CHAPTER 14

A friend in need

Slowly, cautiously, Michelangelo opened his eyes. His head was pounding uncomfortably, but as the seconds ticked by he could feel his alertness returning to him rather than fading away like it had been doing previously. Thanks to being on the receiving end of a pounding by the turtle-bots, his body ached all over. However there was no stabbing pain or worrying areas of numbness that implied he'd been seriously harmed.

"Ugh… Reset complete." he murmured, trying to raise a hand to rub his eyes.

But his arm wouldn't move. It was held down by his side by a leather strap across his wrist. He tried the other one, just in case, but found the same situation was repeated not only there but also across his ankles, his waist and his chest.

"Aw, snap!" Mikey groaned, blinking in an effort to clear his vision as he took in the situation.

It was like a scene out of the movies, he realised. He was on a gurney in a freaky operating theatre, with weird flashing lights and laser cannons. He even had a contraption attached to his head, with several wires protruding that were then connected to the indicate computer system stacked in the corner.

It all looked a little too much like Kraang-tech for Mikey's liking. Though it didn't seem as polished. Either the Kraang were making a sneaky comeback and had received a budget cut for their evil equipment, or The Shredder and his evil lackeys had been scavenging for parts.

Which one was preferable out of the two options, he wasn't sure.

For several moments, he pondered his next move. If this was a movie, they'd probably come to interrogate him shortly. Naturally he'd refuse to tell them anything, so then they'd aim the super powered laser at some delicate part of his body while simultaneously starting to fry his brain with microwave powers. Then the bad guys would monologue their dastardly plan in intricate detail. At that point, his brothers would inevitably break in and rescue him from his predicament.

For a moment Michelangelo contemplated hanging around to find out the dastardly plan. Then he realised he just wasn't that interested and would rather go home and just watch this kind of stuff on television. As for his brothers rescuing him, if they still weren't taking to one another then it might be some time before they arrived.

Mikey was bored already, laying on the gurney. So he started squirming his hand around, stretching and loosening the strap just enough for him to ease out a tiny blade that, like his brothers and sensei, he kept safely inside his wristband for situations such as this one.

The first restraint was always the most awkward to slice through, but once one arm was free he quickly got to work on releasing the other and then the straps pinning his body down. Pulling the contraption off his head and throwing it to one side, he'd just sat up to begin work on his ankles when the door to the room suddenly swung open.

Another gurney entered first, on which a motionless and uncannily familiar figure lay. It was followed by the one who was pushing it. Shredder's henchman clearly hadn't expected to see Mikey sat up and gawking at him, in the same way that Mikey hadn't anticipated being disturbed right at that moment.

There was a moment of silence as the two stared at one another before they both called out simultaneously.

"Rahzar!"

"Michelangelo!"

As Mikey quickly sliced through the straps pinning his ankles, Rahzar shoved the gurney he was pushing further into the room and leapt past in order to restrain the former captive before he could escape.

There was a crash as the gurney Michelangelo was perched on was sent flying, sprawling both the turtle and the other mutant inelegantly onto the floor. Mikey skidded shell first into a wall, leaving several cracks in the plaster.

Razhar meanwhile accidentally slammed a clawed hand into the large machine built against one wall as he was sent flying. He yelped in pain at the resultant shock this gave him, before the power died in the mangled component and he was able to extract his talons, leaving a large dent and several claw marks.

Still feeling tender and currently without weapons, Mikey reached the gallant decision to take the opportunity to run away. He leapt out of the door just moments ahead of Rahzar, who ripped one of the hinges out from the frame in his haste, leaving the door dangling precariously as he pursued the target down the corridor.

Michelangelo remembered that April had been with him and that they'd both been captured. He also knew that it was his responsibility to find and save her from whatever predicament she might be in. But he soon realised that it was difficult to concentrate on mounting a rescue operation while being pursued by a large double-mutated dog man intent on ripping him apart.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Mikey skidded to a halt before turning to follow the emergency signs onto the fire escape. Outside the building with more space to fight, he might have a better chance to disable Rahzar. Then, he resolved, he'd be able to come back to rescue April.

Leaping down to ground level, Michelangelo quickly looked around to find something he could use as a weapon. It wasn't much, but those seconds located him a crowbar.

"Alright, Rahzar!" he goaded, raising his improvised weapon threateningly and trying to ignore his aching injuries from the battle he'd been in earlier. "Let's do this!"

Rahzar dropped down in front of him and grinned nastily, showing rows of razor sharp teeth. "You think you can beat me? This will be fun."

As the mutant leapt forwards, Mikey responded by leaping into the air and bringing the crowbar down on his enemy's back with a loud crack. Bouncing off Rahzar's shoulder blades, he then rolled into a graceful landing near the entrance the alleyway.

"Bad dog!" he yelled, spinning around and readying himself for another attack.

As he raced back in to the fray, he missed the sudden cry of recognition that came from some distance further down the main street.

With one of his beloved back-flips, Mikey vaulted behind Rahzar and launched into a flying kick from there. His foot connected with the exposed ribcage of the skeletal hound, causing a howl of indignation from the recipient of the blow. Unfortunately, there it became wedged.

With inertia gone, gravity beckoned and left Mikey swinging inelegantly with one foot jammed above him. He swatted at Rahzar with the crowbar, like he was an oversized piñata, but that did not dissuade the foe from reaching with long claws to grab Mikey around the shell and yank him roughly clear.

Mikey had been vaguely hoping that Rahzar's next action would be to drop him. Unfortunately, the mutant had other plans and took the opportunity to slam the turtle into the floor several times in quick succession.

The crowbar was sent spinning from Mikey's hands and skidding towards the entrance of the alleyway, where it was abruptly stopped by a well-placed foot.

"You're having a fight and you didn't invite me? I thought we were friends!"

Casey grinned lopsidedly, resting his hockey stick cockily across his shoulders.

If he hadn't been busy having his shell smashed into the floor, Mikey would have seriously considered rushing over to give his friend a big sloppy kiss. But, right now, it was going to have to wait.

"Next dance is all yours, dude." Mikey replied, grimacing as Rahzar attempted to crush him.

"Looks like it's time for an odd-man rush!" declared Casey, dropping the wheels underneath his shoes and kicking off to skate into the fray. "GOONGALA!"

With an angry roar Rahzar twisted to face the incoming attack, giving Mikey the opportunity he needed to roll a short distance to safety. There he caught his breath for several moment and shook his head to try and clear it before racing back in to assist Casey.

Fresh into the fight, Casey was doing well and got several good attacks in against the skeletal dog. However it only served to infuriate Rahzar, who then roughly ripped the hockey stick from the boy's hands and snapped it into two.

"Aww, not another one." Casey grumbled.

"No problemo, dude. I got this!" Mikey yelled, diving back for a spinning kick with a backhand blow. However it didn't exactly go to plan, as Rahzar promptly smacked him into a pile of trash with the broken end of the hockey stick.

Casey snorted. "Yeah, I see that."

The cumulative effect of the injuries Mikey had sustained were starting to hamper his actions. He found his vision swimming as he attempted to stagger back to his feet, then dropped dizzily to his knees. He blinked in surprise as he stared back towards the fight. "Whoa! They cloned you both too?"

Rahzar laughed cruelly. "Seeing double?" he mocked, taking a vicious swipe towards Casey.

Casey meanwhile ducked under the blow before reaching back to pull one of the canisters from where they rattled against his back.

"Better than seeing red!" he retorted, hitting Rahzar straight between the eyes with the paint.

The mutant roared in pain and frustration, staggering blindly and hampered by his claw-like hands as he tried to clear his vision.

"Time to bail, dude." Casey declared, flicking back the skates and rushing over to help Mikey back to his feet.

"We can't!" Mikey pointed back at the building. "April's still in there!"

Casey hesitated, glancing between Mikey, Rahzar and the building before shaking his head. "No way. You're about to drop! We get the others, then we come back and get April."

Michelangelo didn't want to admit it, but Casey had a point. Reluctantly, he nodded. Then, with his friend's help, started heading back towards the lair as quickly as he could manage. Which, once they managed to reach a safe distance away from Rahzar, wasn't that quick at all.

"They really did a number on you, huh." Casey commented, taking more of Mikey's weight as they trudged along.

"They've been taking it in turns all night." Mikey complained, sourly. With that, he spent the next few minutes regaling his friend with the story of evening.

"That's harsh, man." Casey sympathised, as they headed down into the sewers. "You think your bros will work together for an April rescue?"

Mikey looked uncertain but replied, "I hope so."

"They'd better." Casey decided. "Or they'll be answering to Casey Jones!"

The two fell into silence as they walked along, allowing them to hear the sounds of conversation as they approached the lair.

"Well?" came Raph's voice.

Leo then asked. "Do you see anything?"

Mikey brightened. "They're talking to each other!" he whispered excitedly to Casey, hurrying forwards to scramble through the turnpikes and into the lair.

Standing in the middle of the living area, Leonardo and Raphael had their shells to him. They appeared to be watching Donatello, who was stood face to face with April and holding her hands. April had her eyes closed and her head nodded forward with a look of concentration. Donnie had been doing the same, but suddenly raised his head to look straight over at Mikey.

"I see him!" he proclaimed.

Leo and Raph spun round.

"Amazing, Donnie." Raph observed, dryly. "We'd never have found him without you."

"Wassup, dawgs?" Mikey greeted, weakly raising a hand. "April, glad you're ok."

April straightened with a smile. "You too."

"Aw, she was here all along." Casey grumbled. "She could should totally have been another damsel for me to rescue!"

"Hey! Who are you calling a damsel?" protested Mikey. "I was winning aga-"

He cut off with a pained whine and dropped to his knees as Casey roughly prodded a bruise on his hip.

"Mikey!" gasped Leo, as all three of the other turtles rushed over to help their injured brother.

"Are you ok?" Raph demanded.

"You need to sit and rest." directed Donnie.

Mikey let his brothers help him over to take a seat, while April hurried off to fetch the first aid kit and an ice-pack. "Yeah, bros." he beamed. "I'm all good! You're being a family again!"

The expressions of the other three all softened affectionately.

"We're always a family, Mikey."

April returned and started working with Donnie and Leo to tend to Mikey's injuries, while the youngest turtle regaled them with his story of what had transpired that night. It wasn't even that embellished, as it didn't seem to need enhancement.

Letting the others work, Raph headed over to Casey. Wordlessly, he touched a fist to the left side of his friend's chest in a heartfelt tap.

Casey smiled. "Yeah, man. I know."