100 Theme Challenge
25. Trouble Lurking
As they ran, Don's mind was busy calculating odds. They had four long city blocks to traverse before reaching a spot where they could drop into the sewers. The jamming signal he'd devised would theoretically work in a coverage area of half a mile.
Therefore, under normal circumstances they could easily reach the next manhole before one of the citizen's necklaces started broadcasting again. Unfortunately, the howling alarm that they had been programmed to initiate when sighting a turtle was a factor that had a number of variables.
If the alarm penetrated beyond the range of Don's jamming device, then the Kraang would immediately be notified that their quarry was in the vicinity. If the Kraang knew soon enough, they could block off Raph and Don's escape.
Since the Kraang knew that the turtles used the sewer system they could also simply locate the nearest entry point and either ambush the turtles there, or be waiting in the tunnels for the brothers to drop into their waiting arms.
With that howling sound echoing from all around them, Don realized there could be big trouble lurking around virtually every turn and in every shadow. He wished he'd just told Leo what they needed to do for Casey. If Leo had said no, Don could have taken him in to tell Casey to his face.
Don was pretty sure Leo wouldn't have said no again, not once Casey brought his mother into it. There was a good chance they would have made Don stay at the lair which as it turned out, would have been just fine with the genius. He could have been right there to break up April and Casey's little tete-a-tete and Leo would have accomplished what should have been a simple mission without a hitch.
The first drops of rain started to fall then; giant sized globules that splattered as they hit Don's skin. Maybe that would drive the humans indoors. Don hoped their natural instinct to avoid the rain would override the Kraang programming.
"If their signal gets ahead of my jamming device there's a chance we'll have a welcoming committee," Don warned his brother.
"Yeah, I figured that one out for myself Donnie," Raph said as they turned a corner. "We've got one more block to . . . ."
His words were cut off as a Kraang laser cut through the darkness and nearly took Raph's head off. Only shear instinct made him jerk sideways at the last possible second and when the turtles looked for the source of the shot, they saw three Kraang droids on the sidewalk in front of them.
By the time Don had whipped out his bo staff, Raph was already leaping, sais in hand. The muzzle of the Kraang blaster was still lifting when Raph plunged downward, spearing the robot's head.
Shifting left and then right, Don avoided a laser burst and then snapped his bo against the nearest Kraang. The blow smashed one of the hands holding the blaster and before the Kraang could move, Don jammed the end of his bo underneath the robotic head, knocking it off its shoulders.
When he spun around he saw Raph stomping on the last Kraang.
Raph's brilliant green eyes glinted mischievously as he brought them up to glance at Don. "And I thought this trip was gonna be boring," he said with obvious glee.
"Come on, there might be more of them," Don said urgently, jumping over the fallen Kraang.
It started to pour down as the brothers raced for the alley. The water fell in heavy sheets, making visibility difficult, but Raph seemed to know just where he was going.
"Over here!" Raph called, turning into the alley.
The manhole was at the halfway point between the street and the end of the alley, but they hadn't gone more than a quarter of the way when several Kraang bots stepped out of hiding to block their path.
Sliding to a stop, the brothers whirled around to go back only to find that the mouth of the alley was blocked by more Kraang.
"Still having fun, Raph?" Don asked as he backed up so that he was shell to shell with his brother.
"I'll let you know if we manage to get out of this," Raph responded.
It wasn't the most optimistic answer Don could have hoped for.