea to Leo. Instead, he hurled the boy away from him with a hiss. Hayate staggered, and Leo's hand shot out and grabbed his arm, flipping him over faster than a heartbeat. The Dragon blinked at finding himself suddenly on his back, more surprised than anything else that the turtle had kicked his ass without even hurting him. He had hardly pushed himself to his elbows before Leo was standing over him, eyes slit and teeth bared.

"You're in no position to insult me, kid," he said quietly, the tip of his katana gently tapping against the collar. Hayate glared up at him in silence, defiant. They stayed like that for a long time, and the seconds stretched on into a small eternity.

"What are you planning?" Leo demanded, all business. "'There are only four.' What did you mean by that? I know you aren't stupid—you wanted us to hear it. Why?"

Hayate didn't say anything for a moment. He merely cocked his head slightly and regarded Leo thoughtfully through the rain.

"Answer me!" Leo barked.

"Do you know how many Dragons there are, here in New York?" Hayate asked suddenly, a small smile curling the corners of his mouth.

Leo paused, and shook his head once.

"Ten thousand strong." That hit Leo hard, though he didn't show it, and hayate paused a moent, waiting for it to sink in. "On top of that, there's about a thousand ninja living here, all pledging their allegiance to Master Shredder. And we're recruiting more every day. That's eleven thousand, now, if you couldn't keep up."

"I can add, tramp," Leo snapped. "What's your point?"

"Ah, eleven thousand against four? Are you sure you can do math?"

"Last time I checked, your boys could hardly throw a punch, much less take me or one of my brothers down no matter how many there were. It doesn't matter if there are one thousand or one million; we've always mopped the floor with you guys. That won't change any time soon, and I think you'd know that more than anyone."

"And how many nights a week do you crawl out of the sewers?"

Leo bristled, but calmed himself. He refused to let the brat get to him. "We do patrols every night."

"And how many crimes do you stop each time?"

"One, maybe two…" He was beginning to see what Hayate was getting at, and he didn't like it at all.

"Really? That's just if you happen to catch them in the act, right?"

"Yes…"

"You know what I'm saying, don't you?" Hayate said, cocking a grin. "You want me to tell you what the Dragons are doing? You'll have at least forty reports, every one happening at the same time, in a different location, seven nights a week. Think you can keep up?"

Leo wasn't stupid. He'd known that with a spy, they'd be seeing a shell of a lot more action, but this…the reality of it was like a kick in the gut. Abruptly, he felt like all the wind had been knocked out of his lungs, leaving him breathless and overwhelmed. Instinctively, he squared himself like he was facing down an enemy much bigger than he was.

Hayate was just about five foot nothing, with a great deal less mass than any of the turtles, but suddenly Leo was faced with something far more threatening than even the most aggravated Raphael. What Hayate promised was a war, plain and simple. Pointless and never-ending against an army that could never be destroyed because for every man Leo and his brothers took down, ten more would be there to take his place.

He could almost see what was about to happen; the chain of events were lining up before him like a long line of dominoes, and he could have kicked himself for not seeing it sooner. After all, they themselves had set it up from the second they'd collared the Dragon. Before, if they didn't want to fight, then they just didn't go topside. But with a spy, if they heard someone was in trouble they wouldn't be able to ignore it. Sooner or later, they were going to burn out, and that was exactly what Hayate wanted. He planned to set them against the entire New York underground, then sit back and watch them go down in flames.

They'd quickly be overthrown, and it wouldn't be long before even Mikey's seemingly depthless well of energy or Raph's practically boundless passion for a good fight was spent. They'd be exhausted within a week, their moves would get sloppy, and then somebody would make a mistake.

No…thought Leo. We won't be able to keep up, and you know it. Somebody's going to get hurt or killed, and it'll probably be one of us. I don't care what happens to me, but Raph and Don and Mikey…They're my little brothers, and they're all I've got. I have to protect them.

"Are you going to kill me?" Hayate asked quietly. Leo blinked, and something deep in his chest trembled when he realized he'd taken his sword in both hands and moved to stand over the boy in an executioner's stance.

…I have to protect them…

"I can't let you put my family in danger," Leo said, sliding the blade under Hayate's chin and lifting his head, ignoring the awful feeling in his gut. The boy's eyes narrowed and he clenched his teeth, his whole body tensing in recoil. He was scared, but he was angry, too.

"I'm not the one who started this!" He cried, his voice harsh and accusing. Leo faltered, unable to meet his gaze. The kid was right. They were the ones who had collared him, and now that he'd found a way to fight back Leo was just going to kill him?

Dishonorable…whispered his sickened heart.

You'd risk your family for honor? snarled an infuriated voice in his head, thick and vaguely reminiscent of Raph's thick Brooklyn tongue. He's the bad guy!

But this was wrong. Hayate was wounded and without a weapon; Leo could not cut him down in cold blood. Not like that. Quietly, Leo back away and sheathed his katana. Their eyes met, just for few seconds, through the pouring rain, and something passed between them.

It was an acknowledgement, one that bound their souls together in a way that they themselves did not understand in a pact that could not be broken.

Sacred.

We are enemies now, you and I, it said, echoing in both their hearts. Let us fight each other until death do us part.

It was something that had happened to Leo only once before, not with the Shredder, but with Karai. No matter how hard he fought against her, it was always her unwavering sense of nobility that stayed his hand from landing that final blow. Much like Karai, the dog of the Dragons was a creature of desperate courage, of cunning, of loyalty. But unlike Karai, where the pact lay in her honor, this was founded—ironically, since it had cost them so much trouble—in his steadfast defiance. No matter what, Hayate did not give up, and it was this that demanded Leo's respect.

"All right," Leo murmured. "Let's see how far this goes, then. Bring your Dragons, we're ready for them."

And then he was gone. It was like the night had simply come and swallowed him whole, without sound nor warning, and Hayate was left alone in the dark. Or almost. There was a whisper that lingered in the air, and it drifted back to Hayate on the wind to toy with the hairs on the back of his neck and to run chilled fingers up his spine.

"I'll be watching you…Black Hayate."

.xXx.

"Ahhh, bastard…" the Dragon muttered, and clambered unsteadily to his feet. Fishing around in his back pocket for a lighter and his pack of cigarettes, Hayate moved indoors out of the rain and plopped down on at the top of the stairs. The box of Camels was almost empty save for one last stick, but he'd never touched the things anyway. They were mainly or appearances—what was a Dragon without smokes? But other than that, it did have it's other uses, and he was pleased to find that it was just the right size for Blue's…what had Purple called them? Ah. Shell-cells. That was it.

Tugging a screwdriver from his boot, he turned over the device in his hands and began taking it apart. The first thing to go was the rather inconvenient tracking chip that had been installed, which he promptly crushed under his heel. Then he ripped off the turtle-shell cover, along with anything else unnecessary, and tossed them down the stairs in the hope that the police would find it later. As Hayate was wearing gloves, they'd only find one pair of finger prints.

And I hope they hunt you down and dissect you, he thought viciously. But that was probably a futile wish—at most Blue would just think he'd dropped it. He suspected that Blue was very careful with his things, and hoped that this wouldn't be too sorely missed.

After about ten minutes of trial and error, pressing various buttons to see what would happen, and all around tinkering Hayate had a pretty good idea of how the shell-cell worked. It was basically a customized cell phone, complete with a GPS system, MP3 player, and caller ID. It even had Frogger, though it didn't look like anyone had bothered to play it.

What came in most handy, though, was the screen indicating where the other shell-cells were. At present, the red, orange, purple and black—which, after some consideration, Hayate decided must be himself—markers were congregated around the center, while a fourth (grey) was off in the upper right. There were two others, but instead of colored dots, they were letters: A and C.

Fool proof, he thought sneeringly. Even an idiot like Orange could figure this thing out.

The first three were obvious, and the grey one had to be the rat, but the last pair…Perhaps the woman with the pretty eyes he'd seen before had one. What was it the turtles had called her? May? August? It had something to do with a month, anyway.

The point of the matter, however, was that—with the exception of Blue (which was rather worrisome)—the turtles wouldn't be able to sneak up on him. A little more work and he'd be able to listen in on anything they said over the cells. He was still at a major disadvantage, but at least it was something. Stowing the device in a pocket, he set off into the rain to put some distance between himself and the jewelry store before the approaching sirens got any closer.

To be continued…

Disclaimer: Own the turtles? Not me.

FINALLY! Chapter six is finished! Sorry it took so long, folks. Lotta stuff's been going on. For instance, I'm currently sitting in a social security office, listening to Canon in D guitar rock by JerryC (It's awesome!), waiting to get a replacement SS card because—and I hate to admit it—my other one got lost. I was trying to beat the rain home (this summer's been the wettest EVER) and ended up falling on my silly arse. My wallet fell out of my crappy piece of crap purse, and I was too scraped up to think about checking to make sure it hadn't. By the time I realized it was gone, it was too late. Fortunately, I didn't lose any money, so that's good.

Well, enough of my whining. I'm actually really excited cause I'm off to Dallas this weekend for the Anime Fest. I can't wait, it's supposed to be in a four star hotel that's HUGE. My friends've been working their tails off pulling together their costumes. I really would have liked to go as Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion, but the costume won't be ready by then. For those of you who have seen it, I'll be in that awesome plug-suit she wears whenever she fights in her giant robot. For those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about, go watch the anime!

As for the story, the reason it took so long wasn't because I had writer's block (for once). I actually haven't been able to STOP thinking about it, which was he problem. I've gotten overwhelmed with too any ideas, and no idea what to do with them. For a while I wanted to the story to go in two different directions. It was almost as bad as having no ideas at all. Almost.

Also, in reference to chapter five, no that was not a glitch. That's actually all it was. My friends put me up to it, I swear! I mean, come on, tell me that wasn't funny. Well, at least half of you will, at any rate. I got mixed reactions of 'what the hell is this…?' and 'That's hilarious!' Well, I promise, I won't do it again, and hopefully this makes up for it.

Hope you enjoyed chapter six, and those to come!

Over and out,

Calfuray