CHAPTER 10: TEN SECONDS TO BOOM
The raid on TCRI doesn't exactly go according to plan. Neither does anything else.
One by one the turtles dropped in through the hole that Donatello had scored in the window. The cacophony from the Kraang as they rushed to inspect the damage the grenades had done to the wall of glass on the opposite end of this floor was deafening. Sheets of white smoke obscured what had happened, buying Donatello more time. He attacked the touchscreen again and his brothers took up hidden defensive positions.
Donatello tried to clear his mind and find a meaningful pattern in the alien code. If he could figure out which files were the most recent, he had a good chance of downloading the information he was looking for. A stray laser pulse whizzed past his head from behind and broke his resolve for a moment. He ducked, feeling his old wound sting across the back of his wrist in memory of the burn, but there wasn't time for hiding. Taking a deep breath, he went back to his work, trusting his brothers to cover him.
The Kraang were desperately trying to figure out who had attacked them. The misdirection worked beautifully for precious minutes, but then one of them spotted Donatello over their computer console. The battle call of the enraged little brains seemed to hold a special note of malice reserved only for the turtles. Light and heavy battle droids, fully dressed human-looking businessmen, and Kraang in little armed hovercrafts zipped back into their lair to attack Donatello's exposed back.
The turtles had taken up a V formation around Donatello. Michelangelo to his left, Leonardo to his right and Raphael at the point closest to the charge. Raphael sprung up from his hiding place, letting his earlier anger loose. He faced down the dozens of armed aliens with a sneer of pleasure. Raphael threw himself into their midst, blades flashing, sparks flying as metal met metal. All he could see around him were targets that needed to be hit as quickly as possible by whatever means he had. As they flooded over him in a wave of sheer numbers, he wished that he could take them all before his brothers stole some of the fun for themselves.
Inevitably, many got past him and he became vaguely aware of Leonardo and Michelangelo engaging their own battles behind him. Raphael threw a handful of shuriken into the exposed wiring of a droid, throwing it back in a spray of sparks. His sai were gripped so the points came out between his fingers, making his fists a devastating combination of blade and brute force. His knuckles frayed and bled against twisted metal despite his hand wrappings. He jumped to kick a small hovercraft viciously enough that it removed the head from one of the businessman robots in it's trajectory. He stayed in perpetual motion, every movement meaningful and aimed to do as much damage as possible.
The Kraang eased their assault, many having been defeated or fled to safer quarters. A wall slid aside with a hiss and two giant, blue, gorilla-like robots emerged.
"Donnie your time is almost up," called Leonardo. "Watch your back. They're bringing out the big guns."
The biotroids stepped out with thundering footsteps.
"Lead them to the gap," Leonardo said, jumping forward, gesturing to the open wall of missing window.
Raphael and Michelangelo followed his lead. They hopped around and pestered the biotroids and slowly led them away from Donatello and closer to the possibility of a 30 storey drop.
The hulking robots were faster than they looked. The turtles tried to attack their heads and disrupt the connection between robot and Kraang, but the serrated saws that swung out from their chests on long cables threatened to deshell them.
"Nipple saws and butt cannons?" Michelangelo joked as he dodged a blast. "Who designed these things?"
Wind blew loudly in through the wrecked window, and the smoke had cleared. They managed to get one biotroid close enough to the edge that its blue fur rippled in waves. The other looked back over at Donatello tampering with their computers and charged.
"I'm on it!" yelled Raphael, hoping the other two could topple their monster over the edge soon.
Raphael caught up with the biotroid and lodged a sai into it's knee. A metal joint popped out of place and the robot slowed and walked unsteadily. Screaming it's irritation, the Kraang controlling it made a grab for Raphael. He dodged to the right, luring it away from Donatello. It made another swipe for him and he wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. A hand bigger than he was connected to Raph's left side and slapped him roughly into a wall like a bug. By the time he recovered his feet it was right on top of him again. He went for the robot's other knee and managed to break something in that one too, but left himself vulnerable to do so.
The biotroid picked him up and threw him in earnest. He collided with bone rattling force into a set of elevator doors, denting them. It started towards him again, it's knees buckled in and shuffling irregularly. Sitting numbly on the floor, the copper taste of blood in his mouth, Raphael worked a sai into the dent. As the large blue droid swayed unsteadily to grab him again, he pried the elevator doors open, grabbed the arm reaching for him and hauled it forward with all of his strength. The creature's own momentum further propelled it and it toppled down the elevator shaft, dragging Raphael in with it.
Raphael flailed wildly in the darkness to find the cables. When his hand finally brushed one he held on for all he was worth, sliding down a bit more until he got a proper grip. The biotroid scrambled to find purchase as well, one hand dragging down Raphael's shell and pulling. The muscles in his arms and shoulders felt like they were going to snap and he slammed his eyes closed, gritted his teeth and focused on just hanging on. The weight fell off of him. His sigh of relief was cut short by the worst sound he had ever heard. Clink clink. He didn't have to check to know that the grenades had gone down the shaft, pulled free of his belt by the clamoring robot. He raced up the cable, injuries forgotten, urged forward by images of his melted shell in his mind if he didn't move it fast enough.
He heard the crash as he hauled himself back onto the top floor. He heard the rumble of the explosion traveling impossibly fast up the shaft. He sprinted out of the alcove.
"Donnie, we're done. Now! Disconnect!"
Donatello took one look at Raphael's terrified face and knew exactly what was happening. He disconnected and joined the sprint. Thick, white plumes of smoke and flame reached for them.
Leonardo and Michelangelo had downed their biotroid but it was still trying to get up off the floor.
"We're done," panted Raphael as he and Donatello caught up to them.
All four brothers stood together on the ledge of the blown out window and shot their grappling guns up for purchase. Leonardo pulled a grenade from his belt.
"Hit their computers," urged Donatello.
"There's too much smoke. I can barely see in there," Leonardo answered. They were out of the danger range of the ones Raphael had obviously dropped somehow, but the interior of the office was obscured by white smoke.
"Leo! Give it to me! I can do it," begged Michelangelo.
At that moment, leaning precariously over the ledge of a building by a rope with only his toes on the ruined floor, Leonardo realized that if there was anyone that could lob a small hand-held weapon with pinpoint accuracy, it was Michelangelo. He wordlessly passed it over.
Michelangelo pulled the pin and cranked his water balloon throwing arm and focused on the pink glow in the white smoke. He fired it in and cheered as it hit it's mark.
"And this one's for you," Leonardo told the Kraang in the furry blue battle droid as it struggled towards them. Their last grenade landed right in front of the biotroid's face.
All four of them pulled up to the roof and got their gliders back on, taking to the air immediately. No one followed them.
oooooooooooo
"I can't believe the guys benched us tonight," Casey griped. He was sprawled along the couch, feet on the coffee table, and paging through a textbook in agitation. Kirby had started picking up his homework as well, much to his dismay.
April shuddered. "I can. Trust me, you don't want to be me and at TCRI. I was stubborn and went along last time and they almost put a drill through my head. If I never see the inside of that place again it will be too soon."
Casey looked at himself, at April, sitting on a recliner with a pink laptop set on crossed legs. There was just no getting used to the strangeness of it. "Didn't you end up saving everyone with a huge psychic blast or something? You need to teach me how to do that."
"Ugh, it's not something you want to do. I had a splitting migraine for a week after."
"Yeah, the migraines are bad enough after the little ones. So how's that fantastic bod of mine treating you so far?" he asked.
"Besides all the cold showers I seem to need, usually at the most inopportune times and no where near an actual shower? Aside from that awkwardness, it's not too bad, I guess."
Casey snorted. "Fair warning, that situation just gets worse the longer you ignore…it."
"I really hope you aren't suggesting what I think you are," she said, eyes narrowing.
He shrugged. "Part of life."
"I try to deal with everything below your belt as little as possible, thank you very much."
Casey pretended to read a page in his textbook silently.
"Wait a minute, you didn't…"
"Of course not." He kept a straight face for about ten seconds.
"Aw, come on, Casey! I'm going to have to shower for days to feel clean in that body again." She chucked a throw pillow at his head in disgust, but when he tossed it back at her they both started laughing. "So other than that…'cause I really don't want to know, you seem to be happier, in general."
"The first couple of days were rough, but I'm an easy-going kind of guy. Once I got used to it and got my vigilante on, I was fine. Don't tell the guys, but…I kinda like being a girl."
April laughed. "I never thought you would be man enough to admit it. You won't be saying you like it much longer, though."
He looked at her quizzically.
"Oh, you'll see. Hey, Casey? Since we are on a touchy subject anyways…"
They both giggled. "What?" he asked.
"I find it kind of strange that I am still attracted to men. Like, I expected it in my head, but your body responds, too."
Casey put his hands up. "I don't need to know! It's still your mind calling the shots, so it shouldn't be a shock."
"I guess, but even girls I find aesthetically attractive…the body doesn't react. Not that I'm complaining. It's 'reactive' enough as it is," she grumbled.
Casey went pale even for April's skin-tone.
"Casey, your horrible pick-up lines and constant pestering of girls for dates…it's all a show isn't it?"
"No!" The blush of embarrassment reddened Casey's face and chest.
"It's okay. Did you think you needed to hide it from us? From your friends?" She paused as Casey clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. "From your dad?"
He snapped up from the couch and threw the textbook down on the coffee table with a heavy slap. "It's late, I'm going to bed."
Casey left with about as much dignity as he could muster and closed himself off in the guestroom. April's pale blushing skin was like a lie detector. Her hormones made the emotions he was trying to suppress wash around his brain like a tidal wave. Her chest felt too small to contain the thudding, panicking heart. This body that wasn't his. That betrayed him. That made him weak. That allowed Raphael to look at him differently.
He cupped his face into his hand and tried to calm down. It figured he would be having one of the worst nights of his life while the turtles were out having the time of theirs tearing up TCRI.
ooooooooo
As eager as Donatello was to start decoding whatever information he had managed to download, he tended his battered brothers first. Raphael looked the worst for wear, but after an injection for pain he waved Donatello off to look after the others. He checked Michelangelo and Leonardo thoroughly and treated their minor wounds, and by the time he got back around to Raphael, his eyes were heavy. The painkillers had done their work and he just wanted to go to bed.
Donatello looked over Raphael's left arm, which was one giant bruise from shoulder to elbow. He felt along the bone for signs of a break. "I don't think it's broken, but if the pain or swelling gets worse let me know."
"'Kay," he rumbled quietly.
"I'm going to clean these other abrasions you have and…"
"No. Just want to sleep."
Donatello sighed. "That was crazy, taking the biotroid on by yourself. You are lucky to be alive."
Raphael shrugged. "Mike and Leo were busy. It was going straight for you…" He struggled to look Donatello in the eye. "I'm sorry. About what I said on the roof. I was just mad and blurting shit out." He could barely sit up anymore and was sliding off to the side slowly.
"I'm sorry I hit you," Donatello said, helping Raphael to his feet and leading him to his room.
Raphael chuckled and followed along, leaning on him heavily. "I'm not. That was some balls right there, brother. I woulda been proud of you if I wasn't so pissed."
Donatello smiled. "Sleep in. No training tomorrow."
Raphael threw himself down on his bed plastron first and closed his eyes. He heard Donatello shut the door and everything went black. There in the dark - tired, drugged and beaten - Raphael let himself wish that he wasn't alone.