Author's note: Here's the next chapter comin' atcha with a double dose of Mikey! This includes two dramatic moment with two of your favorite turtles and a new character I've been waiting for you to meet! Her name's Annie and she's the shy/hyperactive type! The messages on the wall get a new writer as well! Now that's Donny and Leo who've added their messages. I can't wait to show you who writes a message next! Now to stop my 'annoucer speak' and let you get going on reading my awesome fic!
Disclaimer: As you all know, the turtles and company do not belong to me yet... OCs and plot are mine... Friend gets credit for her help... Alright, now you can read!
Mikey's POV:
I have to admit, Joe's a good fighter. Sometimes she reminds me of Raph the way she fights. There are times I can beat her, but she beats me more often. It's getting easier to ignore the urge to kiss her now as well. There's no time for silly stuff like that. I have to be serious. I haven't made a joke in a week! I guess Raph would be happy. Chief still doesn't trust me to find the way by myself. It's kind of annoying how he won't leave me alone. Every night he insists on going with me. I can't shake him no matter how hard I try.
"I won again!" Joe exclaims as she pins me to the ground.
"Not this time!" I say as I kick her off of me and pin her to the ground before she's able to get back up. She struggles under me for a minute then goes limp.
"Alright!" She says, "You won. This time." I smile and roll off of her, breathing hard.
"Both of you are bettering each other." Chief says as he walks over to us.
"I call fer a rematch!" Joe says. I look at her as she stands to her feet.
"Ya can't beat me!" I say back as I roll onto my side and lift myself up. "I'm on a roll tonight!"
"Well let me squash that thought right now!" She says, getting into a fighting stance. "Unless yer tired?"
"Never!" I say, quickly getting into my fighting stance. "I will not be defeated!"
"Before you kids start going at it again, I have to say something," Chief says, "Jone, it's good to see you've got some control over your rage and Michelangelo, you've been trained well, but try not to get too distracted." He looks at me knowingly and I turn away, blushing slightly.
"Is that all?" Joe asks, impatiently.
"Yes, that's all," He says, "Continue." She smiles as she charges towards me. I duck and trip her. She falls and I try to pin her to the ground, but she manages to slip out from under me and forces me down to the ground. I turn onto my shell and kick her off of me. I try to get to my feet, but she manages to send me to the ground again. I quickly pull her down with me and try to pin her again, but she manages to turn me around and pull my arm, harshly behind my shell. I'm in a position now that if I try to get out of her hold, she'll end up dislocating my shoulder. I sigh in annoyance.
"You won," I say grumpily.
"Thanks fer admittin' it." She says as she releases my arm.
"Next time, I'll win," I say, yawning. "But I think I'm done for tonight."
"Yeah, me too." Joe says as she yawns as well. I wave goodbye and follow Chief through the trapdoor.
Leo's POV:
I've decided to train at night. My energy still hasn't fully returned, but I can't waste a minute of my time. I manage to sneak out of the bunk-room with no trouble. The guard outside didn't even see me. I run through the night, away from the heavily guarded Empire Building using the many shadows for cover. I hear someone behind me as I stop beside a building. I turn, startled and see Caden following me. "What are you doing here?" I ask in a low whisper.
"I was wond-" He began, but I quickly cover his mouth at the sound of footsteps. When the sound indicates the owner is out or hearing range, I release Caden and turn him around to face me.
"You shouldn't be out here," I whisper, "You can get caught!"
"You can too, Leo," Caden says, seriously, "Besides, if I go back now, the chances I'll get caught will double." I have to admit, he is right. I roll my eyes in irritation, grab his hand, and lead him away from the building. When I get far enough away, I stop. I'm near the cliffs and there are no guards in sight. Caden manages to escape my hold on him and walk in front of me.
"So why are we here?" He asks me. I can't believe this kid's willing to get himself caught just to see what I'm up to. I look at him in slight annoyance.
"You are just going to stay there and watch." I say, "I want complete silence while I'm training."
"Train fer what?" Caden asks.
"I need to be ready when we fight our way out of here." I say.
"We?"
"My brothers and I." I say, firmly.
"Awe, come on! I wanna help!" He begs me.
"No. Absolutely not, Caden," I say, "You are not gonna do anything but wait 'til the fight's over. Absolutely nothing, you hear me? I don't wantcha to get hurt. Not because of me."
"Please! I can fight! I'll show you!" He says as he attempts to punch me, but I grab his fist before it reaches me. He then tries to kick me, but I grab his foot too. He loses his balance and falls backward. "That's not fair!" He says from the ground. I smile down at him as I offer my hand to help him up. He ignores it and gets up himself. He dusts himself off, grumpily, as he glares at me. "How ja block my attacks anyway?" He asks.
"You were too obvious. You need to learn to be more stealthy." I say.
"Can ya teach me?" He asks so innocently, I almost miss the real reason for his question.
"You are not fighting when we take this place down." I say and I hear Caden groan, "But I will train you."
"Alright!" He says as he punches his fist in the air. I can't help but smile at his enthusiasm.
Donny's POV:
As I wait in the stupid trench, I notice some writing on the wall. It reads:
You'll be here soon. I know you will. I'm alright.
Just keep strong, my brothers. This will all be over
soon. Don't let them break you. Remember who
you are. We can do this together. We can not be
separated. This will keep us together.
It was signed with an 'X' shape. I notice it was written in blood. It shocks me when I realize this. It doesn't take me too long to recognize Leo's handwriting. I lay my hand on the words. The blood had to be at least a week old. That thought gives me the weird feeling it's my blood. Hun probably gave him my bloody bandana. That would mean Leo was the one to punch Hun. Wow… I never thought he would do something like that… I'll have to make sure Leo knows I'm alive.
I look around me to try to find something I can write with. I find a piece of the stone that had crumbled away from the wall. I pick it up and smile as I realize it'll write like chalk. I quickly write a message back to Leo. When I'm finished, I look back at Leo's signature. There must be a good reason why he didn't sign with his name. The 'X' could resemble crossed katanas and I smile at how ingenious it is. I sign my message with a '/' that could represent my bo staff. With that done, I just have to wait until the guards decide my 'punishment' is over.
April's POV:
My head hurts from the Shredder almost ripping my hair out of my head. I walk down the hall, rubbing my aching scalp, and notice a young teenage girl looking down at her feet as she walks in my direction. She looks so forlorn and lost. I walk over to her. "Hey," I say softly, as I put my hand on her shoulder. She looks up at me, startled. "It's alright," I say, "I'm April. What's your name?"
"Annie," She says, shyly. She nervously plays with her hair and looks back down at her feet.
"Where's your room?" I ask as I put my arm around her. She points down the hall to a door at the far end. I walk with her to her room and open the door for her. She walks inside and I close the door behind us. "Let's sit on the bed, okay?"
"Mmhmm," She mumbles, nodding, and sits next to me on the bed.
"Is this your first day here?" I ask. She nods. "I'll help you, okay? We girls have to stick together." She nods again.
"Will I ever get to go back home?" She asks me.
"I don't know, Annie," I say, sadly, "But I'll try to help ya." She smiles, sadly, at me.
Raph's POV:
Trek and I started work the next day or at least we were going to. As we enter the mines, at least ten guards surround us. I guess we are going to pay for what we did to Hun last night. It doesn't bother me. This time I welcome the fight. They close in on us as Trek and I stand back-to-back. "Are you ready for this?" Trek asks me.
"Always am!" I reply. I kick the guard in front of me and send him to the ground. Every now and then, I look back at Trek as he throws a guard out of his way with his tail. I smile at this as I kick another guard who thought he could sneak up on me. I hold my chains and wrap them around a guard in front of me. I throw him into one of his buddies. As I punch another one, a guard from behind me manages to throw me into the wall behind me. I slid down the ground and glare at the perp. "Yer gonna pay fer dat!" I yell as I charge at him and throw him into the wall behind him. I smile, but it lasts for about a minute before I hear an ominous cracking above me. "I'm startin' ta get da feelin' dat was not a good idea…" I say as I look towards the now cracking ceiling.
"We have to get out of here!" Trek says. He looks toward the entrance as more guards block it, grabs my hand, and pulls me deeper into the tunnel.
"Isn't dis a bad idea?" I ask.
"There isn't any better ones." He says. A large chunk of the ceiling lands behind us and knocks us off our feet. I quickly get back up, but Trek doesn't follow. I turn to see the boulder had landed on Trek's legs. I don't have time to help him as I'm forced off my feet again. When the silence returns I quickly get back to my feet and look around. The entrance is completely blocked by the fallen rocks. I turn to trek to try to lift the rock off of him, but it's too heavy.
"Forget about me, my friend," Trek says, "Just try to find a way out of here."
"I'm helping you first." I say as I look around for something that can help me. I spot an ax left behind from one of the workers. I stick the handle under the rock and use it as a level. At first, the rock doesn't move, but soon I start making some progress. I'm not able to get it entirely off my friend's legs, but it's enough for Trek to slid out from under it himself. I drop the rock as soon as he's clear and bend down next to him. "Are ya alright?" I ask.
"I think I am incapable of walking for now," He says, "But I will be fine. Go worry about trying to find a way out of here now."
Mikey's POV:
I'm sick of working in this place, but if I stop they might kill me! I'm already exhausted and it's only the afternoon. It might have something to do with how little sleep I had last night. I just couldn't sleep at all! I don't why. I walk up the stairs to the top and throw what I'm holding into the fire pit below. I watch it as it slowly sinks below the surface. I'm so tired, I yawn. I don't really know what happened next. It went by way too quickly. One minute I'm looking down at the fiery pit, and the next, I'm dangling over the edge by just my fingertips. I close my eyes tightly as I feel myself slip a few inches before I let go entirely. My freefall lasts only a matter of seconds before I feel someone grab my hand. I look up into Joe's eyes as she helps me back over the edge. I collapse onto the solid ground, breathing heavily, as I try to slow my rapid heartbeat.
"I toldja ta be careful, dung-fer-brains." Joe says from somewhere above me. "Come on, ya still hafta get back ta work." She grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet. I turn towards her and I'm surprised to see sympathy in her eyes, but the next second it's gone and I could've imagined it. "Try ta be more careful," She says, "And get back ta work." I take a deep, calming breath and nod. I have no time to be scared over something so unimportant. Wait! What's happening to me? I'm not scared! I haven't told a joke or prank-ed anyone in a while! I don't even care about movies, videogames, or food anymore! My bros better hurry with the plans before I turn into a zombie! Ah, finally something that could be funny… Now to get back to work… There's no time for any funny business…
Author's note: Alright, Mikey and Raph have some major problem on their hands right now. Raph more so as he is not trapped in a cave-in! Mikey's problems are more emotional right now. The last part was so you can see what's going on in Mike's head right now! Please review! You've made my updating speed faster! Keep it up or I'll slow down again... Hey, tell me your fav turtle in the review, alright??
