Finally got around to continuing this. :P

IAmTheDragonEmpress: heh, even the toughest leaders need hugs. x)

Brooklynberceuse: Thanks! :) And sorry it took this long. xP

I don't own tmnt.


It was funny how wrong you could be sometimes.

"Just track the signal in my shell cell and get here now!"

How a simple, ordinary task, like walking through the sewers, could quickly turn into a situation of life and death.

"Alina, we have to go!"

She knew Leonardo had lots of experience about fighting various kinds of enemies, but hers was limited to some occasional street punks. He knew that too and that's why he was urging them to run, even though he probably could've fought back on his own until his brothers arrived.

"Are you sure it's even coming after us?"

Alina's question was answered with no delay. The creature whose attention they had unknowingly attracted was something from one's worst nightmares. Even in the darkness of the sewers she could see its wide-shaped head appear around the corner, turning to stare straight at them with bulging eyes.

They didn't wait for the rest of its body to follow. Leonardo took her hand while she was still staring at the creature in horror and started dragging her to get her moving. She scrambled a few steps before she got her legs working properly, motivated by the last minute glimpse at the creature as it slowly came into sight.

They ran as fast as they could, Leonardo constantly glancing at Alina to make sure she was keeping up.

"Raphael's just going to love this", he muttered just loud enough for Alina to hear.

She didn't get what he meant at first, but then she started to take in what she had just seen.

The creature's large body had clearly been similar to a bug of some kind. Not all of it, it had been more like a hybrid of more than one beings, but enough that Raph would sure get creeped out by it.

They were far off from the lair and the thought didn't appeal to Alina at all. Help wouldn't be arriving right away and she didn't have the stamina to keep running as long as Leo. On the other hand, the creature had seemed to move slowly, maybe they could outrun it.

She turned to look back, slowing down. She didn't see anything, but couldn't be completely sure about the thick shadows around them.

"Let's keep going", Leonardo hurried her, making sure they zigzagged through the various tunnels as much as possible.

When he finally allowed them to stop, Alina was leaning her hands on her knees and breathing heavily, but she was also fairly confident that they had lost the creature.

"What… was that?"

"Don't know, but we'll take care of it once the cavalry arrives."

Alina kept her eyes focused towards the darkness where they had come from, while Leo picked up his shell cell again.

"Oh no…", she tugged at the blue-masked turtle's arm, never taking her gaze from the end of the tunnel.

Leo looked up and his expression hardened. He had heard it too. The loud splash, followed by shuffling and scraping sounds that sent shivers down their spines. They weren't safe yet.

"How is it following us?" Alina shook her head in disbelief.

It was hard to believe, but their eyes didn't lie. There it was again, approaching them slowly, studying maybe. It was big, with a long, thick body and several legs in a row, resembling most a centipede.

"You'll have to go", Alina heard Leonardo saying.

"What?! No! Not without you."

"There's something more to this thing, its more dangerous than it seems. I'm not putting you to risk when I don't know what to expect."

"Then we'll both run again."

Leonardo drew out his katanas with a single swish, taking a defensive stance in front of Alina. "It's faster than it's giving away and I think it's done following us."

"But…"

"This is not negotiable. Go!"

Alina recognized the unyielding tone and knew she wouldn't be able to convince him to come with her. Of course there was no way he would be able to make her leave either.

That was quickly becoming apparent to Leonardo too. He grunted in annoyance when he didn't hear her leave and took a quick glance back.

That's when the creature pounced.

It came too fast for even the experienced ninja's reflexes. Leonardo got the full force of the attack when the creature slammed into him. Alina was behind him and got knocked down when he flew backwards. After that, everything went hazy for a while.

She struggled to get up, too dazed to be disgusted by the ankle-deep sewer water she was laying in. Besides, the view in front of her was enough to distract her.

The creature certainly was keeping its most dangerous qualities hidden. Being so close to it, Alina could now clearly see the powerful legs it was hiding under its segmented body, the last two on its rear being very sharp-looking and hooked.

The face had changed too. Before they had only been able to see the round insect eyes sticking out of its head, now she saw its mouth too. The rows of wicked-looking teeth, gleaming with saliva had been exposed as it had attacked. As Alina watched, the flaps around its face that had been covering the mouth were already slowly falling back in place.

All in all, the thing was revolting.

"Leo?" Alina breathed alarmed as she got over the creature's appearance. She backed up avoiding sudden movements until she sensed the blue-masked turtle next to her. The bug creature was stalking them again, taking its time.

"Are you okay, Leo?" She hardly dared to look away, but she had to know. Somehow Leonardo hadn't dropped his katanas when he got hit. He was already getting up, a focused look on his face. It sure paid to be a mutant when you could walk away from something equaling to a collision with a runaway bus.

It took her a moment to notice that he hadn't done so totally unscathed.

"You're hurt", she forgot her caution and eyed horrified at the two deep cuts in Leonardo's arm.

"It's not that bad."

Alina frowned, thinking about the possibilities of poison or infection that could be spreading as they spoke.

"Besides", Leonardo widened his stance, readying himself. "We kind of have other things to worry about right now."

Alina nodded and moved back reluctantly. Leonardo didn't stay and wait for another attack. He charged at the monster, leaping into the air to avoid getting rammed again. Alina watched as his katanas sliced at the thick-looking skin, apparently not doing much damage.

The creature really didn't seem to care. It turned its giant head to the side as Leonardo disappeared from its sight. That seemed to be its weakness. Even if it could move forward fast, Alina doubted it could turn around as quickly.

She didn't need to tell that to Leonardo, who kept jumping on its back and away, keeping his distance from the sharp teeth that had already got him once. It would've seemed to be going great except there still wasn't any visible hurt to the creature.

Leonardo jumped on its back once again, ready to strike. This time the creature was ready, and as soon as Leonardo's feet touched its back, it started trashing from side to side like crazy.

The strength in its movements was immense, dropping Leonardo back into the shallow water in an instant. It took a large part of the wall next to it apart, making it very clear that it was still very dangerous, no matter how you tried to approach it.

Alina felt her chest tighten with worry as she expected Leonardo to be trampled under the creature's crushing mass at any second. She saw him quickly roll out of the way, but only in the nick of time. It was insufferable to watch.

Then her earlier fears came true.

Alina expected Leo to launch another attack, but what she saw instead, was his katana dropping into the water. For one dumbfounded moment, neither of them seemed to understand what had happened. Leonardo was staring at his hand that had suddenly refused to do what he asked of it.

"No", Alina whispered horrified when she realized it was the injured arm. The bug creature did have something, a poison of some kind. "Leo!"

The blue-masked turtle looked at her with a confused expression, clumsily backing away from the monster until he slumped against the wall. It looked like he was quickly losing control of his body.

The bug creature had seized its wild trashing. Its bulging eye turned in its head as it searched for its prey. Alina's head darted from the creature to Leonardo and back again, while she was frantically trying to figure out what to do.

The effort was futile, so she abandoned logical thinking straightaway and went with her instincts. Leonardo's katana was still there in the water and the creature was slow in turning around. She made a dash for the weapon.

"A-Alina, what… are you… No, don't…"

Alina's worry grew as she heard how fast Leo's condition was getting worse, but it only motivated her. She picked up the katana and turned towards the monstrous bug. Leo pleaded her to leave, but Alina couldn't concentrate on him over the sounds of her adrenaline-filled body. She had never known the sound of her own blood rushing could be so deafening.

The monster was turning towards them and Alina remembered alarmed that it might pounce again, crushing them both in a second.

"H-hey you! Ugly! Over here!" she shouted, moving away from Leonardo. The creature stopped, one of its eyes fixed at the injured turtle while the other followed Alina's movements. She had no idea how intelligent it was and therefore, no way to anticipate what it would do.

She gripped the handle of the katana as if her life depended on it, still making noises to attract the bug creature's attention. When it didn't seem to be enough, she shakily picked up one of the bricks that had been broken off the wall and threw it as hard as she could.

It hit the creature straight in its revolting face. Now its other eye turned to Alina too, and for a second, she thought she had gotten what she wanted, but then instead of attacking her, it chose to ignore her and go for the easy prey first.

"No no no no!" Alina screamed in fear and frustration, her desperation driving her to do anything to keep the creature from going after Leonardo. Right then anything meant charging at it and plunging the katana deep into its eye.

Thick fluids squirting out of the punctured eye and the rows of long, sharp and poisonous teeth right next to her face as the monster opened its mouth to roar were the last coherent thing Alina understood. The world around her disappeared in one hot flash of pain.

There were some vague feelings, including the feel of flying, but it was all one unrecognizable mess, topped by the burning pain that left her breathless. Panic quickly rose to the same level with the pain as it dawned on her that she couldn't draw breath because she was underwater. She lifted her head up, finding air again, but everything was still spinning and she couldn't focus her eyes on anything.

A strange buzzing sound filled Alina's ears. For a moment there she remembered Leo again and even thought she heard his voice. She couldn't find the strength to turn her head and search for him. In fact, what little strength she had was fading fast and her head was starting to get more difficult to hold up.

Darkness was closing in on Alina, dulling the pain bit by bit, which was more than welcome. Somehow she knew it was bad, but couldn't quite figure out why. Strangely, the noise in her ears kept getting louder even though her other senses were failing her.

There was no time to ponder about it, though, as Alina's head slipped back down and she succumbed to the all engulfing darkness.