The blue-masked turtle winced at the indentation his brother's body made in the sandstone wall, but he didn't have a chance to reach him. The most Leonardo could do was urge the others to huddle back up with him while yet more giant sentries surrounded. A rational voice traveled along with them, though he'd yet to see the owner of it.
There was no time to waste, and no longer any choice in the matter as far as Leonardo was concerned. He rapidly drew his cell and hit the button to call Director Kelley.
"So, how are things going?" The man had the nerve to sound chipper, and Leo hated him for it.
"Oh, they're going swell," he replied quietly through gritted teeth. "Only we need you to activate Black Out right now."
"Leo, I need a little time! I told you it's not like—"
"I don't care about the process, just get it done!" Leo somehow maintained intensity despite the fact that he was whispering. He slapped the button to hang up and took a couple of deep breaths as a man suddenly crossed boldly in between two robots and came to stand in front of them. Who wouldn't be bold with those hunks of metal backing them up? The bad guys never play fair.
"No one had to get hurt, you know," the stranger informed them. "You should have backed down when you had the chance. Still, we haven't killed anyone, yet. That will change in the next couple of minutes if you don't cooperate."
Stall him, Leo. That's all you need to do. Pretend to cooperate a little. Ask questions. It can't take that long to get approval for the EMP, can it? He nearly face-palmed just for asking.
"Well?" the figure went on. "Are you prepared to surrender?"
Leonardo focused on the man's accent. He didn't recognize it, but he assumed the newcomer was probably from Brazil, where Lendáno originated. Wonder if I could get him to talk about home? He exhaled to calm his nerves. Before he could speak, he heard a cell phone ring behind him. Leonardo was only distracted for a second while it continued to ring without being answered, but then plunged ahead. "You're not from the US, are you?"
The human smiled, but also shook his head. "Oh, now…this isn't really about me. In honesty, 'Edmundo Morais' is not important…I'm only the far-reaching arm of a much more complex underground system. Are you ready to cooperate, or do I need to kill your friends? Or perhaps your companion already on the ground over there. He'll come around with a nasty headache, I wager. That's a good lesson for the rest of you. Heavy Metal isn't as gentle as ARCIS."
Leonardo sent his unmoving red-masked brother a concerned glance, and hardly repressed the urge to growl. Keep him talking and busy, he reminded himself. Stay calm. "Those are interesting companions you keep. I'd say they were impressive, but most of the smaller ones are in pieces."
Morais was undaunted. "Yes, well…technically, they were still in an experimental stage. You and your kind brought some of their weaknesses to light this evening, and helped demonstrate how far we can afford to push the plasma rifles. It will lead to another generation of stronger, smarter droids. But regardless, you haven't answered my question, and I don't plan to ask again. I will merely prove to you how serious I am."
The blue-masked swallowed, but tried not to let it show. "We may be able to come to an agreement, but there are terms."
Morais laughed, looking at the monstrosities flanking him on either side. "What terms do you think I need to bow to?"
"That depends," Leo said coolly. "You might not have a problem with killing some of us, but how would you feel about losing us all? Something tells me we're not as valuable that way."
"Not exactly," the human wheedled. "But everything we know about you Phantoms leads me to believe you won't sacrifice your friends and family."
Leonardo put on a strong front of aloofness. "I will if there's no hope for them. If you plan to kill them no matter what we do, what good is there in surrendering?"
"You don't know I'll kill them, not unless you refuse to back down."
The oldest turtle opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated when he heard Raphael groan. The red-masked turtle inched off the ground slightly, raising his head with a dazed expression. "Raph, you all right?"
"Nah. I was hoping to wake up," he grumbled, rising to his knees.
The foreign man sighed. "I'm generally a patient person, but I'm beginning to run out. It's been a long night, so why don't you tell me the 'terms', and I'll get around to judging them."
Leonardo fixed his attention on Morais. "It's simple. The humans and our kids go free. You can have my brothers and I, and you'll still come out ahead of where you started."
"I can have all of you," he countered.
"Not alive," the leader retorted.
The man seemed to be weighing the turtle with his eyes. "I'm not inclined to negotiate with you."
"How do we know you even have the others?" Leo challenged, desperate for time. "We haven't seen any evidence to suggest you do."
The stranger gave him a cross look. "Aside from the fact that I answered one of their phones."
"If you want our surrender, you have to do better than that."
"They're close by, I assure you. Safe, for the moment, though I cannot guarantee how much longer that will last," the man finished distractedly. He clutched an earpiece, and a smile spread back over his features. Then Morais cleared his throat. "Just out of curiosity, do you know anything about the armored ship floating about three miles from here? It doesn't seem to have any real purpose, except…waiting."
Leonardo kept his mouth shut, resolving not to answer the question, though his heart raced faster.
"It's odd to find a boat of that caliber lingering so close by, especially at this time of night. While the build is impressive, my tech assures me a strong enough assault will sink it. As someone in my position, I have to say it seems like the best course of action."
There was a light gasp behind Leonardo. He glanced back to see the young red-masked turtle slap a hand over her mouth, but the mistake had already been detected.
Morais beamed. "Ah, I thought so." He pulled a handheld radio from his belt. "Miss Helms. Fire up the northeast cannon please."
Nathaniel was at a loss for what to do next. They'd reached their goal of Remote Security, but there was neither any sign of the other turtles, nor any feasible way to get into the room.
Reina was inspecting what appeared to be a card slot. "It needs a security pass, obviously. I doubt we can come close to getting inside without one."
The orange-masked turtle sighed. "I bet those droids don't carry them either. I guess a scavenger hunt is in order." Just what I felt like doing next…
"Wait!" Shunshi held up one hand and reached into his pocket with the other. "You mean like this?" He extended a plastic-coated badge to everyone's surprise.
"Where'd you get that?" Jake asked.
Shun smiled sheepishly. "I took it off one of the officers outside. It was to be a souvenir."
Nate grinned at the young man. "You'll get your souvenir back when we're done. Can I see your phone too?"
The young man handed over his device, and Nate activated the flashlight to shine on the door for his cousin.
Reina swiped the card through the slot, and the keypad instantly lit up. "And now we need a code," she announced with groan.
"We need to hotwire it," Nate replied. Problem is, none of us know how. He glanced at Shun's phone, expecting nothing, but was shocked to see several bars waiting, and the indication of a missed call. "There's service! Someone already tried to call us!"
Shun looked bewildered, then exhaled sharply. " I had the phone on silent..."
"I'm gonna try calling Uncle Don!" The orange-masked turtle hopefully listened to the phone ring, but the genius never picked up. "Shell, he must be occupied with something else…"
"What about Jazz?" Reina suggested.
"Worth a shot." Nathaniel held his breath as he dialed the woman's number, but didn't have to wait long.
"Shunshi?Are you guys okay? What's happening in there? How is—"
"Excuse me, Jazz, but we're kinda in the middle of something. We need your help."
"Nate, is that you?! Where are your dads?"
"Jazz, focus," he requested. "We need to open a door. We have a key card, but not the code."
"So you want to force it open manually," she answered. "What color wires are you dealing with?"
Nate looked at Reina. "Does that panel come off? We need to see the wires."
The blond ran her fingers over the metal plate, feeling around for few seconds before figuring out how to unlock the panel.
Nate switched the phone to speaker, and turned on the light once more to see the darkened interior. "Okay, Jazz…there's a mess of wires wrapped around each other at the back, and five more exposed lines closer to the front. It's one of those, right?"
"Colors, Nate."
"Right. Um…two blue, one red…there's a green…and another wire spliced together with two colors, red and blue."
"Green means go, right? Red means stop...what does blue mean?" Jake wondered.
"Not the time for guesses," Reina returned. "If we cut the wrong wire, it probably won't open at all."
"Jazz, what do you think?" the turtle pressed.
"I think…it's probably the two-toned wire."
"Do you know that for sure?"
"Not without physically being there. It's an educated guess, Nate. Take it or leave it, but I can't do anything else over the phone."
Nathaniel exhaled. "Okay, we're gonna do it. Thanks, Jazz."
"Get out of there already. The wait is killing us!"
"We're doing our best. Bye, Jazz." Even as he hung up the phone, he realized it might be the last time he spoke with the woman. No time to think like that. "Pull the two-toned wire, Rein."
"Okay…" The teen reached into the panel and yanked the wire free with a grimace. She was rewarded by the instant release of the door, but stood gaping in disbelief. "We just did that?"
Nate brushed past the stunned girl to get inside, and gazed around the dark room. There was only a single desk in the space with two computer monitors, but there were several more screens mounted on the far wall. Their shifting images provided the only light for the interior.
"That's odd," he said, gazing from one monitor to the next. "Don said he was disrupting their feed, but everything looks pretty clear to me."
Reina wandered up on his right side. "They look like different camera angles from around the property. You think we could find the others this way?"
Nate shuddered. "If we can, Lendáno will too." His eyes continued roving over the screens, until fixing on a darker one with a grainy image. "What's that?" He didn't hear Shunshi coming, but the young man was suddenly peering over his shoulder.
"That is Director Kelley's boat! He is out there with Dr. Barrows and Captain Long!" he cried.
The orange-masked turtle stiffened. "How did they get this?" And more importantly, what is Lendáno doing with it?
Without warning pictures shifted, bringing the armored ship to the forefront of the screens.
"What's happening? How are you doing that?" Jake demanded.
"I'm not doing anything!" Nate answered, irritated.
Reina shook her head. "This is a remote center. That means someone can be off controlling all the action from another location! But what…" She broke off as a confusing series of digits flashed across one of the monitors, and it was followed by the image a long, slender mounted device. When the object began to glow, Nate put the pieces together.
"I think it's a cannon! They're gonna—" One look at Reina's face stopped him from finishing the sentence.
The teen already knew what he was going to say. Reina ran to the desk and clicked on one of the desktop computers. "We have to do something! Nate, call Jazz back! We have to stop it!"
Nate watched the blond pound futilely on the keyboard. "Reina, I don't think we can override whatever they're doing. We're better off finding the cannon. Maybe it can be sabotaged!"
"We don't have time! We have to stop it!" She hit the keyboard harder, and ripped it off the desk in her frustration.
"I think I see it," Jake offered warily, pointing out the window. "Look!"
The turtle dashed to the window and looked outside at a tree-lined courtyard. On the building across from them, a soft blue haze was slowly increasing in brightness. He reached to unlock the window and forced it open.
Nate stuck his head outside for a better look at the roof, and immediately realized the course he could take. There was no way to make the jump straight across the courtyard, but the sprawling building formed a u-shape that he could follow to get to the other side. Ducking back into the room, he faced the others seriously. "I don't want to leave you, guys, but I've got no choice. Barricade the door in case Lendáno knows we came up here, and hold on. I'll be back as fast as I can!"
"Nate—" Reina called after him.
"Do it now!" he commanded, shrugging away from Jake's grip.
"Where are you going?" Jacob was bewildered.
"I'll be right back."
Nate slipped out onto the slanted rooftop without another word. The orange-masked turtle started moving across the tiles as quickly as he dared. He was dizzier than he wanted to admit to himself, and even the slight breeze made him feel unbalanced. He closed his eyes when his vision spun, trusting his feet to find their way despite his challenged equilibrium. To think I'd have this hard of a time with something so simple…darn concussion. Pull yourself together!
He picked his way carefully from slanted roof to slanted roof, only opening his eyes for brief periods of time to make sure he wasn't nearing a ledge. With every pulse of blue light that flashed against his closed eyelids, his nerves were starting to unravel. Just a little farther, stay on track, don't lose your—
The turtle caught himself as his feet slid across the tiles, and he nearly dropped the katana he was carrying. With a deep breath he corrected his path and climbed over the last incline to find the mounted cannon.
For a long moment he stared at the device, which was pointed at something off in the ocean that he couldn't see. Once the second passed, he inspected the weapon more closely, and focused on the source of the glowing. Wrapping both hands around the hilt of the katana, he drove the blade through metal to pierce the interior. It slid through the cannon as if the surface were melted wax, and an eerie high-pitched hum instantly followed with a flash of bright light.
Alarmed, Nate leapt back without even retrieving the blade. He spun dangerously on heel and bounded away from the weapon, right as the first sensation of heat hit his shell. The light spread to surround him on every side, and a tremendous force propelled him off his feet. He pitched forward, rolling out of control over roofing tiles. The last thing he remembered seeing was the ledge rushing up to greet him.