Note: Well this is it! The final chapter. Thanks to all my readers that have stayed with me since chapter one! I've made a couple new friends through this fic and that's awesome!
Dis: Don't own TMNT.
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Alice sat behind Raphael, clinging to him as his shell cycle maneuvered around the traffic in downtown Manhattan. Behind them, in a white van driven by Casey, were Michelangelo and Donatello. Don was pretty specific about where to park and soon both Raph and Casey were pulling into an alleyway adjacent to Foot HQ. There looked to be no guards, and that made Alice a little uneasy. Were they expecting her?
"Give me a moment," said Donatello, now holding a tablet.
They all lounged. Mikey sat atop a wooden crate, absentmindedly twirling his nunchaku. Casey was taking inventory of his bats and clubs. Raphael was leaning against the wall of the alley, fists enclosed around the handles of his sai and Alice was just wringing her hands, pacing restlessly.
"We'll find her," said Raphael, amber eyes following her movements.
"I know we will. I have to believe we will," whispered Alice, stilling then looking up at him. "Distract me for a little. What did you want to show me later?"
Raphael shrugged a massive green shoulder, looking almost… bashful?
"Our old place," said Raphael. "Before Shred-Head and his goons trashed it. It's occupied now by a friend of ours but I wanted tah… ya know. Show ya."
Alice smiled, stepping up close and rising to her toes to press her lips to his cheek. GOD he was perfect. So perfect she was rethinking her old ideas of this just being a fling. One of his thick fingers curled around a piece of her hair that came undone from her messy bun and she looked up to see a more than serious look on his face. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but Donatello cut him off.
"Got it! There's a small opening, tenth floor, used for ventilation. It looks to have the least amount of security. Which is why we are NOT going there, because from what I can see: a large amount of manpower is stationed there. What I do see is one area no one is at that's, surprisingly the basement level."
"Trap?" asked Raphael.
"Most assuredly. There are camera feeds coming from there so if someone were to enter from the basement something would be triggered."
"Well den where da hell are we goin?" growled Raphael, getting impatient.
"The fifteenth floor. There are some weapons stationed at this ventilation system but I can jam them for, oh… thirty seconds? More than enough time for us to make it to the elevator shaft and work our way up or down."
"Why da hell not just say fifteenth floor, why go through all that crap tah-" Raphael took a quick, calming breath. "Ok. We get in the elevator, then what?"
"From what I can see," said Donatello, tapping the tablet. "A lot of the life signs are on the tenth floor. There are two, however, near the rooftop. If we go there, I bet that's where Karai and Danica are."
"Ok. Dumb question. How are we going to get to the fifteenth floor?" asked Alice, unsure about how she felt when seeing the mischievous looks of the turtles and the slightly ashen one of Casey. "Guys?"
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"This sucks," complained Alice as the wind whipped at her hair and face. Her hands and thighs were beyond sore as she shimmied up the rope ahead of Raphael. He'd made some snide comment about being able to have a great view the entire climb and she'd been oh so tempted to kick him in the face a couple times but she was too focused on saving her sister and not falling down fifteen stories to her death. Next time she'd punish him for it. They'd climbed up the neighboring building's roof and had launched a rope to the fifteenth floor. It was about a forty-five degree angle climb between the two buildings and after this Alice promised she'd be working on her upper body strength.
Donatello was ahead of her, needing to arrive to the large vents first to disable the systems. A complaining Casey and jesting Mikey were behind Raphael, who told them to be quiet about a thousand times because anyone at any moment could look out to see them thanks to their loud voices. It really was the truth. Though the darkness hid them to some extent, all it would take is someone to look out a south side window and look down (or up) to see them. Finally, after what seemed like hours instead of minutes, they arrived to their destination and after a few moments Donatello gave them the clear to go. They had thirty seconds so Alice rushed forward, sliding along the vent and when coming upon the side ladder maintenance workers used to repair elevators she latched on and climbed up a ways so that others would have a chance to get on as well. First Raph then Casey and finally Mikey made it just as the lasers and traps of the duct clicked back on.
"Ok," whispered Donnie. "Up we go."
"Sure we can't just USE the elevator?" complained Alice, arms shaking.
"And alert the Foot that we're making our way up?" asked Don. "Not very likely."
"Ok, ok, point taken, let's go Brainiac."
Raphael chuckled behind her and she looked down at him, stuck her tongue out, and then started climbing toward the top. Finally, right when she was willing to just call an elevator and deal with the consequences, Donatello was pulling a little gadget from his utility belt, like he was Batman or something. He lodged it between the two elevator doors and the little piece of machinery actually pulled the doors apart a little. He latched on to one door then looked down at Alice.
"Little help?"
"I got it," said Raphael, using his ninja skill to climb past her and get to the other side of the doors. Together, he and Donatello pulled and when the doors opened enough, Alice was tempted to peek out but she waited for Don's signal.
"Ok, I'm looping the security feed now. They've got some smart people working for them so it won't take them long to figure it out so let's go."
Alice went first, shimmying on her stomach then pressing her back against the wall. The brothers and Casey followed suit and Donatello once again took the lead to guide them to where they needed to go. Left, right, and another right, another left, and Alice was starting to get lost. They stopped at a black door with the Foot crest on it. Donatello stepped back and Raphael came forward. Silently they spoke, signals indicating when the leader position would be taken and Alice thought it was pretty damn cool to see them in action.
Raphael lifted up his hand and counted off with her. One. Two. THREE. He kicked in the door and they all poured into the room. Karai and another stood in the center of the room. It wasn't her sister, but someone else. Karai lifted her hand which contained a small remote, pressed a button, and blue light traveled over them until they were transported to a room filled with Foot Ninja.
The tenth floor most likely.
Fighting the urge to vomit from the transport-who knew such things existed?- Alice drew her sword and pointed it at Karai while massive amounts of Foot surrounded them. Behind her, someone puked, probably not liking the transportation either.
"Where's my sister?"
"Safe," assured Karai. "On her way back home with one of my men. No harm will fall upon her."
"You WILL die for what you did to her."
"I merely used her to get your attention." Karai lifted a hand and bodies all around her tensed. "One and only chance to come with me. I will let your turtle friends go."
"Like hell," growled Raphael.
"What he said," said Alice.
Karai made a small tsking sound before lowering her hand and all hell broke loose. Bodies started flying, blood pouring. Alice knew they were outnumbered. Massively outnumbered, and so using her enhanced powers she started striking men down with only one punch. They flew away from her like she was swatting away flies instead of bodies and upon seeing Karai, a large amount of rage hit her and a fireball launched itself at Karai. The woman ducked, avoiding the blast, others hadn't been so lucky and the scent of burned flesh embedded itself into Alice's nose.
Karai kept dodging and Alice kept attacking. Fireballs flew but hit only Foot and not Karai. Alice was unaware that Karai was leading her right where she wanted here until a massive amount of energy hit her, sending her flying into a wall. Weakened, she tried to stand but another blast had her flat on her ass.
"Hurry. We do not have much time," said Karai as another member of the Foot lifted Alice over their shoulder. Alice felt her strength starting to return and she lifted her head up to see her friends battling the others.
"RAPH!" she screamed and as he looked up, looking terrified she was suddenly on a roof that looked like devil worshipers had taken it over. Symbol upon symbol decorated the surface and Alice was dropped in the middle of it. Words were being spoken in the corner that she had no idea the meaning of and Alice felt a tingling in her skin. "What are you doing?"
"What I've been planning all this time," said Karai. "I'm bringing my father back."
"You can't play God like this! He's dead!" shouted Alice as she stood on shaky legs. The symbols on her skin were starting to burn, glowing a bright blue and Alice fell to her knees once again. It was as if energy was being pulled from her body and the symbols that had been drawn to the roofs surface were starting to glow the same color.
"I am merely pulling him from another time," said Karai. "THAT was your destiny. Opening the portal to another time so that I could bring him back."
"Time travel? Are you kidding me?" snarled Alice as she tried to stand again. So weak. She felt sleepy, like she could take a little nap. She fought against that feeling. "This is how I'm to die? To bring daddy back?"
"If you are alive after he crosses over, perhaps I'll send you through the portal to be rid of you," said Karai. There was a metallic sound, like the sound of it hitting rock, and Alice looked up to see the widened eyes of Karai. "YOU!"
Karai immediately drew her sword and she was involved in a battle. Alice's whole body burned and she could see a spark of light forming in front of her getting larger and larger. The portal. It was strengthening. She had to do something! She couldn't let Shredder come to this time. To this place. She had to protect her friends. She looked around the roof. She saw Karai battling… Was that LEO? Yes, yes it was, he had dual katana and donned a blue bandana. He was slicing at Karai so with her busy there was no one to protect her little witchy witch. Finding him, Alice focused her energy. It was being pulled from her and it took all her inner strength to form the fireball in front of her and with a scream of rage she launched it at him. He'd been distracted by the spell and Karai. He'd been a fool to ignore her. He flew back from her power and she launched another one, sending him back, back, and then over the ledge of the roof, his screams drowned out by the powerful portal in front of her. A now VERY bright and brilliant portal.
Balls.
"NO!" shouted Karai. "You will not stop me!"
Leonardo did an aerial kick that had Karai falling back against the entrance of the rooftop and she fell still. Unconscious. Leo sheathed his weapons and came to her. Her energy was still leaving her. He had to lift her and his saddened eyes followed the wisps of glowing lights that would rise from her markings and enter the portal to strengthen it.
"Alice?"
"Leo," she said softly. "I'm so tired."
"Donnie can stop this," he said, setting her down. "I'm going to go help my brothers and bring them back. Ok?"
"No. I… I have to go in. Karai said it was ME that was strengthening the portal. It… it's my destiny."
He knelt down before her, hand on her glowing wrist. "Destinies are what you make of them, not what some prophet said years ago. Hold on. Please?"
A loud crash had both of them looking to the roof's entrance and there, panting and looking like death himself, was Raphael.
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Something snapped inside of Raphael when seeing Alice disappear. A feral roar had escaped him, vision going red, and suddenly no one around him was safe. All throughout their trainings and all throughout battling their foes, they've tried to keep the fatalities to a minimum. Not this time. No one was safe from the tips of his sai. He knew the weak points, and instead of toying around with his prey like he normally did in jest with his brothers: he went on a murdering rampage. Soldier upon soldier of Karai's fell at his feet as he wielded his weapons with expert precision. Stomachs and throats were torn open, precious arteries were ripped apart, and one was to be considered lucky if all he did was break a bone or two.
He heard the battle cries of his brothers and Casey and they seemed to be taking the extra precautions as well. Instead of maiming and killing they were wounding their opponents to keep them out of the battle. They were nowhere near inflicting the amount of pain Raphael was.
Raphael didn't care. He needed to get to Alice, so as blood of one victim dripped from his sai his eyes immediately sought out another until the Foot started to retreat due to his ferocious attacks and the lack of mercy they were feeling that night.
"Raph?" asked Mikey timidly behind him and Raphael turned only his head, hands and weapons still dripping blood, panting while standing in a sea of bodies: most of which were HIS kills.
"Let's go," he said, voice strong and stern as he stepped around bodies and headed to the elevator, his allies almost reluctantly following. He knew where to go, could feel the sudden burst of power. It reminded him of when he first sensed her. She was using her powers, which meant she was still alive. Impatiently he waited to get to the top floor and was surprised to feel the pull go even higher.
The roof.
"Where's the roof access, Don?" he asked.
"This way," said Don, who had his little gadget out. "Door at the end of the hall leads-RAPH!"
Raphael had burst forward, sprinting to the door, his brothers and Casey barely able to keep up. He practically ripped the door off its hinges when coming upon it and raced up the stairs, thighs and lungs burning from the exertion of fighting and now running. He pushed the outside door open and the sight that greeted him was bittersweet.
His brother was at Alice's side, defending her again Karai from what he could tell by the unconscious form near him. Alice looked weak and he could see light being pulled from her body into the portal and he was soon there, gathering her up in his arms, forgetting about the blood on his hands and smearing it on her face when pulling strands of her hair back to get a better look at her. He looked up at Leo, silently welcoming him home and thanking him. He heard his brother's shout Leo's name but he wasn't paying much attention to the reunion.
"Raph," she said, sounding so far away. "So tired."
"Don! Tell me ya can stop this."
"I… I…" Donatello was shaking his head.
"You can't," came a soft reply and they all whirled around to see Karai standing. "Not until HE comes."
"She wants to bring Shredder back," said Alice. "It's a time travel portal that won't close until I'm dead or have gone through. At least I think going through would stop it."
"Indeed you are right. It was always in our plans to use this portal at this time. Should one of us have failed to live to this point the other would bring them back. Here." She frowned. "Perhaps in my haste I have miscalculated where and when the portal opened. Now you have a choice. Send her through and save her, or watch her die." Karai smirked, bringing down a smoke pellet, and she was soon gone.
"FUCKING BITCH!" shouted Raphael, holding Alice closed. "Please… I can't… I can't…"
"Raphael. Send me through."
"No," he growled, shaking from anger as well as despair.
"Raph," said Leo from behind him, hand going to Raphael's tense shoulders. "You heard Karai. We can't stop it. She's dying, we have to-"
"Don't tell me what I have to do," snarled Raphael. "YOU weren't here! You don't know!"
"Raphael," came the soft voice of Alice and her hand went to his cheek. Her sorrowful grey eyes connected with his lost amber and he broke, large tears coming forth. "I have to go."
"I just got ya back."
"I'll find a way back," she said.
"I'll come with ya."
"You need to stay with your brothers."
"No," he said, gathering her up, staring down the portal. "I'm goin' with ya."
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Alice sighed. She had feared it'd come to this. She was going to hate herself for doing this, but she couldn't ask it of him. There was no idea where the portal actually led, who was on the other side, and if it would kill them. She managed to get him to let her stand and it was all she needed. Bracing her hands on his shoulders she used a small amount of her power to shove him back into the arms of his brothers.
"Hold him back!" she shouted and Leo and Don held one arm while Casey and Mikey struggled with another.
"NO! Damn it Alice!" Inch by inch Raphael was closing in on her and she brought her fingertips to her lips and blew him a kiss. "NO!"
"I love you," she said, before turning to the portal. Perhaps she shouldn't have said those words. She heard him fighting even more now to get free. It was the truth though, and she felt he had to know her feelings before she left him. She looked back, once more, and her heart broke at the torn look on his face before she rushed forward into the portal.
Into the unknown.
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"It's been three days," said Leonardo, looking at the closed off room that belonged to Raphael.
"Give him time, my son," came the raspy voice of Splinter. "His heart is bleeding from the loss of his mate. He needs time to grieve her loss before he can start to heal."
"He really did love her," said Leo, almost shocked.
"Yes." Splinter put his hand on Leonardo's shoulder. "More than anything now, he needs your support. Not only as a leader, but as a brother."
Leonardo nodded, and then squared his shoulders before entering his brother's room. To say it smelled like a brewery would be an understatement. Bottles and cans littered the darkened room and Leonardo focused his attention on the figure on the bed who had what looked to be a female's shirt in his hand. Leonardo sat on the edge of the bed and Raphael jerked awake.
"Alice?"
"It's me."
Raphael's eyes darkened before closing. "Go away."
Leonardo heard the catch in the voice and he brought his hand up and rested it on Raphael's shoulder. It trembled slightly and Leonardo was soon feeling a pain in his heart for his brother.
"Please jus go away…" whispered Raphael. "Leo? Please make all of it go away…"
Leonardo gathered his brother up in his arms and held him, one lone tear falling down his green cheek as his brother let out a long, rage-filled scream before sobbing, Alice's name the last thing Raphael saying before falling back asleep. Leonardo eased him back,sliding the vacant shirt back into his hand.
"I'm so sorry, Raphael."
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Alice opened her eyes. Her back hurt, her head hurt, hell, everything hurt. What greeted her was a blackened sky where she could faintly see dots of stars. Tentatively she moved her fingers and against the pads of them she felt concrete and grit. Next she moved her head to see that she was on a building's rooftop. The movement had her whole world spinning off its axis but she sat up anyway. Groaning she brought her left hand up to hold her head, wincing as her strained muscles pulled. She felt the warm flow of blood on her forehead and rubbed it away while standing. She stumbled, gripping the ledge of the roof, then opened her eyes to the expanse of the-what the hell?
What had been a beautiful city looked darker. Grittier. There weren't many bright lights save for one building in the far distance and Alice couldn't see a single living soul walking on the street. There were many large screens, one of which saying that a curfew was in effect until six in the morning. And was that the FOOT insignia at the bottom? The date was on there as well.
November 15th, 2032.
"Oh balls!"
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END
Read Book #2: Down the Rabbit Hole