Chapter 10:

(3rd:)

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me." Raph complained after the hallway bleed red with lights flashing from every corner.

"He's getting away?" Mike announced and they all turned to watch the theft maneuver his way back out of the tank and disappear into the maintenance room above them.

"No he's not!" Leo proclaimed before leading the way back down the hall trying to follow the man, however before they could get back to the exit they found themselves blocked off by a small army of Black Gators marching down the stairs where they started opening fire on the turtles with some fancy laser guns.

They quickly fell into nooks of the walls and managed to avoid being shot however one of the glass windows didn't fair as well and shattered when a laser beam caught it just right and suddenly they had a wave of nano-bots to deal with as well.

"Up!" Leo ordered and they all jumped as the wave reached them and landed on the top with the aid of the surface adapters where they immediately felt the organism under their feet twist and turn like a giant worm before leveling out as the nano-bots continued their impersonation of water.

"It's okay." Donnie announced quickly. "I think they need the brain, they shouldn't be able to hurt us." He added seriously before ducking back down as a stray laser hit the wall next to his head.

"That thing he took; that was the brain?" Leo asked from the other side of the hall as he and Mikey tried to take cover behind a display.

"I'm afraid so." Donnie told him before taking a peak around the wall to find that the Gators were having a hell of a time getting themselves out of the nano-flood to shoot at them again which was probably the only break the turtles were likely to get.

"What can he do with it?" Leo demanded sternly and Donnie turned back to look at him before answering.

"Anything!" He said nervously and his brother was about to comment further when he was interrupted.

"There!" Mikey suddenly called and they looked up just in time to see what he was pointing at which turned out to be the exit where they spotted the form of the theft peaking around the corner before bolting for the exit.

"Raph, Donnie take that guy out!" Leo ordered sternly unsheathing his swords as he spoke. "Mikey you're with me." He added before they charged the Gators forcing their enemy's attention on them and giving the other two plenty of room to book it toward the staircase.

Arriving back on the higher level Raph and Donnie were able to avoid slipping on the tile floor with help from the adhesive energy under their feet and quickly located the thief running around a corner up ahead.

Donnie took the lead as his lighter form made him faster than his brother and they skidded around the corner a few seconds after the man. However they quickly discovered the guy was a lot faster than them as they arrived back in the room where they had gotten in only to find the wannabe Gator already halfway up a rope hanging from the ceiling.

And then it got worse, as they started after him again a small swarm of real Gators suddenly appeared from an adjacent hallway forcing Raph into a confrontation. "Go!" He called toward Donnie when he stopped to look back at him. "I got this." He added kicking one of his attacker's into a wall as he parried and head-butted two others at the same time.

Knowing his brother would follow when he could Donnie quickly started up the rope just as the theft made it to the roof and disappeared from sight once again.

…

(Donnie's POV)

I made it to the roof a full second later only to find that my opponent was already two rooftops away and quickly bolted after him.

"Okay this is getting old." I told no one particular several minutes later as I realized the guy was too fast to catch and pointed the tip of my gantlet in his direction to activate a quick attack in the form of a few little darts being ejected in a fan formation to electrify the ground around the thief's feet forcing him to stop.

Though I was finally able to catch him this time it didn't take long for the guy to reverse course and attack me. But I had my staff out and ready to block him before he could connect.

"Who are you?" I demanded as he backed up to try a different angle. "Who do you work for?" Now that I was seeing him fight I could tell right away that he was no Black Gator; however he was no ninja either which eliminated Shedder too. "I don't want to fight you." I added as I blocked another attack.

However he ignored me in favor of dancing around my staff to attack from behind but I dodged again which left him to attempt another escape and bolt for the edge of the roof again.

"No!" I called absentmindedly and tossed a shuriken at his hand forcing him to drop the nano-brain. "I'm sorry." I offered when he gripped his hand in discomfort. "But I can't let you take that." This time I actually received a response but it was in a language that I didn't recognize.

"Should I assume that was an insult?" I asked before running to intercept him as he went for the brain again and managed to drop my staff just as he was about to grab it and quickly pulled back causing the little piece of tech to slide away again.

In less than a second he was in my face again forcing me back as he tried to distract me long enough to get to his prize but I kept shuffling it around the roof like a hockey puck just out of his reach.

Unfortunately he didn't seem to be the type to give up easily and suddenly jumped onto my staff where he skillfully flipped over my back and a second later I was greeted with what felt like a whip across my shoulders.

It hurt like hell but I quickly ignored it in favor of dropping the end of my weapon again to pick up the brain and send it flying behind me to collect safely on a higher ledge of the building and at the same time I flipped around to whack him upside the head with the other end thus sending his helmet careening off to the other side of the roof.

As I dropped back into my stance I quickly noticed a tail swish angrily behind him as he crouched to cover his face. 'So he was a mutant; that explains a lot.' I thought silently taking in that information as the theft stood back to his full height.

'Correction,' I thought again in slight shock. 'She!'

"My bad." I offered with an apologetic grin as she gave me a displeasing glare, however she didn't appear too interested in my apologies as she quickly charged me again and I was forced to take a few steps back as a hand equipped with claws took out the air an inch in front of my face.

The attack held such force behind it that I felt the skin on my cheek split and had to catch myself before I hit the ground as she took advantage of my slight distraction to jump on my shoulder which she used as a springboard to reach the ledge.

Quickly adjusting for my awkward position I used my leg to bring my staff back around and tripped her up again causing her to hit the wall instead as I came up behind to capture her arms in a double-lock hold where she immediately tried to throw the back of her head into my face but I adjusted quickly and forced her to her knees.

"Okay." I said around my deep breathing it'd been a while since I'd had such a workout. "Now let's talk – who are you and what do you want?"

The only answer I received was for her to yell at me in that same foreign language as before but judging from her tone I could guess it had something to do with watching where I put my hands.

"Nice try." I told her seriously; as I had kind of expected such a reaction for I was starting to realize that she worked best when there was a distraction and so I'd made sure not to grab her in anyway that would give her cause to rile me. "But you have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool me." I added simply before turning to check for any sign of my brother's.

'What the heck were they doing? I could really use their help right about now.'

She didn't respond this time instead she just calmly relaxed her stance and turned to look at me over her shoulder. However when I opened my mouth to speak again she quickly reached out to – kiss me.

I immediately sensed a strange taste and a felling like something was being pulled form my throat and promptly pushed her away so I could spit out whatever she had been trying to make me ingest.

"Smart guy huh?" She suddenly asked in perfect English and I looked up as she moved from her crouched position to stand sassily in front of me. "I could use an eye like yours, wanna make some money?" She added with a grin.

"No thanks." I answered as I realized she hadn't been trying to poison me, instead she had just used the kiss as a way to learn my language.

I had to admit that was cool.

"You're not from around here are you?" I added with a raised eye-ridge.

"You are smart." She proclaimed clearly impressed as he placed a hand on her hip. "We could be a good team."

"I already have a team." I informed her sternly and she smiled again.

"Too bad." She said sadly before suddenly charging forward again causing me to hold up my staff as her weight bored down on me again and I quickly realized she was a lot stronger than she looked, but before I could adjust again she back-flipped off my weapon where I received another strike from her tail.

"Ow!" I swore through my teeth as she finally landed on the upper ledge. "Is that really necessary?" I asked sourly rubbing my shoulder which stung like no one's business.

"Sorry Sparky." She commented as I rebounded to the upper level as well and watched as she retrieved the brain again before lifting her left arm to mess with something on her wrist. "It's just business, you understand." She added sugarly and I scoffed disagreeably however before I could answer movement caught my attention in the form of a little red dot on her back.

I really don't know what happened after that, all I knew was instinct took over and I charged in front of the beam. But before I even realized I'd been hit a white-hot laser had pierced my back and exited the other side effectively slowing it down just enough that the theft never even know she was in danger as she turned again to access the threat just in time for a light to suddenly flare from her wrist and everything to disappear.

The End

Okay – that was a weird way to end part 4 even for me.

Blame the characters they had a mind of their own.

lol

Part 5 coming next Tuesday

"The Bonds We Make"