TMNT Bitter Sweet Honey Ch.37

Mikey's POV

"Are you sure about this Mikey... Look at us. Who would be dumb enough not to realize we are turtles?" Alex whined, looking over Mikey's shoulder, who in turn was peaking around the corner towards the building where the fight was to be hosted.

"Alex relax. No one will even consider three turtles would come to this fight, let alone dressed up. All they will see is three guys wearing either green paint or a mask coming to view the spectacle. Nothing more," Mikey smirked seeing the doubt in Alex's eyes.

"Mikey no one is that dense," Alex once again protested only to be ignored.

Taking the lead acting all natural Mikey was going to prove his point by going up to the bouncer, who took a brief look at the orange clad turtle, then clear as day said, "Ticket."

"Here is my ticket and these two are for my friends," Mikey passed the tickets quickly to the guy trying to avoid him getting a good look at his hand.

Not that Mikey would think the guy would even notice, considering he seemed more occupied staring at the blond that was behind them.

Mikey wasn't a fool and knew his stuff; he purposely waited for someone of interest to come around, before daring to approach the entrance to the fights.

With him getting into the line before that person of interest made it to the bouncer first, was the perfect distraction with fewer hassles on his part.

"Okay get in, I don't have all day," the guy flashed a look at the tickets, then back over Mikey's shoulder to the woman rushing the turtles along.

Not complaining Mikey went through the door following the signs that were pointing towards the basement.

Shyly Alex came up behind Mikey, "I take that back."

"You should..." Mikey started, then was interrupted by Casey, who has been very quiet since they left for the gallery.

"You should have made this into a bet Mikey," Casey beamed trying to hide the anxiety in his voice.

Mikey just shrugged at the thought, "Yeah, I should have. We could have suckered Alex to take our chores for the next couple weeks."

"I'm not that naive... I know better than to make any deals with the likes of you two," Alex barked in frustration, crossing his arms at the two turtles.

"Oh is that so?" Mikey grinned devilishly, "We will see..."

Sighing Alex shook his head; he was afraid Mikey would say something on that line. Now he was for sure a target on the orange clad turtle's hit list.

Finally finding themselves on the bottom step, each turtle looked towards the set of doors that loomed before them.

"This is it guys, stick to the plan. By no means does anyone wander off. We will find our seats and wait to find out what is going on... Do you understand Casey?" Mikey asked, figuring Alex wouldn't stray off and Casey if he was provoked can become ugly making this a disaster waiting to happen.

Crossing his arms, Casey muttered under his breath, "Sure lets get going Mikey. The faster we figure out if Raph is here, the quicker we can bring her home."

"Agree."

The crowd roared overly enthusiastic; the energy was high and Mikey started to feel awkward seeing the circular room with rows of platforms with seats.

The room's structure ran downwards to the main event the ring, which was caged in with doors that were the only entry points, built in its eight-foot walls of concrete.

It was designed to let the fighters in without interfering with the spectators, and the fence was to ensure the fighters couldn't get out.

"Casey you told me about these fights, yet you never mentioned it being like this," Mikey pointed out, trying not to bump into some humans that were in the way.

"Hun really up this one compared to the others, he only had a plain rusty fence and nothing more in the past," Casey admitted looking at the place in detail.

It was design unlike anything Casey has seen in the line of Hun's past business ventures.

It didn't look like some run-down warehouse or one second set up in some drug place, he took over for his games.

Hun put a lot of time and money on everything.

In truth, Casey wasn't surprised in a way, seeing the time Hun put into this one. After Raph and him exterminated Hun's other businesses of these death matches, the behemoth went for another approach to carry out his plans for wealth that was beyond crafty for Hun.

There was no snow ball's chance in hell either Casey or Raph would have found this one, unless they had horse shoes up their asses, which brought up one question. How long has Hun been running this then?

Was this building underway before the others went down, or was it an afterthought?

"Well lets find our seats. I don't know about you two, but I prefer one that is close to an exit," Mikey led the way not getting a complaint from Casey.

Taking a seat, Mikey tilted his head at Casey that also chosen a seat, realizing they were one turtle short, "Where is Alex?"

"What?" Casey turned around quickly seeing Alex wasn't with them. "I swear the kid was behind me a moment ago..."

"Great... Really, he had to be the one to wander off, wasn't he listening to me at all?" Mikey growled seeing a slight worrisome, yet amused grin on Casey's face.

"And to think you were worried about me? What was it… the silent ones are always the ones to cause trouble?" Casey barked.

"Casey take this seriously, you know he isn't a fighter or has any skills to protect himself. He is defenseless, and this place is like a meat grinder to him..." Mikey scowled, feeling the dread clawing at him.

If he lost Alex here or the kid got hurt, Donnie would have his head. It was bad enough the three of them went here without saying boo to Donnie or Leo in fear they wouldn't abide them to investigate this fight, just to have this happen too. Proving in the end this was a bad judgment called on Mikey's behalf.

Before Mikey could even indicate to Casey they should turn back the way they came to find out where Alex went, the room's noise volume blew out of proportion startling both Casey and Mikey.

Mikey curiously flashed his head towards the arena seeing why the crowd was getting all worked up over; the first fight of the night was on.

One fighter a monstrosity of a man came through his door like some proud peacock, calling out his battle cry punching his fists together to rally up the humans that had all eyes on him.

Then suddenly the other door open next as both turtles lost their breaths.

Stepping out of the door was Raph.

She was dressed in some skimpy red uniform with a skirt showing off her figure.

Her feet, legs, arms and hands were wrapped up in blood-stained bandages; her face was fueled by rage, and her eyes seemed not of her own.

Everything about her didn't sit right to Mikey. She was clearly his sister, but then again, she seemed like some savage beast looking for her next prey to tear them apart.

Like she was going with the impression in Mikey's head, Raph began to snarl at the crowd eyeing them with hunger.

Then when her eyes fell upon her opponent, her scent became potent to the point even high up as he was, Mikey could smell it, which made his body tremble out of control.

It wasn't only him that this scent affected; Casey too was holding his breath, trying to avoid the smell from making him want to retreat in fear. It was worse than anything that Leo even gave off.

Growling like some wild animal, Raph lunged forward attacking her prey without mercy.

With that the fight started as the humans in the room screamed Raph name and cheered her on.

"Raph... what... what the hell did they do to her..." Casey said slowly, feeling his legs were weak.

He didn't recognize her. She wasn't Raph, not even in her pissy moments, she was anything like this. She didn't sound right and smelled off.

"Casey get a hold of yourself," Mikey calmly put a hand on Casey's shoulder; he too was trying to take this in without breaking down or letting his own anger take over him.

At the moment, it was hard enough to ignore Raph's scent and control all the mixed feelings inside, just for Casey to flake on him. In this situation, they needed to try to control their own instincts and deal with this accordingly.

"THAT BASTARD!" Casey spat out suddenly, startling Mikey and breaking him out of the hold that was suffocating him bringing him back to his own senses.

Not sure at first what Casey was huffing over, Mikey glanced up towards what appear to be some balconies.

Then he too noticed that one balcony had Hun sitting in it, watching the spectacle with a satisfied grin.

Lashing forward Casey lost it tearing towards Hun's direction, knocking people out of his way.

"Ahhh crap Casey!" Mikey leaped towards the mad turtle, wrapping his arm around Casey's neck to pull him back.

"Let go of me Mikey. I'm going to kill him!"

Chuckling lightly he ignored Casey putting his attention on the people that were staring, "Sorry he had way too many tonight if you know what I mean..."

"Mikey!" Casey roared feeling Mikey's choke hold tightening.

"Casey shut up and calm down. Dude don't draw too much attention to us! Do you want to help Raph? Then take a chill pill and listen to my damn plan, now!" Mikey whispered in his ear.

Taking a couple huffs Casey noticed the judging eyes that were on him and what Mikey was pointing at. Mustering all the will power he could, Casey sighed under his breath, "Sorry I shouldn't have drank so much beer before coming..."

With a few annoyed responses to the apologies, Mikey and Casey went back to their seats.

Sitting there uneasy, neither dared to look at the ring, just the sight of seeing Raph fighting for her life was unnerving.

"Mikey what's your plan? It better be good or I will hurt you next," Casey growled.

"Casey here is the deal, there are to be three fights scheduled tonight. This one, then the next will be between two different fighters. I know Raph will win, and we can't just charge in and save the day on this one. There are too many people and not enough exits, besides, we also lost Alex..." Mikey started hissing on Alex's name in the end. Why did he bring the kid in the first place?

"Fine I get that after that what are we to do? Wait and then..."

"We are going to find a way to the area they bring the fighters. Everyone will be too distracted with the fight it would be the perfect time to find both Alex and Raph."

"Mikey when the hell did this become a two turtle rescue mission?" Casey sighed wanted to so much to ring Alex's throat.

"Tell me about it. Come on we should look for a way to get to the sub level. I think there were some doors before we entered this room," Mikey pointed out, passing by Casey to take the lead.

"Yeah let's go. I can't do this anymore."

Making their way to the exit, Mikey took a look at the guy guarding the door warily, he wanted to make this secrete as possible. All he needed at the moment was to start a fight and give himself away. Who knows how many purple dragons were in the crowd?

"Hey guys come sit over here," Alex called from the other side, waving Mikey and Casey down, that made the guard who was starting to become unsure about the two turtles standing there staring at him, suddenly taken no notice to them anymore.

Passing the guard and heading towards Alex, Mikey lost his temper grabbing Alex's shirt, pulling the white shell turtle towards him forcefully.

"Alex I said stick together what were you thinking?" Mikey growled seeing Alex cringed in response.

"Mikey... I'm sorry but... I think I have something you might want to see."

"Alex we're not here for sightseeing. We need to figure out how to get to the next level," Casey answered before Mikey could.

Smiling, Alex pulled Mikey off of him grabbing his hand forcing the turtle to follow him, "Oh trust me then you will like this."

Skeptic Mikey wanted to stop Alex for wasting his time yet let the enthused turtle lead him through section after section of seats stopping where the path splited into two ways.

One was the next row of seats, and the other was following the wall leading to a staircase that when down towards some door.

Examining the staircase, Mikey blinked, "Is that the way to the next level?"

"Yep, not just that I bet there is an exit to either the sewers or to the next building across the street down there," Alex said proudly.

"How do you figure that?" Casey raised an eyebrow, for if this was the way to the next level wouldn't there be a guard here too?

"Well because this is what I am good at. I use to find artifacts so this place is no different than any structure I have seen in the past or studied. It's simple to figure it out really. Besides, this place is an art gallery, sure they can fool people with these special night exhibits, but how do you figure they get the fighters here without raising suspicion?"

Exchanging looks, Casey nor Mikey ever thought of that one.

"Oh I see what you're saying. They probably have another way in to avoid being caught, huh good thinking Alex," Mikey smiled, taking back his comment of him regretting to take Alex; he was useful after all.

"Not to sound like an ass here, but if this was to the next level and not just the bathrooms, where is the guard? Like hell Hun will leave it not guarded," Casey crossed his arms waiting for the explanation, which would be amusing.

Chuckling under his breath, Alex placed his hand behind his head, "Well about that... the guard was drinking some soda and was using a beer cup... So I started talking to him saying how it sucked he was missing the fight... and..."

"And?" Both turtles were on the edge of their seats waiting to hear how Alex managed to get rid of the guard.

"And.. When he wasn't looking I put some ex-lax into his drink... So he is in the can at the moment... I hope I didn't overdue it..." Alex sighed feeling bad.

Hearing the story both turtles went silent, then burst into laughter.

Mikey being the first to able to speak held his sides, "Alex you gave the guy ex-lax, really?"

"Yeah..." Alex said nervously.

"Mikey who cares what he gave the guy, you should be asking why the hell he had some on him in the first place," Casey pointed out, wiping the tear away from his eye.

Crossing his arms, Alex rolled his eyes, "Well for starters, I can't fight so I figured I should have something on me in case of emergencies."

"Ex-lax? That is your secret weapon... What were you planning there Alex? Throw it in their eyes... OH, oh, OH! I know! You were planning to ask your attacker politely to open their mouth so you can pour it on their tongue then demand them to swallow?" Casey bursted out, unable to hold the laughter in. This was too funny and weird at the same time.

Mikey on the same boat had a hard time to contain his laughter; he just couldn't understand why Alex would resort to carrying something like that around.

"Fine! You know what, like to see either of you do better without starting a fight or bringing this whole place on us and making everyone realized we are turtles! You know what, keep laughing. I'm going to the next level before the guard comes back!" Alex huffed stomping down the stairs.

Sighing Mikey shrugged, "He has a point, and he did get the job done without anyone raising an eyebrow."

"Even still, I'm not going to let this one down," Casey smiled following Mikey to the bottom.

At the bottom Alex hovered over the door still pissed at the other two.

"Alex what is the hold up?" Casey asked, looking over his shoulder hoping no one has noticed them.

"One sec," Alex waved his hand as he continued to work.

Looking over Alex's shoulder, Mikey found out something else about the kid he didn't know about, "You pick locks?"

Nodding Alex continued what he was doing, "Yes… told you I find artifacts and believe it or not knowing how to pick a lock has come in handy."

"When you say artifacts do you mean ones in a museum or..." Casey started, then stopped getting a nasty glare from Alex.

"I'm not a thief if that is what you're implying Casey Jones! I just learn this skill for I use to travel to some dangerous places and lets say to know how to pick a lock is helpful."

"Okay Okay," Casey put his arms up in defeat, "Jeez don't blow a gasket, man you sound like a chick I used to know Alice. She used to get huffy too over stuff in the same way."

Opening the door, Alex shook his head, "Casey you moron, I was Alice... Get to the program."

Casey's jaw dropped in shock as he blinked wildly, "Wait your April's cousin Alice Cooper! What the hell? I knew you used to be a human then became a turtle, then turned into a dude but... No one said you were April's cousin... Mikey did you know this?"

Tightening his lip, Mikey sighed, "Casey we all know about who Alex was... where have you been? Dude you know you just lost the whole 'being more perspective than you were in the past' title we have been giving you? How could you not know who Alex was… Donnie explained it to everyone on more than one occasion… Heck Alex brought it up too…"

Casey not answering that since he couldn't, Mikey shrugged entering through the door.

Standing there in shock trying to figure out how he was so in the dark on this one, the others went inside.

Casey giving up trying, shook his head, muttering to himself, "Man we really have one weird family..."

The roar of the crowd above dwindled as the turtles made their way through the winding tunnels. To Mikey's prediction, the place was deserted and by now he figured the first fight must have been over. Now he had to figure out where Raph was being held.

"Alex you wouldn't have any ideas where we might find Raph?" Mikey asked looking down another corridor.

"Most places like this, they tend to keep their fighters close to the ring, but not too close for them to get agitated by hearing the ongoing fights. I say we need to head inwards." Alex pointed out, hoping he was right.

Nodding Mikey pushed forward, then stop when he heard voices ahead of them.

Pressing his shell against the wall, Mikey instructed the other two to do the same.

"I will sneak ahead, you two stay here," Mikey whispered, making his way to the voices staying in the shadows.

"Man she is heavy," a male voice complained around one corner.

"Don't bitch about it, it's better than her being awake and trying to rip our bloody heads off. Man, have you been around her after they pump her with those drugs? She is a fucken freak of nature, a ravaging beast and anything that moves around her becomes her prey. The last guy who dared to get in her way wound up dead as she started to eat him alive as he screamed, begging someone to help him…"

Ignoring the comment of Raph eating someone figuring it was just the guy exaggerating; Mikey turned white all the same.

"Drugs... that's why she didn't seem like herself and why she was fighting..." Mikey told himself.

Looking around the corner, he could see the two men dragging Raph down the corridor, she was out and unresponsive to what was going on around her.

After drugging her to fight, which makes her go berserk. They must have used a tranquilizer on her after the fight was over to make her easier to handle.

Mikey pressed back into the shadows as he waved both Casey and Alex over.

"Casey I will take the one to the left you take the other. Alex you grab Raph."

The two turtles agreed to the task, giving to them without question, got ready for Mikey to make the first move.

Slowly, Mikey approached the two guys from behind as Casey followed suit.

Close enough, both turtles went in for the attack, taking the humans by surprise.

With a quick swing, Casey punched one of the guys in the gut making the human fly in the air.

Mikey handling his human did an air kick in the startled human's face knocking him out cold.

As the two turtles took care of the two men, Alex caught Raph not realizing something was approaching him from behind.

"You three what are you doing here?" a voice questioned behind Alex, who didn't notice the two men on the ground.

All three turtles spooked by the new comer turn around hastily.

The man stood there eyeing Alex as his face turned red in anger, not seeing Raph or anyone else in the hallway anymore.

"You little shit! You did something to me, didn't you!" the man raged at Alex.

"Alex do you know this guy?" Casey asked, getting closer to Alex to take Raph in fear Raph would get hurt.

"He is the guard I gave the Ex-lax to," Alex admitted, handing Raph over just as the man charged towards Alex grabbing him by the shirt.

"You will pay for that, you little fucker..." the man roared raising his fist to strike Alex down.

Just before Mikey could come to Alex's rescue, Alex pulled something out of his pocket blowing a white sparkly dust in the man's face.

Instantly the man let Alex go hollering in pain, holding his eyes.

In pure confusion, the man stumbled around screaming at the top of his lungs, smacking into the wall hard, knocking himself out.

Casey holding Raph securely in his arms gave Alex a questionable look, "What the hell did you just blew in his face?"

Smiling and tilting his head sideways all innocent, Alex told them straight, "Laundry detergent."

"Say what... Alex that was a dirty move..." Mikey said, biting his lip; that was the first time he saw someone fight with laundry detergent before.

"No it wasn't, that was me fighting clean," Alex grinned widely, loving how his awful pun made even Mikey's eyes roll.

"Yeah… Sure... lets not go there," Mikey chuckled lightly, trying not to imagine how much that stuff would sting the eyes.

"Guys, we need to go. Talk about Alex's messed up methods later when we are safe at home," Casey interrupted the two turtles before more jokes or puns were thrown into the air.

"Right," Mikey answered him seriously. They didn't have the luxury to stick around, who knows where the fight was at, and if they are moving to the next one, their window of escape would be coming to a close.