FRIEND OR FOE

CHAPTER 14: RE-MATCH

Michelangelo's high-pitched scream alarmed everyone inside the lair. "G-guys! Guys! Come here!" The group had returned to NYC a few months following their trip to the farmhouse. They all thought the trip away was just what they needed to get their minds at ease. However, they came to a rude awakening of reality.

Leonardo hurtled himself over the couch to arrive to his brother's location first. "What is it, Michelangelo?

His brother pointed to the multiple television displays where a young brown hair sharp dressed reporter was talking. Leonardo lifted an eye ridge at his trembling brother. "Him?"

Michelangelo's eyes became wide and then he scrunched his face. "No! Come on!" He yelled at the reporter. "Get back to it! I saw the Shredder! It was him!"

"You yankin' our tails, Mikey. The Shredder is dead." Raphael grumbled.

"Who is the Shredder again?" Terrapin tilted her head.

Leonardo narrowed his eyes sharply as his gaze returned to the television. The knot in his stomach he had made him realize his intuition was right. Donatello's description of his would-be assassin's fighting style was on point with the Elite Guard. They never faced this new foe before and wouldn't make sense for the Shredder to order the strike without giving the order. Karai was withholding information. Once again, she betrayed his trust. Then as the news report flashed back to the film footage, he faltered. There was Oraku Saki smiling as he was talking with the city's mayor.

"Mr. Oraku Saki has given financial aid to help rebuild New York City. He's using his own resources to save taxpayers to salvage the remains of the Triceraton Invasion. Could Mr. Saki run for mayor next? We will get the exclusive about the speculation this coming Friday. Stay tuned." The reporter paused a few moments for the feed to end and then the station switched to another news anchor behind their desk to give the stats on sports.

"Mayor?" Raphael scoffed. "That will be the day. So, the Shredder is back after all…." His eyes narrowed into slits. "How can we kill that metal head?"

"What is he going to do with the salvage? What about the fallen Triceratons?" Terrapin tilted her head.

"He will probably steal what he can to use it against us." Raph growled.

"Can we just back to the main question..." Michelangelo raised his finger. "How in the shell is the Shredder alive? Karai even told us he was dead."

"Oh, and you just believe what she says?" Raphael crossed his arms. "You are just as gullible as, Leo. Face it. She lied to us."

Donatello noticed Leo tensing up and the leader opened his mouth to argue a rebuttal, but the olive-skinned turtle interjected quickly to try to diffuse the situation. "Whatever, the Shredder is up to. It's not good. There's a lot of alien tech out there. I can't believe the city is just going to let him have it."

Terrapin pivoted on her heel and stormed towards the turtles' lair's entrance. "Where you goin'?" Raph called after her.

"That's my people that they are just going to discard. I'm going to make sure that they get the proper burial rite."

Raphael dashed after her and grabbed her hand. "You can't just go walkin' around up there. You think they just goin' to let you take care of your 'dead.'?

Terrapin felt herself grow flush from his touch, but quickly recoiled. "I can handle myself."

"I hate to say it. But the big lug head is right. What if you get captured? I mean what if Bishop gets you." Michelangelo paused and looked over at Sango who stood to the side, remaining quiet during the ordeal. He could see the albino turtle tense up by the mention of the dark-haired man's name. "Sorry, Sangy."

"With Shredder's forces in the area, we need to lay low and then do surveillance once they clear out." Leonardo suggested.

"No dice." Terrapin threw up her hand and continued her way to the entrance.

"Hold up." Raph grabbed her hand again. "I can't let you go up there alone."

"I could go." Donatello rose up from his seat at his computer desk and grabbed his bo staff. "It would give me a chance to look more at their technology."

"You think you're up for it?" Leo called over to his brother with concern. A part of him wanted to dismiss the idea completely, but he knew if a small group could get in, they could get data more about what Saki was up to. Don would be the obvious choice, especially with his electronics background.

"I'm fine." His brother took to Terrapin's side.

"You sure you want to go up there?" Raphael asked the female turtle him again. "Maybe, I need to come too."

"I'll be fine. I can handle myself." Terrapin motioned ahead with her head. "Come on, Donatello. I want to get up there. Enough talk." Donatello shrugged at his brother as he hurried up to follow her.

"She's so like you, Raph." Mikey teased as he watched the pair leave.

Sango giggled. "You think so, Mikey?"

"Absolutely. Like his clone. Such a hothead. Rushing off." Michelangelo's eyes become wide with excitement. "That's it!"

"What's it, Mikey?" Leonardo looked onto his younger sibling in confusion.

"I was just thinking what a boring name 'Terrapin' is. We should call her, Raph's Clone...no wait…too long. Raphael 2? No…" He scratched his head.

"R2?" Sango suggested.

"R2? Like the robot off Star Wars? Huh?" Michelangelo looked at her in confusion.

"What's Star Wars?" Sango blinked.

Michelangelo's jaw dropped. "What's…What's Star Wars?!"

Donatello led Terrapin to the outskirts of Battery Park that was near the bay. Out in the water, a fallen tribase was floating in the water. The structure was tied down to the dock to keep it from floating out to sea and crews were nearby to salvage a down fighter craft. This left the tribase untouched for the time being. Donatello knelt behind some trashcans that sat in the alley located near a business and motioned his companion to do the same. "Looks like we could check out the tribase. I don't see anyone looking at it. You think that's worth the shot? Or should we hit the park?"

Terrapin nodded her head. "Tribase. I need to look for survivors."

The thought of live Triceratons on the tribase never crossed Donatello's mind and he began to wonder if it was worth the risk going in with just the two of them. Even, if Terrapin was their ally. Would she take his side or theirs? For now, he decided that he would keep that possibility in the back of his mind. After all, he was the one always calculating on their team.

Stopping near the docks that outlook the bay, Donatello quickly glanced around to make sure that no one had spotted them. "Okay, this may involve a quick swim." Without a response, Terrapin jumped into the dark waters to make her way over. "Huh? Just like Raph…" Donatello muttered under his breath as he dove in pursuit.

The dark halls of the tribase were eerie and there was a distant sound of water that was pouring into one of its exposed areas. Luckily, the additional weight didn't cause the base to plummet. Donatello knew their trip had to be brief. The suction of the base's dive could trap both he and Terrapin inside. He handed his flashlight to Terrapin. "Here. I'll let you lead."

Terrapin grunted a "thank you" as she moved quickly within the halls. There were dead Triceratons in several of the rooms. Most of their injuries appear to be from the crash itself. Donatello paused at their latest room's doorway when more bodies were discovered. "I'm sorry…"

"Too many of them. I have to get them all out for a proper burial." Terrapin growled as she assessed two of them. Her eyes watered up. "This is all Blanque's fault!"

"They were attacking our planet to look for the Fugitoid and almost took off with our friends." Donatello felt his voice raise with the sudden painful reminder of how the triceratons were snatching citizens up that had any of the particles on them from the Fugitoid's teleportation. Casey and April ended up in the mix and they were all slated to be sent up for interrogation. Don tried to save those that he could, but found himself captured and subjected to a painful memory scan thanks to Zanramon.

Terrapin flickered her tail in frustration and remained tense. Before she could open her mouth to argue, the sound of metal clanging nearby sparked her attention. She looked over at Donatello. He rose his finger to his lips and motioned with his hand to follow him. As he walked, the purple bandana turtle took out his bo staff as he walked on the balls of his feet down the hall toward the direction of the noise. Terrapin followed him and turned off the flashlight. She switched that with the blaster that she swiped from one of the dead Triceratons. If anyone was here to mutilate her fallen brethren, she was going to put a hole through them.

Their journey took them towards the eastern part of the base and deeper towards the center. Don had no idea where they were going. He paused to allow Terrapin to catch up to him. "Where are we heading?" He kept his voice to a whisper. He didn't think their guest knew of their presence and he was hoping to keep it that way.

Terrapin looked at him as if the question was too easy to really be asking. "Towards one of the engine terminals."

"That's not good…are they trying to get it back online?" Donatello pressed ahead. If Saki was trying to get the engines back online, where would he be able to store such a mammoth craft? What could he possibly salvage from that? Hearing voices ahead, Donatello quickened his steps. It was time to unveil their guests.

Kazari walked around the empty engine room to look at the infrastructure and allowed her fingertips to glide over the one of the terminal screens. "This is so fascinating…they have the capability for quantum entanglement communications." Her blue eyes flashed over to the other side of the room and she dashed over. "There's a hyper drive here. We could use this to travel to other parts of the galaxy…wow…"

"Did you find their main computer drive? I need…I mean…the Shredder needs you to see what you can obtain from it." Baxter's voice came through her comm link.

"Yeah…I know." Kaz rolled her eyes as she searched her satchel for the chip she would use in the port to gain access to the drive's data. "Okay…I found the port…inserting now…transmitting."

The hologram of Baxter's face smiled. "Data receiving now…five percent."

Terrapin cocked her head to Don beside her. They were at the room's door and listening to the conversation. "Uh, what the slag? Who is that?" She growled lowly to him.

"That's her…" Don whispered as his eyes went wide seeing his foe.

"She sounds geeky..." Terrapin muttered.

"She's the one that handed my shell to me."

"I don't like her messing around…even if she's a terrapin like us." Terrapin stood up. "Hey you!"

Donatello panicked and grabbed Terrapin's hand. "Don't!"

Kazari pivoted on her heel to confront the voice she heard. Her sais out within a nanosecond. Her blue eyes saw Terrapin and then moved to Donatello. "You're alive?"

"Yeah, I'm tougher than I look." Donatello moved to stand around Terrapin to protect her and to keep her from doing anything reckless. This new foe of Shredder was deadly and Don knew it would take more than just the two of them to take her on. If she was here, then it could mean more of his forces were skulking around.

"Let me just shoot her." Terrapin snapped.

Kaz spun her sais. "Want to give it a try? Whatever…you are."

"I'm a terrapin like you."

"You're nothing like me," Kazari hissed.

"You're right." Donatello spoke up. "You're not like us. You work for the Shredder. I think we need a rematch."

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