A/N: Here we are with the next chapter, with the final battle with Walker! I'm trying to wrap this up as best as I can!

BIG BIG thanks to everyone who has read this and reviewed! You give me strength! And special thanks goes to SMDKFan again for helping!

With that note, Enjoy!

Chapter 25: The End of the Line

"KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

Walker had merely seconds to realize what was going on before the giant alligator creature began to run rampant upon the courtyards, roaring at the top of its lungs in utter rage and swiping his mighty claws and jaws at anything and everything within its path. He could do nothing but watch in horror as the creature ploughed through his men and Norinaga's like they were no more than insects, driving them out of the front gates with them running and screaming for their lives as it headed straight towards him…

…wait a minute…headed straight towards him?!

"Oh bugger," he gulped, and after throwing April to the ground, Walker ran back into the castle, taking the scepter with him. Forget the girl and the boy; he had the scepter, so he was going to save his own skin!

Kenshin instantly rushed to April's side, helping her gently to her feet as he stared after Walker's retreating form. He scoffed as he scrambled back inside like a little frightened cat. What a spineless coward he was for a man with big words.

During all of the chaos that Leather Head was wreaking upon the castle guards and Walker's frightened goons, the turtles, Casey, Splinter and Robyn hurried over to where Kenshin was supporting April, all of them filled with relief that she was still able to stand at least. Robyn nodded her thanks to Kenshin as she drew April close to her, wrapping her arms around her precious niece in a strong but careful embrace.

"April sweetheart, are you okay?! Say something!" she probed in a worried rush, looking down at the weary girl in her arms as the family gathered around.

April looked up at her aunt and nodded weakly, offering them all a small smile. "Y-yeah…no big deal…I-I've had worse…" she stuttered.

The turtle brothers shared a concerned look, clearly not buying it. Leonardo came forwards, putting his hands steadily on her shoulders. "Easy does it, April," he soothed, "we're getting you all out of here now." April could only nod limply as she laid her head on Leo's shoulder, closing her eyes.

Leo looked up to Robyn, Mitsu, Casey and Kenshin, "You've all done great, but we need to go and find Walker, and then get that scepter back. You guys all head back to the village with the others and find the police. Norinaga's been hiding his dirty work from the law long enough, so tell them everything that's happened. And make sure April's okay. Got it?"

The humans all nodded firmly. But Yoshi raised his hand up in question as he asked innocently, "but what about the alligator demon?"

Leo and his brothers turned and winced, hearing another loud crash as Leather Head continued his blind rampage. He passed April over to Casey, who held her limp form carefully in his arms as Leo held up a green finger, "Ummmm…hold that thought!" he said, and quickly turned to form a huddle with his brothers as they whispered amongst themselves. With combined nods, they turned back to them, their hands folded behind their backs with sheepish grins. "Sensei will handle him!" they all announced at once.

Master Splinter shot his eldest son a wide eyed look. "I beg your pardon, Leonardo?" he asked slowly.

"Whoops sorry Sensei crook on the loose gotta go!" Leo quickly said, ushering his brothers towards the castle and running after Walker before his father could add anything else.

Splinter watched them run for a moment, and then shook his head and sighed. "…kids," he grumbled, but stood still no longer as he rushed towards Leather Head, whilst Mitsu led her troop and their comrades out, with Casey carrying April in his arms, holding her close to his chest as he looked down at her helpless form.

He had never seen her so hurt. And it angered him to the very core.

This was exactly what he had wanted to prevent…and yet he had let it happen because he was too busy running around like an idiot…

Okina was right…he had forgotten…

He tightened his hold on April. He would never allow this to happen to her ever again. Never again.

His angered eyes looked back at the castle. "Kick Walker's ass for us, you guys," he said under his breath, and with that, he took off after the others.

Walker had always thought of himself as a very composed quick-thinking gentleman, but now as he raced up the staircase and through the halls of Norinaga's castle, scepter in hand and his heart racing in rare fear, that composition had gone right out the window. He had never seen anything like this before. Those turtle demons were far more intelligent and dangerous than he had thought. And now that they had defeated Norinaga and his men, and he had dropped his last trump card which was to hold the girl captive until they submitted, there was only one thing left to do.

Run and pray that they didn't kill him.

But first, he had to make a stop at Norinaga's private study. He was surprised to find papers laying all over the place, but he didn't stop to gawk as he quickly shuffled through the papers, looking for something that he knew would come in handy later, should their real employer find out about their combined failures. He grinned as he found exactly what he was looking for.

This would save his skin. Norinaga's…not so much.

"There he is!"

His head shot up to find the red turtle, Raphael, skidding to a stop in front of the room with his Sais in hand, glaring at him as he spun them in his hands. His three brothers weren't far behind, and he quickly stood up and began to back away slowly, putting his hands up.

Donatello gasped when he saw the document in his hand. "Hey, that's all the info Norinaga has on April!" he exclaimed.

Leonardo narrowed his eyes, and then his gaze slid over to a brightly burning oil lamp hanging from the ceiling by a chain. That document, along with all the others of them and their information, had to be destroyed.

And there was only one way they could do that…

Without missing a beat, Leo took his Katana and sliced off the oil lamp from its chain, letting it fall to the ground as it smashed, setting the floor alight with a 'whoosh!' of flames. The other turtles let out a startled cry of a alarm. "Leo, dude! What are you doing?!" Raph barked, but Leo took no heed.

Walker gawked in panic as the flames burned the documents and crept up the walls slowly. "You fool! You'll burn us all to the ground!" he hollered angrily.

Leo seemed completely unfazed. " the Kraang documents...and possibly you. Unlike you, we're ninja," he said calmly. But his expression turned to confusion when Walker began to grin, looking in the direction of a window.

"Well, you may be ninja, demons. But I have a little surprise of my own…" he said ominously.

Before they could blink, Walker leapt out of the window with a crash, sending glass flying everywhere as he made his swift escape across the rooftops, taking the scepter with him. Leo growled in agitation. That man just kept slipping away from them!

"Donnie, Mikey," he ordered over the noise of the flames slowly engulfing the room, "you go back out and cut him off at the other side, Raph, you're coming with me! Let's move!"

The turtles didn't linger any longer as Donnie and Mikey raced back out of the burning door, and Leo and Raph followed after him, leaping over the flames and out of the window in pursuit of the blonde haired man, leaving the study room to burn.

"What, so his secret is that he can break through glass?" Raph barked sarcastically as he ran right behind Leo, "Not really much of a skill then is it?"

"Don't let your guard down just yet, Raph," Leo cautioned as they raced ahead over the slanting rooftops; their balance as ninjas was much better than most, so they could cross the slanting surface with ease, "Remember what happened to April. Walker must have some knowledge of martial arts himself, so don't get too cocky."

Outside on the ground, Mikey and Donnie quickly barged through the doors as they raced after where Walker was heading. "This way, Mikey! We'll cut him off!" Donnie called, and his younger brother followed his lead as they ran.

"This is so good for your calves!" Michelangelo laughed as they ran across the ground and turning sharp corners, looking up as they trailed after Walker and their older brothers. Mikey watched Walker with mild interest; he was balancing pretty well for a normal human. "Yo D, what do you think Walker's secret weapon is?" Mikey asked as they ran side by side.

"No clue!" Donnie huffed as they turned a sharp corner and began to climb up a staircase that led to the rooftops, "Obviously if he's the cause of what happened to April, then either he's pretty strong, or he's some kind of mutant! And I'm reeeeally hoping that's not the case!"

The chase continued as they reached the edge of the castle, where the very edge of the castle was standing over the brink of a cliff. The drop from the top of the castle to the ocean was a long and deadly one, with nothing to hang onto or break your fall apart from the raging waters below.

Walker skidded to a stop as he looked over the edge, grimacing at the height. One slip and it was all over for him.

The turtles surrounded him as he spun around, backing up ever so slowly as they bared their weapons to him. "End of the line, Walker!" Leo snarled.

Raph spun his Sais, pointing them threateningly at the human. "Hand over that scepter, and we won't hurt you…much," he spat, "I'm not gonna hold back on pummeling you to the ground for what you and your goons did to Okina!"

Walker swallowed thickly as he gazed at the turtles one by one, all of them glaring at him hard enough to send shivers down his spine. "What kind of demons are you?" he breathed.

Donnie smirked. "Wow, you're a pretty slow one, aren't you?" he mocked, "We're not demons…we're mutants!"

Walker's eyes widened. "Mutants?"

Mikey nodded, grinning devilishly as he spun his nunchaku. "Yeah dude! Of the Teenage Ninja Turtle kind, dawg!"

Leo smirked at his younger brothers' antics, and he turned back to Walker, his hard glare returning within the blink of an eye. "This so-called 'war' is over Walker, you've lost. So hand over the scepter, and we'll only hit you a little bit."

Walker growled, stuffing the document of April in his pocket as he held the scepter tighter. "Do you really think I'll go out…without a fight?"

In the blink of and eye, Walker lunged at Raphael, and in in a flurry of movement, he disarmed the red clad turtle of his Sais, landing solid kicks and punches into his face and stomach and sending him toppling backwards, landing in a pile of wooden crates.

"Raph!" Leo cried, snapping his head back to Walker and snarling. "I knew it. You know how to fight too. That's how April got hurt; you beat her until she could barely stand!"

Walker smirked as he dusted his hands. "Of course. Why on earth would I even come here to this country if I had no knowledge on how to defend myself? And you can thank my employer for so graciously teaching me his methods."

Donnie gasped as he helped a slightly dazed Raph to his feet. Oh great! he groaned in his thoughts, He was taught by Shredder! Just like Bradford was before he turned into Dogpound.

Walker got into a fighting stance, still wearing that smirk as he faced off the turtles. "Now, if you want the scepter…come and get it, turtles!"

The turtles got into their own fighting stances, glaring at their new seemingly confident opponent before them.

And Mikey noticed that he seemed almost too confident…

It was then that Mikey had an idea. It was crazy, and it would probably not work if Walkers' reactions were faster than his own, but it was a chance he had to take. They had to get that scepter back, along with that stupid document. Walker could disarm them of their weapons with ease, so the best way to fight was hand to hand combat. And he obviously had a lot of confidence in his skills, perhaps too much, so all they had to do was catch him off guard. So without warning, Mikey sheathed his nunchaku and charged Walker first, earning surprised gasps from his older brothers.

"Mikey, what are you doing?!" Leo barked.

Walker smirked as he and the youngest turtle exchanged hard blows with their fists, with Mikey landing more hits than the so-called 'skilled' Walker.

Soon enough, his older brothers caught onto what Mikey was doing, and they sheathed their weapons as they ran at Walker, with Raph grinning.

Looks like he really did get to hit him this time.

Walker found himself overwhelmed within minutes as the mutant turtles surrounded him, landing hard blows to his face, legs and chest one by one, each hit harder than the last. And he was too slow to react when Mikey charged him head on as he ran at an angle towards the human, and in a perfect slide, he swept his legs underneath Walkers' feet, sending him flipping upwards uncontrollably before Leo spun around and sent two swift kicks into his face, sending him flying into Raph's uppercut, following with a hard head-butt which had him stumbling backwards towards Donnie, who grinned as he readied his fist.

"Shoryuken!" he hollered as he directed a hard punch into Walkers' chin,sending him flying into the corner of the roof, where a pile of broken crates lay as he crashed into them.

Mikey crouched down and picked up the document that had fluttered out of his pocket during his little beat down, and then he stood up and put his thumb on his nose, waggling his fingers and ticking out his tongue. "Nya nya!" he laughed, "You just got Shell-shocked, son! Last turtle standing wins!"

Leo, Donnie and Raph stared at Mikey as grins broke out across their features and they shook their heads. "Nice idea there, Mikey!" Raph praised, walking over as he rubbed his little brothers' head.

Mikey giggled, "Like a Turtle Do!"

The scepter was on the ground where walker had dropped it after his little beat-down, and Leo walked over and picked it up carefully in his hands, handing it over to Donnie as he approached Walker, who was climbing unsteadily to his feet as he wiped the blood off his lip. Leo glowered down at him, "Alright Walker, now you've lost. Are you gonna come quietly, or do I need to get Raph?"

Behind his older brother, Raph pounded his fist into his palm.

Walker growled. Desperate times called for desperate measures. "I'm not finished yet, turtle! Do you really think I would make it that easy, you nasty little reptiles?! If I'm going down I'm taking you with me, mutant!" he yelled, and before Leo could react, Walker suddenly lashed out and grabbed his arm, pulling him over the edge of the roof with him as.

They both screamed as they fell off the roof and down the cliff towards the ocean.

"LEO!" Mikey shrieked as he ran over the edge and jumped after them, whipping out his Kusarigama chains as he threw one up to hook the blade on the roof, and the other he threw down to wrap it around Leo's wrist.

The chain snapped tight as they all hung there, suspended only by a chain and Mikey's strength as he held onto both chains with all that he had. "Hang on Leo! I gotcha!" he cried.

"GUYS!" his brothers shrieked as they raced to the edge of the roof, praying that their brothers were okay. To their relief, Mikey was still hanging by the chain, with Leo hanging on at the end of the line, and Walker still clinging onto his arm. "Hang in there guys! We'll pull you up!" Donnie called as they grabbed onto the chain and started to haul Mikey, Leo and Walker up.

But Walker had other plans.

"I won't let you get away!" he snarled as he drew out a hidden knife from his pocket, and he swiped it at Leo, aiming for the turtle's neck, but instead left a deep mark in his shoulder.

The blue clad turtle let out a pained cry, and with a solid kick into his face, Leo forced Walker to release his arm. The man screamed as he tumbled down, falling into the watery depths with a splash, vanishing beneath the waves.

The turtles stared down with wide eyes at where Walker had fallen. He never resurfaced again.

"…Whoa," Mikey breathed, "Bungee jumping without a bungee…that's no good."

Donnie and Raph continued to pull on the chain until finally Mikey stumbled back on the roof first, where he quickly hauled Leo up as well, being careful of his injured shoulder. The brothers allowed themselves to release a heavy sigh of relief at last as Donnie and Raph sagged down on the floor next to Mikey and Leo.

"Thank goodness," Donnie breathed, putting a shaking hand over his rapidly beating heart, "you guys are gonna give me a heart attack before I'm twenty…"

Raph breathed heavily in tremor, putting a hand on Leo's shoulder. "You know…we've really gotta stop getting ourselves in trouble like this…" he said. They all nodded in agreement.

Mikey looked over to Leo as he panted in exhaustion. "Leo…are you okay bro?" he asked breathlessly.

Leo grinned at him, and he leaned forward and gathered his baby brother in his arm, holding him tight. "Thank you Mikey," he said, "you really came through today. For all of us. I'm really proud of you, little brother."

Mikey felt tears stinging his eyes as they went wide and his breath hitched, and he held Leo back, burying his face into his uninjured shoulder. "That's what bros are for, dude," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"We're proud of you too, Mikey," Donnie grinned as he hugged Mikey and Leo, "That was pretty awesome back there. You saved the day."

"Yeah, way to go, Mikey!" Raph laughed as he joined the group hug, and his laughter spread to the others as they held each other. At long last, it was over. April was safe, the scepter was theirs, Walker was gone and Norinaga defeated, and the village was finally safe.

Mikey lifted his head up and grinned. "You know what this means, guys?!" he cried excitedly.

The four of them nodded once as they stood up together, and in loud voices full of triumph and joy, they hollered into the night;

"GOD I LOVE BEING A TURTLE! BOOYAKASHAAAAA!"

And they all shared a brilliant 'high three'.

To their surprise, it didn't take long for the others to find the police station, despite how high up in the mountains they were. They were lucky enough to have a small station within the area that they could contact, and Robyn had poured out the whole story to them, obviously leaving the turtles, Splinter and Leather Head out of the equation, as well as the whole 'war' that had transpired.

She told them that that they had kept people hostage and that the place had blown up after an oil lamp had fallen, causing the place to go up in flames…which was actually true in that regard, but she wouldn't know about that until later.

Less than two hours later, the authorities arrived at the gates of Norinaga's castle in over a dozen police cars, as well as firemen who rushed to put out the flames, rounding up Walker's goons as well as Norinaga and his men. Norinaga was released from his bell imprisonment and then handcuffed as he was dragged away, but not without loud protests.

"Please, you must believe me! There are mutant turtles I tell you! They were mutants! And there was a rat creature and the mountain spirit was an Alligator!" he cried desperately, "I-I can prove it! I have documents on them! In fact, they know!" He pointed to where Mitsu, Casey with April in his arms, Kenshin and Robyn stood on the side with the head officer, watching as they dragged him off with smug smirks. "Tell them!" he insisted.

They all shared a confused look. "Tell them what?" they asked in unison.

"THE MUTANTS AND DEMONS! KENSHIN YOU SAW THEM I KNOW YOU DID!"

Kenshin sighed and put a hand on his forehead. "Oh father, you must have gone mad with power," he said with mock sadness, "I have no clue on what you are talking about. Poor man is making up stories now…"

Robyn bit back the laugh that threatened to erupt as she turned to the head officer. "Sir, I apologize, but we have no idea what he's talking about!" she said with an innocent smile, one that she had passed down to April herself, "could you make sure that he gets taken care of?"

Casey snickered. "Yeah, I think all that desire to take over the village made them a little…coo-coo!" he chimed, unhooking one arm from underneath April to make a 'crazy' motion with his finger.

The Officer smiled and nodded. "Of course, Miss O'Neil, we will make sure that he is put away for his crimes…and not just an ordinary prison. Walker hasn't been found yet, but your testimony and this evidence will put them away for a long time; we can safely say that he will be brought to justice." He turned to his men, "Take him away officers," he declared.

The female officer who was holding him nodded with a sigh, "No arguments here, sir," she said, dragging Norinaga out through the gates with the help of her partner. Mitsu, Kenshin and little Yoshi felt no sympathy for him.

In fact, he deserved far worse than what he was getting. In the back of her mind, Mitsu somewhat wished that Leonardo had killed him.

Casey chuckled to himself. "Is he gonna go to a 'Funny House'?" he asked, turning to Kenshin, who let out a laugh as well.

"I do think he will, Casey-san."

It was then that as Norinaga was abut to be hauled into a van, he spotted several large figures hiding behind the bushes near the forest. His eyes widened when the shadowy figures that he realized were the turtles, Splinter and the calmed Leather Head, grinned and waved mockingly at him. "Bye Byyyye!" Michelangelo whispered as he and his brothers snickered.

Norinaga pointed towards them, "Look, look, there they are, in the bushes! The mutants are there, look, see?!" he cried frantically.

Of course, as fate would so evilly have it, as soon as the officers turned around to see what he was blabbering about, the mutants had vanished from sight.

"NO, THEY WERE JUST THERE! LET ME GO AND I'LL PROVE IT TO YOU, AND WE'LL SPLIT THE MONEY WE GET FROM THEM!

The officers rolled their eyes skyward, and before he could say any more, they shoved him into the van and shut the doors. And they thought they had seen it all.

The head officer offered to take them all down to the village, but they said that they still had something important to take care of in the forest, so with that, the police cars drove away, leaving the humans stood at the gates of the burned down castle. Casey looked down at April in his arms, who gave him a nod and a smile. "You can put me down now Casey, I'll be fine now," she reassured.

Hesitantly and gently, Casey lowered the girl to her feet and took off his mask, letting out a long satisfied breath. "Well, I guess that's it then!" he chimed, "It's all over, and we win again!"

"Not quite, Casey."

They all turned to find Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo reappearing from their hiding place amongst the trees, closely followed by their father and Leather Head. Mitsu let out a gasp as she saw that Mikey held the scepter in his hands. He looked up at her and smiled. And for once, she smiled back.

Casey quirked a brow down at Leo, "Wait, what do you mean it's not over yet? We beat the bad guys and we've got the scepter, so what else is there?"

Leonardo looked back at his brothers, who nodded in silent understanding as he turned back to Casey and their other human companions. "This scepter has kept the mineral a secret, one that everyone has been after for thousands of years. And now, we're going to find out where that is."