A/N I should probably mention that I've never been to the Statue of Liberty and had a hard time writing this from pictures. If you spot something that just doesn't work, please let me know and tell me how it actually is so I can change it. Please review:)

"Raph, duck!"

Raphael threw himself to the ground immediately barely dodging the throwing stars aimed for his head. He retaliated without hesitation and watched another new and improved Foot soldier fall to the ground. They honestly weren't that much tougher, still half-trained wanna-be ninjas in his opinion. With guns and what-have-you, but resorting to such uncivilized weapons were just further proof to Raphael that true warriors they were not.

His team, consisting of Johnny, who'd given him the warning, Mikey and whatever good-guy soldiers they'd been able to round up for the final attack, were basically working as a distraction. Normally, this was Michelangelo's specialty but an all-out attack on every soldier at the foot of the statue was really giving him a work-out and he couldn't complain.

Except he wanted to. His wounds were aggravating and he'd even gained a few more scratches. Nothing of import, but he was getting grumpy and he kind of wanted a shot at the main villain before he passed out from blood loss or exhaustion – whichever came first.

Mikey was doing brilliantly, though. His boundless source of energy aided him excellently and allowed him to constantly carry on a steady stream of insults. Raph would never admit it, but hearing Mikey blabber on in battle had always been a source of reassurance for Raph. They'd been in some tough spots, but if Mikey was still joking around, he knew there wasn't anything to worry about.

No, the worrying happened if the youngest stopped talking.

Which he had.

Raph raised his leg in front of him and shoved the nearest enemy off him, making sure his back was clear as he turned rapidly in place, his eyes narrowing in search of the resident goofball. Basically, the small island that the statue was firmly placed upon was crowded with a mix of soldiers, black and green. In the commotion, he found it increasingly hard to focus on a single person, as if he was watching a group of zebras on the run, white and black mixing together as if it was one big entity. Singling out his brother proved much more difficult than he would have liked.

Pumping with adrenalin, Raph was sure his heart couldn't beat much faster. Like shell Mikey was going to disappear on him. Realizing a big ol' lady was in the way, he starting fighting his way through the blazing guns.

"Mikey!" Raph called, jumping on a soldier's shoulders, gripping them tight and flipping backwards down in front of him. The Foot soldier yelped as he was being lifted off the ground by the turtle's momentum and thrown several feet before finally hitting the water.

Where was the knucklehead? Raph managed to call for him in between bodies. He barely registered them as living anymore, simply knocking out as many as he could and throwing the rest in the water. He'd discovered they weren't too eager to get out of it and once again join the battle, which Raphael took personal pride in.

Suddenly he grinned when he heard what he'd been waiting for.

"Raph!"

It was very faint and Raph had barely registered it. Turning to find the source of the voice, he spotted Mikey. Way up high and too far away. On a toe.

"What the shell are you doing up there?!" he yelled furiously, hurriedly shortening the distance to join Mikey on the giant foot. Climbing the base of the statue didn't prove too difficult, but it did take some time to get through the several levels to reach his brother.

"It's a foot, Raphie!" Mikey enthused when he finally reached him, jumping on the spot. "Gettit? Huh? We're fighting the Foot.. on a foot!"

Rolling his eyes and wondering about his brother's sanity, Raph shoved his brother off the toe and watched him trip down the sandal to finally land on his shell. He reached down and quickly dragged Mikey behind it, having it provide an excellent cover. A few of their own had already taken the advantage and were kneeling behind the feet and folds of dress, making their enemies an easy target. It seemed they'd gained the upper hand.

"Oh my, no, Raphie! You bad, naughty turtle!" Mikey suddenly said, looking pointedly at the dress. "I know what you're thinking! You mustn't look up a woman's dress! I know you want to, but what would Master Splinter say?" he exclaimed dramatically

"It's a freaking statue!" Raph spat, smacking him on the head, wonder why Mikey found himself so utterly hilarious. Ignoring his brother's snickering he asked, "Where the shell is Donnie?"

"Doesn't mean she doesn't have-"

A large boom interrupted whatever he was saying that Raph was sure he didn't want to hear and the both looked up. For the first time in a long time, Mikey cursed, though Raph barely registered it for the blood rushing to his head and his fingers going numb.

"No, it's okay!" Mikey suddenly burst, latching a hand onto Raph's shoulder and squeezed. "Look?"

And Raph could breathe again as he saw a green spot falling through the skies and somehow swinging around and landing on the large raised arm. He assumed they were too far away to see the grabbling hook their brother must have used and nudged Mikey relieved.

"Wanna go join Fearless?" he grinned.

"No way he's having all the fun!" the enthusiastic turtle replied, looking upwards. "Can they really fit people in that head?"

"Not many," Raph took a look at the route they'd have to take. "It'll probably be hard to fight up there. Got your climbing gear?"

"A ninja is always prepared!"

"Sure, boy scout, let's get goin'."

"Wait, wait, wait! Wanna race?"

TMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTMNT

Feeling the heat on his back, Leo felt all color drain from his face. The senseless feeling of falling was making his mind panic, the fear of heights somehow still influence him after all those years. He still hated heights as much as he did as a child, but the fear didn't control him anymore and he could do what he needed to do. It was no longer an inhibitor.

It still scared the shell out of him, though, which was why it took him a moment to realize what had happened.

Regret coursed through him and between the pain of losing another teammate - something he hadn't truly tried before, not like this – and the knot in his stomach from falling, Leo had never felt more determined to do what he had to.

Pulling out the grabbling hook from his belt, he aimed for the large railing surrounding the torch and took a shot. His aim proved to be flawless and as the thin wire took him in a large arc. As he started going upwards again, he felt the fear and worry being replaced by determination and anger. He was sick of manipulating bastards trying to take over the world. He was sick of losing people he had finally started to trust, at least somewhat, and he was sick of watching people he cared about get hurt or die.

Leo had thought that by only including his brothers and father in his circle of people he loved, he would be able to protect them better. He'd be able to protect himself better. But they kept making friends and his circle got bigger and bigger. What Donatello had originally asked of him, to include everyone in New York, everyone in the world – he'd thought it would be too much. He knew if he allowed himself to care, he'd be miserable when he failed to save them every time.

But as they'd gotten to know the people that were to help them and he'd watched his brothers make friends, he'd started to realize that it would be inevitable.

And as he'd watched New York fall under the tyranny of a self-absorbed maniac he knew they'd made the right choice. Of course he cared about every living being, even if they would never care about him. This world would never come close to being a world that accepted his brothers and him, not if they weren't willing to take the first steps.

You had to trust to be trusted.

As he came around again, he had the gun-like handling retract the wire and pull him up enough so he could land neatly on the thumb holding the torch. Crouched there, he considered his options, the hook retreating and ready for use once more.

The best would be to get in unnoticed. There was still daylight but the tiny figures fighting underneath him, made it possible. They were exactly the distraction he needed. With Malvir focusing on what was going on down there, he would never suspect Leo come at him from above. If Malvir did discover what they were up to, he'd either call for back up and they'd be overwhelmed or he'd run and they'd have no way of finding him again, leaving them with no choice but to battle and defeat the entire army.

Leo shuddered at the loss of life that would entail.

Rappelling halfway down the length of the arm, he wondered how he'd get on top of the head, without passing any windows and get spotted. From his vantage point, he could see two men sitting by desk, each with several screens in front of them. He guessed they were keeping an eye on things and giving orders.

He noticed a guard by a window and assumed there'd be at least a few more, but Malvir was nowhere to be seen.

He had to be there. He had to.

Not sure if he should break his cover, just in case Malvir wasn't there, he hesitated. He needed the element of surprise badly and there really wasn't any point to going in if his target was gone.

"I can't get a visual of Malvir," he stated to the thin air, clinging to the statue and keeping an eye out for any aircrafts that might reveal his position.

"He has to be there," Spencer gruff voice repeated Leo's own thoughts.

"I'm going in then. Worst case, we take out some of their communications."

"Careful! Could be a trap. If it is, you get out of there, Leonardo, you hear?"

Oddly touched by the order – for it was an order – Leo found himself thinking that even if it did go wrong, he didn't regret anything.

"Copy that."

Aiming for the spikes on the crown, Leo fired the hook and got a good grip. Jumping away, he swung around to the back of the head and allowed himself to be wired up. Reaching the top, he grabbed hold of a spike and pulled himself up.

Standing tall, he took a moment to look at the city they were risking their lives for, the tails of his mask swirling in the wind. The battle was still going strong, he could easily tell even from a distance. The city was burning, black smoke rising from several streets and he knew that there was still plenty of fighting soldiers on both sides. Aircrafts were still patrolling the perimeter, but luckily not participating in the attacks themselves. The odd movie inspired weaponry and animals he had acquired had luckily somewhat backfired. On his way there, he'd noticed the army had been quick with tranquilizers and even if the robots were trickier, they were still big, slow and heavy. Their army had found ways to deal with them. What it really came down to was soldier vs soldier. He had a feeling the reason for that was that Malvir wasn't aiming to destroy New York itself, but only to submit every human to his rule.

As if that wasn't bad enough.

Looking around the smooth surface, Leo's hope for a nice little trap door was squashed. He'd have to go through a window in the side. He let out an involuntary sigh. He should have realized it wasn't going to be easy. He'd have to go in, guns blazing immediately and count on his training to allow him to react fast enough for whatever was waiting inside.