Chapter 11: Leaving in Haste and Regretting in Leisure

A/N: Here's the next chapter of this little tale. I have to admit that chapter titles are very hard to come by now, but I do the best I can with what I can think up. Some of this is inspired by the latest episode though it will be with my own twist. Thanks to Illusionna for not only letting me borrow her characters but also for being a loyal reviewer. You are the reason I keep going so thank you so much for that. And to anyone else reading this, go read her stories. You won't be disappointed.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon. The Phoenix and her children are the property of Illusionna and are used with permission from the author. I only own the plot and any other characters not associated with the above characters.

The night was dark as the Mighty Mutanimals patrolled the city. They had taken to doing this ever since they had formed as a group. At first it had been about taking the Kraang down, but now it was more about keeping the criminals at bay in any way they could. Though the Turtles also patrolled the city, the Mutanimals felt it was their duty to also help.

Slash scanned the area for anything out of the ordinary, a habit he had picked up from Leo. Seeing nothing, he motioned to the others to keep going. Then a scream pierced the silence of the night. Slash immediately gave the signal to check out the problem, and the mutants hurried to do so. Upon arriving, they saw a young woman being cornered by gang members. Slash knew this wasn't a good thing and after assessing the situation (another habit he had picked up from Leo), he ordered his team to intervene.

Slash swung his mace at one of the gang members and knocked him out. Leatherhead fended off another one pretty easily with his size. Rockwell dispatched of a few of the men with his telekinetic powers. Pete was fluttering around and even pecked one of the gang members. Then his eyes strayed away to a woman carrying a shopping bag with a loaf of bread sticking out.

"Ooooh, bread!" he cried and, forgetting about the gang member, he took off after the lady and the bread.

The lady shrieked and dropped her quarry, shielding herself from the boisterous mutant pigeon. Pete took no notice of her as he grabbed the bread and began nibbling at it. He was so engrossed that he didn't see the woman who had been accosted by the gang members aiming a gun in his direction.

Seeing his comrade in trouble, Slash immediately intervened and pushed Pete out of the bullet's trajectory. The bullet lodged itself in the giant turtle's shoulder.

"Slash!" Leatherhead yelled. He roared and hurried to his leader's side.

"We need to retreat!" Rockwell declared.

Slash took out a smoke bomb and immediately activated it, cloaking them all in purple smoke so they could escape.

22222

"How is it, Doc?" Slash asked him.

"Your shoulder should heal," Rockwell answered. "The bullet did not go in too deeply and I was able to retrieve it with no trouble."

"That's good to hear," Slash said with relief.

"Thanks for the save, Slash," Pete said. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now."

Slash's yellow eyes narrowed in anger as he set eyes on the mutant pigeon. "What the hell was that, Pete?" he yelled. "Why did you get distracted like that? You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"I saw the bread and wanted it," Pete answered.

"We were bein' set upon by gang members!" Slash snapped. "Didn't you even care that we all could have gotten killed?"

"It was a mistake," Pete said. "It won't happen again."

"It's happened at least three times already," Slash pointed out. "You gotta stop doing this, Pete. You're becoming a liability to the team and that's not something we can afford right now."

Pete bristled at Slash's words. "Well, if I'm such a liability, then maybe I should just leave. You don't need me around here anymore."

"Don't say that, my friend," Leatherhead begged. "You are a valuable asset to this team."

"Quite so," Rockwell added. "You provide an excellent distraction to the enemy."

"No, fellas, he's right," Slash said. "He should just leave. We can't afford to have someone screwing things up for us."

"If that's the way you feel, then I quit!" Pete said. And before anyone else could protest, Pete took off and flew away from the warehouse.

22222

I sighed in annoyance as I listened to Casey and April bickering about homework. I was getting sick and tired of them constantly arguing over things like that though there wasn't much I could do about it. I decided the best thing to do was to leave so I turned away from them.

"Where are you going, Tony?" April asked me.

"I'm going to let you two settle this fight on your own," I answered.

"We'll stop fighting if you want us to," Casey begged.

"Nope, you two carry on. See you later." With that, I left them and headed to the Lair for some down time. I found Mikey and Raph watching TV and heard Leo in the dojo so I decided to head there to get some training in.

Leo smiled when he heard me come in though he didn't turn around. "Hey, Tony, how was your day?"

"It was okay," I answered. "How was yours?"

"Pretty good," he replied. "Do you wanna spar?"

I smirked. "Why else would I be here?"

He laughed and turned away from the training dummy to face me. I got into a fighting stance and drew my butterfly swords. He drew his katanas and we bowed before facing off.

22222

Pete flew around the city, feeling angry for all that had happened to him. He was mad that Slash had yelled at him for something so trivial. It wasn't his fault that the bread had been there. It was his weakness and he couldn't help it. Well, if that was the way it had to be, then so be it. He didn't need Slash or anyone else. He would be just fine on his own.

As he flew around, he spotted someone on one of the buildings. Curious, the pigeon mutant flew down and beheld a woman standing there all alone.

"Hello there," the woman said. "What are you doing flying alone at this time of night?"

"I'm just alone and thinking," Pete answered. "What are you doing here?"

"I am just observing things," she answered. "It's fortunate that you came along though. I need some help and I think you could be of service to me. Would it be all right if you came with me?"

Pete thought about it and figured he had nothing to lose. "Sure," he answered.

The woman smiled. "Good," she said. "I'm Danielle Enderly."

"My name is Pete," Pete said.

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"Why are you so glum, Slash?" Raph asked his friend.

Slash sighed. "I just gave Pete the boot," he replied.

Raph's green eyes widened in shock. "You kicked him out?" he gasped.

"Yep. He was distracted and almost got killed."

"Well, give him some time and maybe he'll come back," Raph reassured his friend. "Heck knows I've stormed off in a rage."

"That's the thing, Raph," Slash said. "I don't think he's coming back."

22222

Pete was impressed by the building Danielle led him to. It was very big though something about it seemed weird to Pete.

Danielle instructed Pete to sit in a chair which he did so. "Pete, I have quite a few questions for you and I hope you can answer them," she said. "First, how were you mutated?"

"I was mutated by the Kraang but before that, I was just an ordinary pigeon."

"I see," she mused. "Do you know of any other mutants besides yourself?"

Pete thought about talking about the Mighty Mutanimals, but a voice in his head warned him that this woman was dangerous and that she was plotting something. "Nope, not that I know of."

Her eyes narrowed. "You're lying," she said.

Pete's eyes widened. "No, I'm not!" he insisted.

"You will either tell me what I want to know or I will force it out of you," she threatened.

"Do what you want, but I'll never sell out my friends," declared Pete.

"Have it your way," she said as she brandished a taser in his direction.

Pete's screams echoed throughout the building though no one heard his cries.

22222

The Phoenix smiled as she left her latest charge. Doing clinic always made her feel good each time she helped someone. Yes, it was unconventional, but it was still rewarding and helped her to achieve a purpose she felt she hadn't had after her ordeal with the Kraang. As she walked along, she was accosted by two cat mutants who looked frantic and were carrying someone.

"Can I help you?" Phoenix asked.

"We found him outside a building," one of the mutants replied. "Can you help him?"

Phoenix gasped as she saw who they were carrying. "Pete!" she cried. "What happened to him?"

"We don't know," the second mutant answered.

Phoenix knelt down as the two mutants set Pete on the ground. She saw that he looked horrible and immediately sent the golden ants into him. However, nothing happened, and she began to get frustrated. How could this be happening? Her power had always worked before. She tried one more time but nothing happened and she had to give in to defeat.

22222

Raph cheered as the Cleveland Indians made another hit. He was still mad that the Yankees hadn't made it to the World Series, but as he couldn't stand the Chicago Cubs, he figured rooting for the Indians would be the best thing.

"Oh, come on!" Slash groaned. "You could have caught that!"

Raph rolled his eyes. "I still can't believe you're rooting for the Cubs," he complained.

"Hey, they're a good team," Slash countered. "Plus, I have always admired the announcing style of Harry Caray."

"Dude, the guy's dead," Raph reminded him.

"Yeah, but he was still good, and Mikey does a pretty good impression of him."

Raph smirked, remembering the times his little brother would imitate the famous announcer's famous line, "Holy cow!"

Their conversation was interrupted by a frantic knocking on the door. Slash jumped up and answered it, astounded to see The Phoenix standing there with a familiar figure in her arms.

"What happened?" Slash demanded as he ushered the woman inside.

Raph got off the couch and hurried to where they were. He gasped as Phoenix laid Pete on a blanket Slash procured for her.

"I don't know, but he's gone," Phoenix replied.

The words took only a few seconds to process in Slash's mind. With a roar of rage, he began beating on the wall of the warehouse and cursing frantically.

Raph grabbed his friend's arm and held him back. "Slash, calm down, buddy," he soothed.

Slash whirled around on Raph, his eyes filled with remorse and rage. "This is all my fault!" he howled. "I told Pete to leave, and now he's dead! I'm not fit to be the leader of the team anymore!"

"Slash, it wasn't your fault," Raph soothed. "Pete quit on his own. We have to find out who did this to him."

"If we do that, they could kill us too," Slash said.

"I think we should concentrate on Pete for now," Phoenix said softly. "Raph's right that this isn't your fault, Slash. Pete did leave on his own and somehow ended up dead. All we can do is honor his memory and make sure this doesn't happen to more mutants. When I go to clinic again, I'll inquire if any others have seen anything odd or have seen any others getting taken."

"Do you think this has anything to do with the chick who captured Tony?" Raph asked her.

"I don't know, but we should remain cautious," replied Phoenix.

The game was forgotten as they arranged how they would bury their friend and comrade. Neither of them cared about baseball now. There were other matters to attend to at the moment and that was what they were concentrating on.

22222

The Mutanimals buried Pete in Cenyral Park where he liked to perch in a certain tree. All of us attended the funeral and mourned the loss of the mutant pigeon. Sure, he could be annoying at times, but he was a great ally and a faithful member of the team that we all could count on to help when he could.

Slash said some words about Pete as did the other members and even Phoenix and her children said some kind words and shared some memories. Then we buried him and went back to the warehouse to eat some food and remember a mutant pigeon who changed all of our lives. I knew this had something to do with Danielle, and I was determined to make sure that no one else died at her hands even if it meant risking my own life to prevent it.

A/N: Yay! Another chapter is done. I am so glad I was able to finish this one and I hope you liked it. Yeah, I killed off Pete, but I want to say that I don't hate the little guy at all. I actually like him but felt that his death would be a turning point in the story and show just how ruthless Danielle and her followers are when it comes to getting what they want. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but I'll do what I can. Life has been taking over but I will do my best to continue writing when possible. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day. Oh, and go Cubs! Let's break that curse and win it all!