Donatello led the way silently down the steps, his heart racing a little bit. After noticing that there were no guards in sight, Raphael pushed him to go faster. Only the single light bulb over the bottom of the staircase illuminated the space, but Donatello still managed to catch sight of his brothers, chained against the wall to the right of where they'd come down. With a sharp gasp he turned to Raphael.
"Watch my back Raph, keep an eye out that nothing's coming. I'm going to start getting them loose."
"Where's Doc?" Raphael asked immediately.
"I don't know - he must be upstairs. That one bedroom, the one they have under surveillance, I bet they took him back there. We're already here, so let's deal with them, and then we can go after him."
As Donatello approached his younger brother with a small sense of relief, Michelangelo struggled to get his head upright, a wide-eyed panic stricken look flying in Donnie's direction.
"It's okay Mikey," He told him softly. "I'm gonna get you down."
Rather than calming him, the statement caused the turtle to start straining desperately against his chains, muffled cries hardly making themselves heard from behind the duct tape.
"Don't struggle Mike, you could hurt yourself more. Just give me a second to work on this." Donatello admonished him quietly.
Raphael was focused on the stairway, and anything that could possibly be coming down. They didn't notice or hear anything from the corner behind them, until another light suddenly popped on overhead. Both turtles turned swiftly in that direction, falling into defensive postures, as Vale crossed his arms with a wide smile.
"Marvelous, are we all here now? I'm so grateful you could go to so much trouble to come here tonight my friends."
He didn't sound at all upset or surprised to see them, although it was clear that there were no other guards with him. Luke's description of him left no doubt in Donatello's mind who this man was.
"Vale." He said so softly that only Raphael heard it.
Raphael firmly tested his fist against his open palm. "The face of evil appears? We're gonna get to call this a good night after all."
The man was holding a hand-gun, which he curiously hadn't actually pointed at them yet. As both brothers looked about to lunge his direction, Vale help up a cautious hand to steady their positions.
"Aren't you forgetting about someone?" He laughed. "Perhaps the very reason that you tracked us all the way here to begin with?"
Vale moved slightly to one side, so they could both see Luke, just now stirring with a soft groan from his unexpected attack. Vale seized Luke by the back of the neck, and jerked him roughly to his feet with his firearm planted against his forehead.
"How very nice of you to re-join us Doctor, your timing is impeccable." Vale said non-chalantly, his eyes never leaving the strangers. "Luke, do you think you could help me to convince my new friends how serious I am at this moment?"
The one in purple held out both arms cautiously toward him. "Vale, let him go now, and I promise we won't kill you."
"Speak for yourself Donnie!" Raphael protested, and Vale laughed again.
"Put your weapons down now, or I will kill him." He told them very calmly.
Neither made any immediate move towards obeying, or advancing.
Vale could now hear the footsteps of his men moving around upstairs, and he nodded approvingly towards the ceiling, trying to call their attention to it. "Do you hear that my friends? That is the sound of two dozen of my men, armed, with orders to shoot on sight anything that moves."
"How do you know we ain't already taken out half of 'em?" Raphael threatened.
"Because that would have created more of a ruckus than you really wanted to." Vale said smoothly. "I expect you only dealt with those in your immediate path, having no desire to bring the entire household down on yourselves at once. Even if you were able to overpower me now without Luke being mortally wounded, you will not escape the cabin. There is only one way out of this basement, and it is up those stairs. You would have a hard enough time getting yourselves out alive, much less your brothers or your friend here. It's simply not going to happen. Now do as I said, and lay down your weapons."
Without a spoken word they slowly dropped them, neither taking their eyes off of Vale or the gun.
"You," Vale said, briefly pointing the barrel in Donatello's direction. "Take off the backpack, and both of you get down on your knees. Do it."
Donatello carefully shrugged out of the straps, keeping his hands in sight of the man at all times as he kicked the bag away. Then with serious hesitation, he and Raphael dropped to the floor as ordered.
Donatello was not in a position to feel like he could argue - Luke had told him enough about Vale for the turtle to understand that he would most certainly follow through on his threat to kill him.
"Now Doctor, if you would be so kind, we have a couple of sets of manacles that were leftover from bringing the first two down. I would appreciate it if you would bind my new friends for me."
"Kill me Vale - I won't do it!" Luke said through clenched teeth, shaking from both anger and fear, as the man pulled him around by the throat, his gun pressing even harder against his forehead.
"Yes, you will Luke. If I have to call the others down here to help me, I am quite certain some guns will be going off, and somebody is going to die. I must be able to contain them, or I cannot keep them alive, understood?"
"Doc, please just do what he says." Donatello spoke up, voice wavering just a little, even as he couldn't keep from thinking, My word guys, I'm so sorry. Jenna...
"Shall I call them Doctor, or are you able to perform this little task for me?" Vale pushed the man.
With the cold metal reminder never departing his skin, Luke bent down to pick up the restraints that Vale had indicated to, and then the man shoved him in Donatello's direction. Luke met Donatello's brown eyes mutely, as the turtle allowed him to bind his hands behind his back, without any kind of resistance. Vale forced him to follow up with his ankles, so that he wouldn't be able to so much as move from that kneeling position.
Luke barely had a chance to mouth that he was sorry to him, before Vale yanked him upright away from Donatello.
"Now the other Doctor."
This one had Vale a little more on edge, but he faced the turtle down coolly. Whereas the other seemed resigned to the fact that Vale had the upper hand, the red-banded one's expression gave no indication of his "willful surrender". He had the distinct impression that the turtle's gaze alone would have killed him, if it were physically possible. Vale saw his muscles tense, sensing that he was about to try and spring towards them. He hauled Luke backwards quickly as the turtle leaped to his feet, and then smashed the barrel of his gun over side of Luke's head hard enough that it made his ears ring.
"Desist creature." Vale said in a quietly dangerous tone. "I understand that you do not know me well, so I am telling you now that you will not get another warning like this one. Luke, can you try to convince your friend that I honestly would not mind killing you, if only to spite him?"
"Alright!" Raphael cried immediately. "I'm done - leave him alone!"
"Very good - then we can proceed." Vale said, as if he hadn't even been rattled.
Raphael retreated to the ground, frustrated beyond belief, but unwilling to force the man to kill Luke right in front of their eyes.
As Luke bound him under Vale's watchful eye, Raphael shot Donatello a look, and nodded grimly.
Donatello only blinked in response. His finger was already in position to hit the button on his watch.