Chapter 10: The Great Turtle Escape
If there was a word to describe the current situation that Leonardo found himself and his brothers in at this very moment, it would be either somewhat humiliating, or undeniably terrifying.
Captured and utterly afraid, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo were hung up high above the ground, their hands tied above their heads by thick ropes that were attached to a crane. They struggled against their bonds, but it was no use; they were stuck tight. And unless they wanted to fall from quite a few feet in the air and break several bones in their body, or even die, then it would be wise for them to stay put until another solution arose…and they prayed it came soon, for they were running out of time.
Below them, still restrained, Raphael gazed up at his brothers suspended in the air, his emerald eyes wide and horrified. He couldn't believe what he'd done. If only he hadn't been so stupid and persuaded Keno to show him the way to this place, he would never had gotten caught by the Foot. He would never have had to be rescued, and his brothers wouldn't have to die before his very eyes…
"Ahh! Dudes, I think my arms are gonna rip off!" Mikey cried as he stared down at the ground below in fear. They were so hi up it seemed as though the black clad ninjas were nothing but ants. He'd never really been afraid of heights before, but now he was starting to.
"Well, you'd better hope they don't Mikey, otherwise you'd be dead either way!" Donnie replied, following his younger brothers' gaze and swallowing thickly. "That's a long way down from here, y'know!"
Mikey turned to his brother and scowled. "Not helping, Donnie!" he barked.
"Guys, calm down!" Leo snapped firmly, "we're gonna get out of this together, I promise!" But even as the words came out of his mouth, he himself was unsure if he could keep that promise. And the chances were looking increasingly slim by the minute.
Below them, Shredder chuckled ominously as she stared up at the suspended terrapins. "I should think not, Leonardo," he sneered. "You may have escaped me once before, but this time, I have a little surprise for you turtles…"
And at Shredder's command, a large tank of a strange, green, glowing substance was hauled out from the building and into the center of the junkyard by two robotic forms. As the turtles watched them, they realized with wide, unbelieving eyes that these robots were being controlled by small, pink, brain-like creatures resting inside their stomachs.
Donnie gazed down in alarm, his mouth agape. "Whoa…Keno and Mikey were right…there really are alien robots…" he breathed.
Mikey nudged him as much as he could with his hands bound above him and grinned smugly. "Told you so!" he sassed. Donnie narrowed his eyes and growled.
The older turtle rolled his eyes at the exchange. Were they really doing this right now? "Uh, guys? That's all great and stuff, but I think I'd be a little more concerned with whatever's in that giant tank down there!" Leo said with a tint of fear in his voice.
Giant glowing tanks of goo were never a good sign, ever.
Ignoring Mikey and detracting his attention from the aliens for the time being, Donnie's eyes squinted to get a better look at the substance…and then they grew wide once again in realization. "Oh man…guys, its mutagen!" he gasped. Where the heck did the Shredder find all of that?!
Wait a second…before the left, Keno had briefly mentioned that the Foot had gotten more mutagen somehow, but said no more on the matter. Were those alien brain things the source of the mutagen? Were they the reason those scientists had found dozens of canisters all those years ago…?
"You are correct, Donatello," Shredder chuckled darkly at Donnie's exclamation. "Unfortunately for you, even the very creatures who created it, the alien species known as the Kraang, do not even know what transpires when a mutant is mutated a second time. Shall we test that then?" He turned to the Foot Bot controlling the crane, and nodded once.
The crane buckled and began to move with a low groan of metal. The turtles cried out in fear as the crane carried them closer and closer to the tank of ooze. None of them knew what would happen once a mutant was mutated once more. Heck, they hardly knew how the ooze actually worked, and they didn't want to find out.
It could very well kill them for all they knew.
"This is it!" Mikey wailed in despair, "I love you guys! And Raph, just so you know, it was me who ate your last piece of chocolate pepperoni pizza! I'm sorry man, I was so hungry!"
"Mikey! You are not helping here!" Donnie cried.
Fear seizing his very being, Raph struggled desperately once again, but he just couldn't get free as his brothers were carried closer and closer to the mutagen tank. Shredder turned and chuckled at the red turtle's frantic actions. "Patience, Raphael," he mocked, drawing the enraged turtles' attention to him instead as he glared daggers at him. "First them, and then you…I want to watch you suffer as your brothers perish before you."
The crane was almost directly above the mutagen tank now, and despite how hard Leo tried to conjure up a means of escape, he knew that there was nothing he could do now. Panicking, Leo's fear filled cobalt gaze met Raphael's, and he held it there.
His younger brother was just as frightened to watch them die as they were. He never had any problem with risking his own life before…but risking theirs, and knowing that he was responsible for everything…
Leo couldn't allow either of them to die like this, not with their last memories of each other being of how they'd fought. So as their last moments neared, Leo sent Raph a wavering, but sincere smile.
It'll be alright…I forgive you, little brother.
Raph must have been able to read his eyes, for Leo saw his eyes widen, and then they began to well up with tears that he refused to let fall. Unable to bear the sight of his younger brother looking so afraid and lost, Leo could do nothing now but squeeze his eyes shut and wait for their doom.
He'd tried, he really did. But once again, he'd failed his team. He'd failed to protect his entire family.
"Raph," Donnie called down, "if you ever manage to get out of here alive, tell April I love her! Oh, wait, I-I mean, well not love I-I mean –"
"We're gonna die!" Mikey cried.
Shredder chuckled, grinning devilishly underneath his mask as he watched the three turtles squirm and cry out in fear as they hovered directly over the tank. He held up his hand, and the crane stood still, waiting for his command to let them go. When they were finished, he would interrogate the red turtle until he bled out the location of Hamato Yoshi…
…And when Splinter realized that his precious turtles had perished, without him there to protect them, just as he had failed to save his precious daughter on that fateful night, vengeance would finally be his.
"BOOYAKASHAAAA!"
All heads snapped around at the sound of a loud, feminine voice shouting out, just as a black metal fan flew through the air, whizzing over their heads. It sliced perfectly through the rope suspending the turtles in the air, and the boys screamed as they fell down towards the vat of mutagen. However, instead of splashing into the slimy substance, they were thrown to the side as they were shoved to the side by a solid bulk, flying through the air.
Casey Jones landed in a crouch on the other side of the tank, with the turtles safely on solid ground by his side.
"Casey?!" they exclaimed in unison.
Casey looked down at them behind his mask. "Booyakasha? I prefer Goongala!" he smirked in reply, and he hurriedly untied them using a tanto blade that Master Splinter had given to him before they left.
As they scrambled back to their feet, heaving out a breath of relief, Donnie, despite himself, practically jumped Casey as he wrapped his arms around the boys' shoulders in a tight hug. "I've actually never been so happy to see you!" he grinned.
Stunned, Casey just nodded and patted him on the shell awkwardly. "Um…good to see you too, Donnie…"
Just then, April O'Neil leapt out in front of them, catching her fan perfectly as it sailed through the air and landed back into her awaiting hand. "Back off, Shred-head!" she growled, pointing the sharp edge of her fan towards him. Splinter had given her the metal fan, the Tessen, back when they had first begun their training together. He had intended to one day pass it on for his long lost daughter, Miwa, to have when she became a kunoichi, but he had given it to her as a gift instead, for he had seen her worthy of it.
The last time the Shredder had hurt them, she could do nothing but stand by and watch, utterly helpless. Back then, she was nowhere near strong enough to stop him, or even the Foot. But now, she had the power to stand by them and fight for them.
She was now going to prove to them all that she was worthy of this weapon, and worthy of carrying the honor of the Hamato Clan by not letting her brothers die tonight.
Shredder growled lowly, his eyes narrowing as they all stood side by side and faced him. "Do you really think you can defeat me? Well, let us see if you can defeat my new army first. Foot Bots, destroy them!" Shredder commanded, and the dozens of Foot Bots surrounding them obeyed, quickly charging towards them without warning.
April narrowed her eyes. "We'll hold them off! You guys grab your weapons and untie Raph!" she called, and with that, Casey and April ran headlong into the fray, beating down and slicing at the aberrant soldiers whilst the turtles retrieved their weapons from where they'd been thrown to the side-lines.
"These guys don't look so tough!" Casey mocked as he batted away a soldier with his hockey stick, sending him flying straight into another as they rolled to the ground. He'd fought these guys before, back when he'd first met the turtles in April's old store, and then again when he and Karai had gone to rescue Splinter; they were hardly a challenge for the one and only Casey – uh oh.
He was quickly proven wrong when the Foot Soldiers suddenly dispensed extra arms with multiple weapons attached to them. He let out a startled yelp as he and April gawked at them. "D-didn't you guys used to be human?!" April squawked, barely dodging a swipe of an axe from a Foot Bot that would've taken her head off.
As Donnie and Mikey joined the battle to aid April and Casey, Leo quickly gathered his katanas and sheathed them as he ran over to the captive Raph, quickly ripping off the duct tape from across his mouth. "OW!" he yelped, glaring at Leo. "Why don't you just rip off my lips while you're at it, Leo?!"
Leo ignored him as he used Casey's tanto blade to slice off his ropes. Raph rubbed his sore wrists and lips as he finally came free, letting out a sigh of relief. "You okay?" Leo asked him as he placed a hand on his shoulder, unable to look away from the horrible gash across his cheek…
Raph quickly but gently brushed his hand off. "No time for that! We've gotta destroy these Foot Bots first and get outta here!" he urged. Leo nodded firmly, putting aside his worry for the time being as he handed his brother his Sais back, and the two plunged into battle with their brothers.
Casey and April were beginning to have trouble handling the Foot Bots, even with the help of Mikey and Donnie. "You guys mind telling us why these guys are robots?!" Casey yelled to Raph. "And how the heck can they copy our moves so fast?!"
"Shredder wanted a better army to fight against us, since the last time we stomped them into the ground!" Raph shouted back as he impaled several robots with the ends of his Sais, taking off their heads. "I heard him say something about how they adapt to your every move the longer you fight them! That's why it's so hard to beat them; our moves are pretty much useless once they know them!"
April growled in irritation as she sliced off the head of a robot. "Oh, that's just perfect!" she grunted. "How the heck do we beat them then?!"
"Beats me!" Donnie yelped as he ducked under a metal fist, spinning and jabbing his staff as the robots closed in on them. "They won't stay down and more just keep coming! We're out of real-estate!"
Narrowing his eyes, Leo sliced his twin blades through another Foot Soldier, avoiding the swipe of a saw from another as he leapt to stand by his comrades. These things could learn and mimic their moves? That explained why they'd been beaten so easily the first time. But now that they knew how they worked, all that was left was to figure out how to beat them without losing a few limps, or worse, their heads. He needed a plan, and fast, or it was back in the mutagen for them.
Think, Leo, think! The Foot Bots can predict our moves, so how do we counter that? Use their attacks against them? Be unpredic –
Leo's eyes snapped open wide as a thought suddenly hit him. And slowly, a smile formed. "Wait a sec…Guys!" he called across the battlefield. "Remember that game we used to play back in the dojo when we were kids, 'King of the Mountain'?"
The others creased their brows in confusion as they looked back at their leader, standing back to shell as the Foot Bots began to swarm them. "Yeah, what about it?!" Mikey barked as he flipped out and swiped his kusarigama blade across the chests of several Foot chests.
Leo abruptly grinned at them all. "We needed to get across to the other side of the dojo any way we could, remember? So..."
He suddenly leapt up and flipped through the air. "Whoop, whoop, whoop!" he called as he spun in mid-air and tossed one of his swords into the air. The other he threw directly downwards as it sliced neatly through the head of a Foot Bot.
The others looked at him in alarm. "Dude, I thought you always said that a ninja never throws away their weapon and junk!" Mikey called.
Leo beamed at him as he landed in a crouch on his feet, catching the katana he'd thrown. "That's the point, Mikey!" he called back.
Then, it finally hit him as Donnie gasped in realization at what Leo was trying to do. When they were children, there'd been a game that Leo had made up as a fun training exercise, called King of the Mountain, and he'd told them that the quickest way to get to the 'mountain' (or to the other side of the dojo) was to be as unpredictable as possible. They could use any move they wanted, so long as it got them to the other side…
"Oh I get what you're saying…be unpredictable!" Donnie confirmed. If the Foot Bots couldn't adapt to their moves quick enough, they could actually win this fight!
Foot Bots suddenly charged for him, multiple arms and weapons at the ready. Narrowing his eyes, Donnie quickly glanced around at certain structures as a formula constructed in his mind. "We've gotta do our thing!" he said as his mental calculation completed, and he smiled. He waited for the Foot Bots to draw closer to him before taking out kunai knives and shuriken from his belt, and then throwing them at the various objects he had selected, watching with a smug smirk as they bounced off them and met the heads, chests and faces of the Foot Bots, felling them on contact. "Haha! Didn't see that coming did ya?! Donnie laughed.
"Yeah boy!" Mikey crowed joyfully as he spun around the robots, using various break-dance movements to take care of them. "Aw yeah! Oppa Turtle Style!" he laughed. The Foot Bots found that they couldn't keep up with him once Michelangelo was on the move.
Grinning with smug satisfaction, Raph charged headlong into the horde robots coming his way, taking their heads clean off with the tip of his Sais before rolling to the ground. A Foot Bot tried to dive its sword into his shell, but he managed to flip over it and shove it into the side of a broken down truck, plunging his Sai into the back of its head. Revenge was so sweet!
Casey and April zigzagged around the bots as they fired numerous shuriken stars in their direction, but every one missed its target; the teens were too fast for them to track. Casey whooped and laughed with excitement all the while, and April couldn't stifle a laugh either. With a silent nod between the two, Casey threw his hockey stick like a Frisbee, lopping off the heads of three bots in one go and leaving an opening for April to slide across the ground and take out the rest by swiping her legs underneath theirs, tripping them over and sending them crashing to the ground.
As Raph threw another bot into a pile of trash, he turned to Leo with a grin. "I've never had so much fun following your orders!" he laughed as he and Leo backed up against each other, standing shell to shell.
"We're even!" Leo laughed back, grinning just as wide. "I've never had so much fun giving them!"
Shredder growled angrily as he watched the turtles and their human companions fight off the robots with ease. It would not take long for the Foot Bots to eventually figure out their moves, but the turtles were decimating most of them in the meantime.
He decided it was time to bring out his ultimate soldiers. "Xever! Bradford! It is time for you to prove yourselves!" he called out, "destroy those turtles!"
Suddenly, a loud, thundering roar came from within the darkness of the old building. All fighting came to a grinding halt as the turtles, Casey and April stood still and listened closely. Dread began to well up in their chests as the ground trembled under their feet, loud footsteps echoing into the night with every tremor.
"I don't like the sound of that…" Leo said in a wary tone, preparing himself for the worst. It appeared that Shredder had already used the mutagen supply on someone else…and they sounded very angry…
"Maybe if we ignore it, it'll go away!" Mikey suggested, earning a flat look form both Raph and Casey.
The footsteps became louder, coming closer and closer to them with each booming step.
"Someone's not ignoring it!" Mikey said.
"Mikey, shut up!" Raph growled.
Suddenly the door burst open, planks of splintered wood flying everywhere. The turtles and their two human friends prepared themselves, but their jaws dropped in horror at what they saw coming forth from the wreckage. A gargantuan, misshapen, brown and white-furred Dog appeared, his left arm larger than his right and much more muscular, and his red eyes bore into them savagely as he bared his dagger-like fangs within his large, gaping jaws, barking at them like a bloodthirsty hound.
"Look what we have here," he snarled with a feral grin, "four soon to be Ex-turtles, and two, tasty looking humans! You're just in time for dinner!"
Casey's eyes widened as he stared up at the beast that towered over all of them. He recognized that voice…though it was slightly deeper than before as it rumbled in his larger chest, but still, he knew it. "Wait…you're the Bradford guy?!" he exclaimed. The others seemed to realize this as well, and their jaws dropped.
Shredder mutated his own henchman into a giant dog?!
"…that's messed up," Mikey murmured.
Narrowing his dark red eyes at the boy, Bradford frowned deeply. "Ah yes, I remember you…I still need to repay you for what you did to me, boy!" Bradford growled, and with an ear piercing roar, he leapt at them.
They quickly darted out of the way of his giant incoming fist that left a small, but very deep crater in the ground. As he landed a few feet away, Raph simply smirked; he always loved a challenge, and this was a perfect opportunity. "Hey, you know what they say, 'The bigger they are…" Raph quipped as he charged charged, but Bradford effortlessly batted him away with his giant hand, sending him flying into a pile of scrap metal.
The other turtles hissed in sympathy. "…The more bones they break," Donnie whimpered. This guy was going to be a little bit harder to beat than the Foot Bots; he couldn't predict their moves, but he could easily squish them into little green pancakes.
"Looks like Dogpound is really powerful!" Mikey cried, barely able to roll out of the way as the mutant dog took a swipe at him with his enormous claws.
Leo turned to him, raising a brow. "Dogpound?" he repeated incredulously.
Mikey nodded. "Yeah, 'cause he's a dog and he's pounding us into the –"
"We get it!" Casey grumbled.
Raph shook off the dizziness and leapt out of the scrap metal, twirling his Sais as he faced off the dog with his brothers and sister. "Great, a giant mutant Dog that wants to eat us for Doggie Kibble!" he growled, "could this night possibly get any worse?!"
He felt a presence loom over him, and heard a low hiss directly behind him. His eyes widened as they slowly slid to glance behind him. "And it just did…" he whined.
With a high-pitched yelp, he rolled out of the way just as a pair of massive jaws, filled with razor sharp teeth, chomped into the empty space where his right shoulder had been only seconds ago. Rolling to his feet next to Leo, Raph and Leo spun around to see a giant, mauve colored fish standing before them on a strong pair of robotic legs, and a water breathing apparatus attached to his gills.
"Prepare yourselves, you cold blooded freaks!" the giant fish hissed at them, baring his fangs at them.
Wait a minute…was that Xever?!
Leo and Raph shared a stunned glance. Then they immediately burst out laughing.
"Look guys, sushi that delivers itself!" Leo hooted, pointing at the mutant with the tip of his katana blade. He almost felt sorry for the poor guy; being mutated into a giant fish was probably the suckiest thing that could ever happen to the poor sucker.
Xever growled loudly, and launched himself at the two turtles with surprising speed. They were barely able to dodge in time as his metallic foot imbedded into the ground.
"Dudes, Fishface over there is a little sensitive!" Mikey laughed.
"Pfft! You're calling him Fishface?" Leo snickered.
Mikey shrugged. "Well, it was either that, or Robo-Carp!"
Casting all humor to the side for now, Donnie, Casey and Mikey took on Dogpound, whilst Leo, Raph and April took on Fishface. Despite being without proper limbs, Fishface was surprisingly faster and much more flexible than his human self had ever been, and the spinning metallic legs had given him an even greater advantage. But the odds were slightly against him as the two turtles and April launched their attacks nonstop.
The giant dog, however, was a different story. He was far bigger and stronger than Fishface, and he was able to bat Mikey and Casey out of the way like they were nothing but flies.
"Come on, you over-sized excuse for a canine!" Donnie taunted as he spun his Bo staff and attempted to smack it hard across Dogpound's face. However, Dogpound caught it with agonizing ease, and lifted Donnie off the ground with a smug fanged grin as the turtle dangled from where he held the staff. Eyes going wide, Donnie gulped. "Uh…m-maybe that canine joke was a bit out of line?"
Dogpound smirked forebodingly, and began to swing Donnie around in a circle. Donnie screeched as he was then released and sent flying through the air like a screaming shooting star.
"DONNIE!" Raph cried out as he watched his brother go spiraling through the air.
Donnie's flight finally descended as he crashed through the roof of the old building, flailing about for something to latch onto before he landed with a hard thud on the floor, knocked out cold on contact as he lay in a pile of splintered wood, groaning in pain.
Mikey watched as Donnie fell through the roof, his baby blue eyes wide with horror, before they turned dark with anger as turned and sent a hard glare towards Dogpound. That was the second time he'd let this guy mess with his brothers, and he would make sure right here and now that it would be the last. "Nobody hurts my brothers and gets away with it!" he yelled as he charged for Dogpound, swinging his kusarigama blade at the mutant mutt.
"GOONGALA!" Casey hollered as he too made a beeline for Dogpound's face with his hockey stick, swinging it wildly with fury. "No one hits the egg head but me and Raph, you got that, flea bag?!"
Inside the building, Donnie finally awakened as he groggily sat up on his hands and knees, bringing up a trembling hand as he rubbed his aching head. "Owwww…well, that hurt…" he squeaked, wincing at the pain. He felt a warm liquid trickle between his fingers, and his brows creased. Confused, he pulled his hand away, only to reveal blood coated on his green skinned palm. "Oh, great…looks like I might need some stitching…" he moaned. He was so going to have a headache in the morning if they ever made it out of here alive.
Muffled cries on the other side of the room interrupted is speculations on stitches as he looked up, turning to his right to find a man in a white lab coat tied securely to a chair and gagged with duct tape struggling against his restraints. Donnie blinked in surprise. Shredder was holding a scientist hostage? What on earth for?
Minding his head injury, Donnie slowly got to his feet again, grabbing his Bo staff from where it'd clattered on the floor upon his crash landing, and as quickly as he dared he made his way to the man held captive. As he got closer, he recognized the scientist, and his eyes widened. "Hey, you're that TRCI nero-chemist, Dr. Falco!" Donnie gasped sharply. "Here, let me get that tape off for you!"
As he ripped off the tape from the mans' mouth, Falco let out a sharp exclamation of pain. Donnie hissed in sympathy. "Sorry! I gotta work on that!" he said as he set upon untying the scientist, but with hands like his, the knots were a little tricky.
Shaking off the stinging pain, Falco turned to get a good look at his savior, and his eyes widened in amazement rather than fear at what he saw. He couldn't believe it…another sentient mutant! He was far more human in appearance compared to those two hideous mutants that Oroku Saki had created, and seemed far more intelligent. In fact, from what Falco could gather by his height, build, and the sound of his voice when he'd spoken, he couldn't be any older than fifteen years! On top of that, he had a weapon!
An adolescent, anthropomorphic, martial artist reptile! Amazing!
Donnie looked up upon finding him being stared at. "What?" he asked. It's not like he hadn't seen a mutant already, so why was he staring at him as if he were a brilliant new scientific discovery? Oh, wait…he kinda was.
Falco shook himself out of his daze. "Uh…I-it's nothing!" he stammered as his bonds were finally undone and he was helped to his feet by the purple clad turtle, who surprisingly enough was only an inch shorter than him. "Thank you. Now, let's hurry out of here before they come back to finish you off."
Donnie nodded once as he took Falco by the arm, leading him out of the building and back outside, where the sounds of battle raged on…and Donnie swore he could hear laser fire now. Despite knowing that his brothers and friends needed his help, he couldn't risk taking the scientist back with him on the battle ground. So he temporarily took shelter behind a large wrecked car, peeking over the top of it as he tried to find a means of getting out of this junkyard altogether. "Okay, we should be safe here for now, Dr. Falco," he said quietly. "I'll try and see if I can…ugh…"
Donnie groaned as he placed a hand on his bleeding forehead. Oh yeah…he'd forgotten about that. Big mistake.
Noticing that the turtle had stumbled back onto his hands and knees, the Dr. looked at him with mild concern. "Are you alright?" he asked, holding out a hand in order to reach out and steady him.
"Owww…ugh, I-I'm not feeling too good…" Donnie moaned, his voice dangerously slurred now as he fought to stay awake. "Boy…that fall really did a number on my…"
With a final groan of pain, Donnie fell limply forwards, his head landing on Falco's lap.
Back on the battlefield, the rest of the turtles and their human friends were tiring out, big time. Even the strange alien robots had finally decided to attack as they fired laser guns at them relentlessly. As if it wasn't chaotic enough with the two mutants!
Leo stole a moment to take a good look around him – this was getting ridiculous! First Robot Ninjas, then Mutant Dogs and Fish, and now Alien Robots?! It was as if he'd launched himself into another episode of 'Space Heroes,' only he and his crew were going to get their butts handed to them if they didn't get out of there right now.
"Uh, everyone…" Leo called out, panting in exhaustion, "…I suggest a 'Tactical Retreat'!"
"Sounds good to me, for once!" Raph said as he pushed back Fishface with a grunt. No arguments came forth from April either as she made a break for one of the broken vehicles, just before Xever could take a bite out of her shoulder.
"Same here!" Casey cried as he and Mikey retracted from Dogpound, who wasn't finished with them as he lumbered after them.
Leaping over the hood of the car, April ducked as laser fire shot overhead, covering her head with her arms as she hunkered down low. This was so messed up! They had to get out of here, but their only means of escape was blocked by a barrage of Kraang aliens, and she really wasn't in the mood for getting blasted in the head. Her crystal blue eyes scanned the area frantically, searching for something, anything that could get them all out of here in one piece…
Suddenly, she spotted it, and her eyes lit up with joy that she never thought she'd feel upon seeing it. "Mikey, Casey! Over here!" April called as she crawled on her hands and knees towards a manhole cover, half hidden by sand near the car she'd hidden behind.
Spotting her and then beaming, Mikey immediately leapt over to it, getting on his hands and knees as he kissed the cover dramatically. "Boy, am I glad to see you!" he cried, before sitting up and spitting out the sand.
April rolled her eyes with a tolerant smile before she turned back to the others still in the battle field. "Guys! We've got an emergency escape! Hurry up!" she beckoned.
Raph turned and grinned at her. "Good work, Ape! Hang on, we'll be right there!" he called as he and Leo fought off Dogpound and Fishface to allow the others to escape first.
Just as Casey skated over to their side, a thought struck Mikey as his smile disappeared. He looked around him in apprehension. "Wait, where's Donnie?!" he cried, panic beginning to set in as he quickly scanned the area for his taller purple clad brother, but found no sign of him. Was he okay? Or was the fall through the roof worse than he'd thought? But Donnie was tougher than that! He could easily survive a fall like that…right?
As soon as Donnie collected himself again (and apologized for getting blood on Falco's lab coat) he rushed as quickly as he dared across the junkyard, and over to April's side as soon as he'd spotted her, with Dr. Falco's arm in his grip once again. "Come one, we don't have a lot of time, Dr. Falco!" he said urgently as he helped him along.
Mikey's gaze finally set upon his older brother, but his relief was replaced with worry when he saw his brothers' state. Blood was dripping down the side of his face from a nasty wound on the top of his head. "Donnie! Dude, your head's bleeding like crazy! Are you okay?!" Mikey cried, clambering to his feet and running over to his taller brother anxiously.
"I'm fine Mikey, but we've gotta get outta here now!" Donnie reassured with a faint smile, though in reality, he was still very dizzy. He felt as if his head was about to explode.
Casey and April looked up, and April's jaw dropped upon seeing who Donnie had brought with him. "Dr. Falco?! What's he doing here?!" she cried.
"No time to explain April, sorry. Come on Dr.!" Donnie said as Mikey slid open the manhole cover, motioning for Falco to jump in first.
Falco looked down into the hole blankly. He took a step back, gulping nervously. "Well, actually, I'd rather not…" he stuttered.
Casey rolled his eyes and huffed heavily through his mask. "Oh for the love of – GO ALREADY!" he yelled, pushing the Dr. straight into the hole, holding back a laugh as he heard him emit a high pitched scream as he fell and landed on his backside at the bottom of the sewer.
April sent him a look. "Really, Jones?" she scolded, folding her arms crossly.
Casey only shrugged. "What? He was bugging me."
Back on the battlegrounds, Leo and Raph continued to stall for time as they both grabbed either side of a thick pole and ran towards the two mutants. "Step up to the bar, boys!" Raph taunted.
Although Dogpound was now much stronger than before, his heavily built body proved to be slightly clumsier as he was unable to jump the bar, and instead tripped over it, landing on his face ungracefully.
"Limbo, limbo, limbo!" Leo laughed as the two turtles dropped the bar and shared a quick high three, snickering at the mutant dog's disgrace.
Upon his embarrassment, Dogpound growled and leapt to his feet again, charging towards the red clad turtle with his claws bared as he let out a loud roar.
Raph had no time to react. He spun around and let out a gasp as the dog descended upon him, ready to strike him down. But the blow never came as instead, Leo's solid bulk collided into his shoulder, sending him flying to the side and out of the way of the dog's strike.
Leo's pained shriek caused Raph to snap his gaze upwards as Leo flew past him and landed hard in the dirt, rolling along the ground before hitting a wall of trash and landing on his shell. "LEO!" Raph cried as he quickly scrambled over to his older brother. He then felt a mixture of rage and fear as his gaze set upon the four, large, bloody claw marks on his older brothers' right arm. They weren't deep, but it was enough to fill Raph with seething fury. "You idiot! Why would you do that?!" he fumed.
Leo weakly lifted his head, smiling despite the pain. "D-Don't worry. Scales are made out of tough stuff, r-remember?" he wheezed.
Raph growled, shaking his head as he hurriedly, but gently, helped his older brother to his feet. "Didn't make it hurt any less though, now did it?" he retorted.
Leo shook his head. "Nope!" he squeaked in pain, holding his bleeding arm as it throbbed.
Hoping that Leo was going to pull through since he could still walk on his own, the two turned tail and headed for the manhole. "This way, Leo!" Raph called as he jumped and rolled over the roof of an old car. Leo followed suit, leaping over it as they finally reached the manhole, where Mikey was still sat waiting for them.
Raph reached out and rubbed Mikey's head affectionately. "Thanks for waiting, Mikey!" he praised as he jumped into the hole. Mikey was next, leaving Leo to quickly close the lid as he leapt down after his brothers.
After doing a quick headcount to make sure everyone was present (and noticing that they had one extra head to count) Leo nodded to himself. "Come on! We've gotta get back to the hideout before they decide to follow us! Let's go!" he decreed as he, his brothers and the three humans ran as quickly as they were able through the dark sewer tunnels, getting as much of a distance away from the junkyard as possible.
The Shredder's roar of fury echoed into the night as the turtles once again escaped his grasp.
On the other side of the junkyard, two Kraang droids stared at the manhole where the turtles had made their escape. The metallic head turned to his companion. "Kraang, the one known as 'The One' was with the ones known as the turtles that made what is known as escape," it said in its mechanical monotone.
"I am knowledge of that, Kraang," the other replied. "Kraang must alert Kraang that the one known as 'The One' has yet again been located. The human life form known as…April O'Neil…"
A/N: The plot thickens further people! Yeah, this one took about a lifetime to write, but it was fun to work with. Sorry if it seems a little rushed, and I wanna use Fishface's venom later on if I have the chance.
Until the next chapter!