"Are we there yet?" Mikey asked for the umpteenth time.
"The first one thousand and forty six times you asked that, the answer was no. This time… is actually yes" Don announced.
"Sensors show Area 51 is right beneath us" Leo stated. "And it looks like we have a greeting party"
Raph looked below and spotted their greeters. "Well, that ain't much of a surprise"
T-Girl growled. "Bishop better not have touched Who or I'll-"
"-easy there, tigress!" Raph interrupted her. "No one hates Bishop more than we do but we can't just pound the information out of him"
"Did Raph really just say that?" Mikey asked teasingly.
"Don't try your luck, knucklehead"
Donatello began to land the copter while the others readied themselves to fight if needed. Finally the chopper touched the ground and the turtles, followed by their blond haired friend, exited the craft to face Bishop and his men.
"Gentlemen, it has been a long time. And to what do I owe the honor of this visit?" Bishop inquired.
"Oh don't play coy! You know why we're here Bishop!" T-Girl yelled.
Bishop raised an eyebrow at the turtles. "A friend of yours?" He asked, disregarding the girl's outburst.
"Totally!" Mikey answered throwing an arm around the girl's neck. "And unlike you, she IS pretty"
"Enough of this! We have it on good authority that you are holding one of our friends hostage" Leonardo replied.
"Oh yes, the opera singer. I'm afraid you're too late though, she's not here anymore" Bishop stated nonchalantly.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?! WHERE IS SHE?!" T demanded aggressively, her fists clenching into balls.
Bishop removed his black shades, his face emotionless. "Let's just say she is no longer with us in this realm…"
In a swift movement, he pulled out a linen handkerchief stained with blood and smiled evilly. "…if you get my meaning"
The look on everyone's face was one of horror, disbelief and pure shock. With a cry, T lunged for him. Reacting quickly, the red masked turtle caught her by the shoulders, holding her back.
"T, babe, stop! It's not worth it!"
"NOT WORTH IT? HE KILLED HER! HE KILLED MY FRIEND!" T-girl screamed with all her might, tears running down her cheeks as she continued to struggle against Raph's powerful grip.
The soldiers began to shoot and the ninja team had to split up to avoid the deadly bullets.
"Mikey, you take T-Girl back to the chopper. Now!" Leo ordered.
"C'mon dudette, this could get really messy"
The young ninja, then, proceeded to carry the distraught girl bridal style to safety while his brothers battled Bishop's squad. Meanwhile, the man in question and a couple of bodyguards had begun to leave the area in search of hiding; not that Bishop had agreed to this, he would rather fight but he had other matters to attend to.
"Guys, Bishop is getting away!" Don alerted.
"Go catch him for me, will ya genius? I wanna stick my sais into his eyeballs!"
Raphael threw a sai at a soldier's hand pinning it to his gun; the latter howled in pain and tried to free his injured limb but this distraction cost him his life for the red-clad ninja aimed the next one at his neck, piercing the artery.
"Raph, what are you doing?!" Leo yelled from the other side of the battlefield.
"It's called payback, Fearless!" Raph replied, pulling his sais out of the dead body to point them at Bishop. "And Bishop is next!"
"Leo, I need a hand here! I have to make sure they don't reach the car!" Don yelled.
Leonardo threw some smoke pellets creating a smoke curtain for Donatello to avoid the incoming soldiers and reach Bishop fast; in his way, the purple-clad ninja saw a gun and picked it up off the ground. It felt weird and wrong to hold a gun but it was the only way to stop Bishop's car from leaving. He took a deep breath and before the dark suited man could make it to the passenger seat, Don shot Bishop's shoulder.
The latter grunted and before he knew it, both his bodyguards lied unconscious at his feet. Bishop turned around swiftly just to be kicked in the face by an angry Donatello.
"Just when I thought you couldn't be more despicable, you do this? Now you'll start killing your own kind?" He demanded, holding Bishop tightly by the arms.
Bishop grinned and head-butted the turtle before kicking him in the gut hard enough to make him kneel and gasp for air; he turned and signaled his men, the ones who actually survived, to head back into the base.
Before he drove off, Bishop knelt to pick up the gun Donatello dropped and pressed it to the purple-clad ninja's temple.
"Whatever I do, I do it with a purpose Donatello" Bishop said in a deep, dark voice before knocking out the ninja with the butt of the gun.
Following Bishop's orders, the squad ceased fire and ran away leaving the ninjas exhausted, bruised, and deeply hurt on the inside.
…
In cyberspace, Who began to materialize bit by bit until she was "complete". From head to toe, her skin was now blue and so was the soldier suit she borrowed from Markowski; everything on and in her was nothing but blue and black code.
She landed on a neon blue surface and looked around feeling disorientated.
"Alright, I guess I died. So…Dumbledore is bound to appear anytime soon now, right?" She asked out loud then face palmed. "Ok now I'm just being stupid"
Who looked at her surroundings one more time; there was binary code in some of the "walls", neon white and blue "roads" and what appeared to be energy surges traveling through them.
"Wherever I am now, it sure is too bright for my liking" She said to herself and looked up.
A strong light blinded her and she lowered her head, rubbing her aching eyes with both hands. "Damn, this is too bright! How I do turn the lights off?"
The moment those words left her mouth, the whole place went black except for the neon white and blue path she stood on and the random numbers in the wall.
Who blinked. "Ooook? That was trippy" She began to walk this strange and bright road, her steps echoing.
Who wasn't one to get scared easily, but since she had no idea where she was or if she was alive or not, she could now say she was terrified and wishing to find a safe spot where she could curl up. However, Who fought to control herself and focused on something other than the paralyzing fear that was threatening to take over her body and mind.
She tried her best to remember what had happened the last five minutes before suddenly materializing in this new place. One thing she was grateful of in this situation was to be away from Bishop and his soldiers.
And speaking of which, Who looked down at herself and huffed; she still wore a soldier attire, too big for her tiny self.
"Ugh, these clothes are just a big no-no. I swear I could kill for some decent leggings, a shirt and comfy shoes"
Sighing heavily, she leaned against what looked like a giant dark building. Just as she touched the surface, her actual clothes turned into code numbers and, in less than a blink, the clothes Who had been thinking of materialized, replacing the big and saggy soldier pants and jacket.
That was the last straw for Who.
"Ok, what in tarnation is going on here?! First I get chased and kidnapped by a xenophobic, flirtatious, not to mention ancient old, sicko; then I get locked in some kind of prison, had to dress up like a man… which wasn't so bad, actually… then I discover Stockman is a floating brain, got blasted somehow and now I'm in this weird place with codes and clothes magically appearing after touching a…"
Who looked up to read the name of the "building" she leaned on before continuing with her rant.
"… a fashion website? Oh sure, just what I need! All this coding nonsense is supposed to be part of the internet and …"
And then, realization hit her hard in the face. "HOLY FIRETRUCKING JESUS! I'M IN CYBERSPACE!"
…
Back to Area 51, Stockman and some technicians had begun repairing the cyber portal using the blue prints Stockman managed to steal from the Foot's data base. Every time he hacked into their system, Stockman couldn't help but feel uneasy. Even knowing his hacking skills were envied by many, there was still Chaplin to worry about, who was still under the employ of the Shredder. He was the only one who could discover Stockman's virtual thievery and that could mean the destruction of what remained of his body, Bishop's base and Bishop himself.
The doctor certainly wasn't friends with him but he owed Bishop his life and no matter how many times he failed, Bishop wasn't ruthless like Shredder was. Of course, Stockman would get lectured like a little child but that was bearable compared to Shredder's punishments.
Try as he might, Stockman could never forgive himself if something happened to his new benefactor because of a simple mistake; this is why the doctor always double checked his steps before doing something and kept his hacking at the minimum.
Bishop would understand that, wouldn't he? Of course he would. After all, most the portal had been constructed by Stockman's own blue prints; he wouldn't need to steal from the Foot so often anyway.
The doors of his laboratory opened and Bishop came in holding his shoulder.
"And speaking of the devil" Stockman smiled to himself. "I take your meeting with the turtles didn't go so well?"
"There was an… inconvenience…"Bishop replied, approaching to a conveniently placed medical cot.
"Lucky for you, I managed to buy you more time to repair the portal and bring Who back"
"How so?" Stockman asked, cleaning up his robotic hands before he continued to choose a suitable scalpel.
"They think their little friend is dead" Bishop smirked. "Fools"
The doctor chuckled. "Well, they are animals. What did you expect?"
"Still, Donatello didn't seem to buy my white lie" Bishop continued while lying on the cot, still holding his injured shoulder. "He might suspect something but that's none of my concern now"
If Stockman could arch a brow, he would do it right now. "Are you sure? Of all those freaks, Donatello is the one you should never underestimate and don't forget about the other animal… Leatherhead, I think was his name"
"I am most aware of that, doctor. But like I said, until Donatello figures it out and makes his family and friends believe in him, we'll have more than enough time to fix this whole mess. Then, once the portal is working again, we can release the girl for more interrogation or disintegrate her into code again and lock her in cyberspace if you wish to"
Stockman scoffed. "More like if you wish to, Bishop"
The black suited man looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"You're always going on about a new race of soldiers: part alien, part human DNA… and the little brat has shown potential; I saw the interrogation video, that's how I know by the way" Stockman commented.
"Not only her but the turtles' new friend… calls herself T-Girl… she may not look like a fighter but perhaps we could use her DNA anyways" Bishop added. "Should've remembered that earlier; I could've taken her before the turtles escaped"
"I told you to carry a journal but do you ever listen to me? No!"
"Don't start, Stockman. You know I would never write down stuff like some high school girl"
"Then get a recorder!" Stockman argued.
Bishop sighed. "Can't we just stop this ridiculous conversation so you can fix my shoulder, please?"
"Unbelievable, you said please" Stockman said sarcastically while checking Bishop's injury.
"I do have manners, doctor" The latter replied
Stockman's lone eye rolled. "Sure, whatever you say. Now stay still, this should only hurt a lot"
