Chapter 53: Panic in the Sewers – Part 3
Alora's POV
When April and I made the decision of allowing ourselves to spy in on the Foot Clan's meeting on taking out the Turtles and Master Splinter's home, much to the Hamato family's dreaded looks on their faces about this, we both set out to work. April had already informed me on how we could actually listen to the conversation from within the decrypted Church; by pulling off the same stunt that she used on the Purple Dragons. Though I would've told her that the Foot Clan would sense a bit of cautiousness and wariness about the little trick, but I didn't want to give away any spoilers cause, you know, part of the storyline.
About several minutes later, both April and I, along with the guys to watch our backs from within the shadows, went up to the surface while I directed her right over to where Shredder's evil Lair was. As we got to the right neighborhood, the redheaded teen and I went into motion in succeeding the plan; April wore a black hoodie with the hood over her head, hiding her identity, and a heavy army-green coat that covered herself completely, carrying a pizza box with her right hand supporting underneath it. With me? I'm still wearing my Ninjutsu outfit yet I walked alongside April as we both began to approach the gloomy-like building.
Yet as we both were approaching, I still felt the enormous weight of the negative aura coming from within the intricate building, making my insides weakening, along with both my stomach and my head becoming achy again. I silently groaned so that April wouldn't hear, knowing that she would probably react the same way the Turtles did, so I had to keep a hold on it and went along with the freckled, ginger-haired teenager in case things go a little underway with this. Without any delay, I regain myself by taking in a deep breath and continued walking a foot next to April as we both neared the steps that led up to the Church's front doors.
No One's POV
As both Alora and April were walking up to the enemy's territory, from above the rooftops across the street from it, the Ninja Turtles jumped, flipped, and summersaulted on over from one building to the lower one next to it on the left side, kneeling, bending, and hovering near the edge and gazed down to see both their female friends head towards the Foot Clan's base with concern expressions.
"I don't like this," Donnie muttered in a concerning tone, standing back up while crossing his arms at the process.
"Me neither," Mikey replied softly, only to mention a part of what Donnie actually meant on the subject while lightly shaking his head, "Giving the enemy a free pizza? Pssh, never a good idea."
Yet from Mikey's point of view on that, Leo knew exactly what Donnie was referring. He kept his gazed on the dirty blonde and the ginger-haired teens as they both walked up the steps right to the Church's front doors. Only instead of facing the opening of the front door, Alora, being smart and precautious, hid herself from behind the archways in front of the building, having Leo calm down a little at that, but still held a look a worry across his features. Ever since that night when Alora first encountered Shredder by herself to save him and his brothers, along with having several nightmares about the evil madman, knowing that he was not only after their Sensei, but after her as well for whatever reason, he grew both mentally and emotionally with worry. He couldn't help himself in getting so worked up in fearfulness if the Shredder actually got his claws on her, even from standing and hiding from the outskirts of Shredder's hideout from within his reach. He prayed to himself repeatedly in his head that whoever answers the front door wouldn't spot her from behind the archway.
Alora's POV
A few seconds earlier…
As April and I walked up the steps right to the archway over to the front door, I then took precaution in hiding myself from the nearest pillar of the archway, pressing my back to it with my head turned on my right side in watching April walk up to the platform. She paused, noticed that I wasn't beside her, having her turn halfway on her right, and saw me peeking from the right pillar, having me nod knowing I was still here for her and motioned my right hand saying 'go-ahead-and-answer-it'. April, understanding my gestures, nodded with a determined look, turned back and walked a few steps further to the door.
While she was doing so, I then felt at least four aural presences about a few feet away from me, having me take liberty of looking over the other side of the street and turning my gaze upwards in seeing Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey staring down at us with worriedsome looks. I knew for a fact when April and I both volunteered on being sneaks in getting into that villainous gathering, they, as well as Master Splinter, were not – again not – agreeable to this idea. Although I wouldn't blame them for it, knowing that we would be putting both of our lives in absolute risk, even with Shredder now after me and yet soon will be after April as well, but it's like the old saying, 'it's a risk that we have to take'. As I looked up to the anxious and worried Turtles, I saw Leo meeting my gaze, seeing the concerning and fearful look lingering on his face. I somehow knew Leo wouldn't like it if I had to say about doing this, but I wanted to since I didn't want April to handle this by herself, even though in the original series she was supposed to, but I didn't think it was quite right, you know. Staring in his eyes, Leo looked like he was in a frantic pansy about this, making me feel bad for having him worry so much.
I then decided to give him a lightly furrowed-brow nod in telling that I was doing okay at the moment, having his expression relax a bit, but still with a worried gaze plastered onto him yet nodded back in return. Feeling an eased a bit with Leo's calming response, I then heard April knock at the front door of the decrypted Church, having me turn my head back around the pillar while pressing my back more against the stone structure. In a few seconds of waiting, the door opened ajar in seeing a Foot Soldier's head poking out from the other side of it, seeing only April in her disguised outfit while hopefully haven't seen me as I kept myself hidden behind the pillar but slightly peeked over the edge in seeing and hearing of April's low yet boyish voice of a pizza delivery boy.
"Hey, did somebody here order a totally delicious pizza?" She asked in her best acting voice with the same line she pulled with one of the Purple Dragons earlier today.
Except of getting an actual reply, instead –
*SLAM*
The sound from one of the front doors slam shut in April's face, having both her and I flinch back from the rude reaction of that one Foot Soldier. With that said, April took a few steps away from the door and slightly glanced at me, knowing that there was no way in getting into that meeting after that stunt. We then decided to change tactics by walking down the steps, running over the left side, gazed from left to right in case any person or enemy was watching, run left again to an open alley between the Church and an apartment, and pressed our back against the apartments' cemented wall near a dumpster and a trashcan with a stray cat laying atop of it that meowed at us at contact. Just then, with all is clear, April then reaches into her left pocket with her left hand and pulls out her red cell phone, pressing the middle button that made a beeping noise in activating the call right to Leo.
"[Sighs] looks like the Foot Clan are smarter than the Purple Dragons," April informs with disappointed in her voice.
"Well unlike the Purple Dragons, the Foot are more cautious and alert when it comes to outsiders or intruders," I reminded theoretically.
"They'd almost have to be, wouldn't they?" Leo's voice rang out from April's phone, seeing his both his name, a little inscription underneath it that said 'Ichiban turtle; Tphone – New York sewers yo!', and a small picture of Captain Ryan as his icon, "Thanks, girls. You both did your best."
Though it wasn't over yet when the decrypted Church bell started ringing loudly, having to see April turn her attention up, as well as mine, just to see atop of the Church's highly detailed rooftop, then to look over the apartment's wall to see a fire escape that reached high enough directly to the same height as the Church. Having a feeling come over me as to what was about to happen next, April then turns her head down and over to me with a smug smirk appearing on her face, knowing that she had something both crazy and dangerous in mind.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" She asks with a quirky tone.
"Oh, I definitely know what you're thinking," I replied with confidence, but having my stomach churn at the fact that this was really gonna be insane…
Only this was our last and final chance in getting into that building and learning of Shredder's masterly scheme.
No One's POV
"At least we've still got the pizza," Mikey stated out with a relieved smile.
Only for Leo's phone to make another beeping noise and hearing both April and Alora's voices ring out that caught all four Turtle's attention:
April: "[Laughs] Oh, we're not done yet."
Alora: "Just hold on to your weapons, guys. We're still gonna get you into that meeting one way or another."
With that said, another beeping noise was heard, which ended that one call when Donnie looks over from the phone down to the scenery below, only for his expression to perk up as to what he was seeing.
"Wait, what're they doing?" Donnie questions in frantic worry while placing his left hand atop of the ledge, having Leo, Mikey, and Raph turn in the scene as well with wide-eyed blank looks.
Down with both the soon-to-be kunoichis, April then turns to the dumpster, lifts up the right led with her left hand and, with her right holding onto the pizza box still, tosses it in before letting go of the lid that fell shut. When that was done, she then turns around and starts walking while taking her hood off, revealing her feminine features as she walked around and up the steps to the apartment they were next to, with Alora, watching her every move, followed right behind her.
"Not the pizza!" Mikey exclaims in shock before informing warily, "They've gone rogue."
With both girls atop walking up the stairway to the platform near the front door, Alora, who was on the left hand side of the redhead, stop on the mid step, turns around, looked up to where the Ninja Turtles were watching from and, with a confident smile on her face, raises her left hand and gives a thumbs up in saying 'don't-worry,-we-got-this', having the Turtle brothers look to one another in both confusion and slight curiosity.
Just then, April knocks on the front door, having the wavy-haired, magical female heroine turn back, walk up the next step, then onto the platform with full attention at hand as the door to the apartment opened ajar, just to reveal none other than the same middle-age Chinese man who owns that store back in Chinatown.
"May I help you?" He asks politely.
Instead, with how clever April can be, she straightens herself up with a serious and determined demeanor then saluting with her left hand, before bringing it down and pulling out within her right hand an ID card, which happens to be her High School ID with April's photo in wearing black-framed glasses and having braces (which is somewhat a little disturbing and slightly odd, to be honest), all while announcing in a strict yet informative tone:
"Sir, we're with the firefighters association, local 94."
As the young yet smart High School student inquired that, Alora, who stood perfectly and contently still beside April, couldn't help but admire the interesting fibs of institutional companies that she pretended to be involved with.
'First undercover cops; now firefighters association? How she comes up with these sorta things, I'll never know,' she states out within her head with an impressed smile and a raised eyebrow-like look.
As the dirty-blonde look towards April with admiration, the man standing from the ajar outskirts of the door looks at them with a blank yet slightly raised eyebrow expression while the 'firefighter' student came to reason on the matter.
"We've received reports of some faulty wiring in this building, so mind if we have a look-see?" April asks as she and Alora held up a couple of simple smiles at the gentleman, hoping he would comply.
"Well, I don't think - ," the man started to say, but before he could finish his sentence –
"Thanks," April quickly replies as she trudges her way through as she pushes the door fully with her outstretched right hand and walks right in, taking the man off guard before faulting poorly with a defeated expression on stopping her.
However, with no other way around it, Alora, who stood back while her fiery friend barges in unannounced, felt guilty and sympathetic for the kind man on entering his home without permission, but had no other choice than to follow inside. Without wasting another second, the young aura-filled Ninja teen starts to walk right across the threshold, only to halt underneath it while turning to the man, looking sheepishly yet mouthing out a 'sorry', then turns back and starts walking into the apartment and catching up to April.
From above the one rooftop over across the street, the Turtles stood near the ledge at the apartment with the man living in it stood halfway outside of the doorway while staring at the direction where both girls entered his home without care, watching what had happen and were still concern yet quite impress on their part, mostly Donnie, actually.
"She's so cool," Donnie muttered dreamily with big, loving eyes on the red-haired teenager.
Though for Leo, he was indeed somewhat impressed by the two girls' reactions of cleverness and determination, but with a narrowed stare upon his face, he still felt mildly worried and scared on their part of this plan, hopefully that whatever they do to intake on getting into that Church and listening on the conversation with both Shredder and his henchmen, they would do it quickly and make it out of there safe and sound and, prayingly, alive.
Alora's POV
Just as April and I had 'unacceptably' entered into the nice Chinese man's home, we then managed to head onto the apartment's fire escape as I followed April climbing it all the way up to the very top where both the rooftops met in the same height. We kept on climbing a few steps up from each platform, 'til finally, we reached the last railing platform that had us right to where we needed to be at the peak of the decrypted building's detailed and structured roof. While doing so, April then climbs onto the railing's edge, holding tightly with her feet placed on it in a crouched position, yet as she stares straight ahead at the main point, she nearly loses her balance, letting out a "Oh!" as I gasp fearfully, paced over to her, and quickly grabbed and held onto her right shoulder and upper arm to steady her, having us both look down below to see how great the distance from where we were at if having our chances of falling would be.
Then April brought her head back up, took in a deep breath and sighed in letting all her fears out, looks out straight ahead to the Church's roof with a narrowed look, and then, with one, hugely, crazily, heart-beating moment –
April finally jumped with a grunt.
I watched her in excruciating fear as I saw herself flying right over the alley's opening right on over to the next rooftop of the Foot Clan's base. I held in my breath for a peak minute with a wide-eyed conspiracy, seeing April flinging her arms and legs in the air as she leaped across the midnight wind. Within just under mere seconds, in a few meters apart, April managed to touchdown onto the Church's stone concrete material on the ledge, having me lightly exhale out in relief and joy, but it quickly diminishes in worry once again as the ginger-haired girl was losing her balance near the ledge. Having her flail her arms about to keep herself up right, only she ends up falling backwards over the edge, having her let out a "Woah, oh!" as she falls over board, but manages to grab the edge of the concrete with both of her hands while letting a frightening gasp, seeing her dangle at the Church's edge, clinging to it for dear life.
April groans and grunts in strugglement in holding on to the edge, looking down to the same area near the dumpster and trashcan we were both standing next to a few minutes ago, seeing that the same cat was still there on top of the trashcan's lid, licking its left paw before turning its gaze up towards April and lets out another meow that echoed throughout the alleyway.
With April still dangling on with her dear life, I then decided that I should get on over there and help her, even though she supposedly does manage to pull herself up and land safely on the ledges' concrete in the original episode, but it still doesn't mean that I couldn't be able to stand by while she's struggling over the side of a rooftop. Holding a serious and concern expression, I activated my aural flight, seeing the light-blue shiny aura surrounding the outlines of my form, feeling uplifted off the railing's flooring a few inches, then, without wasting another minute, zip right up and over to the Church's antic rooftop, and land to where I saw April's hands lying flat onto the edge. Once I made it over safely without any trouble, I then bend over to see the stubborn redhead still hanging on, glancing down with content fear showing on her face as I then outstretched my right hand out to her.
"Need a hand?" I asked with a cocky tone, having her head turn back up towards me and gazing surprisingly in seeing me standing right above her while I gave her a kind and supporting grin.
She smiles back at me with appreciation as she lets her right hand free from the ledges' edge and grabs my hand, with that holding on tight; I grudgingly pulled with all my might in helping April back up onto the Church's rooftop. Struggling in helping my female friend up, April, with her right hand holding mine, pushes herself up with her left hand still onto the ledge, and finally with a couple of grunts, she pulls herself over and sits over onto the concrete perfectly safe and sound, having us both breathe out relievable sighs of exhaustion.
"[Sighs relivingly] You -You do know I could've - flown us both over here and save you all that trouble, right?" I reminded in a slight breathy tone with a raised-eyebrow like grin, having April look up at me wide-eyed before rubbing the back of her head with her right hand, smiling sheepishly at the mentioning of it.
"[Chuckles sheepishly] Guess I kinda forgot that you could do that," she admits spontaneously, feeling somewhat silly and over minded on what she just did.
I giggled at that as I went into a kneeling position in case anyone from the inside through the glass window's triangular roof structure wouldn't see my appearance, right next to April while placing my right hand onto her left shoulder and muttered softly:
"Come on. Let's get inside and find out what Shredder's plan is."
April nodded with a determined grin as she then turns around the other way and, getting up onto her feet with bending over in a hunch position, starts trudging to the front of the Church, me following in the exact same motion in pursuit. We kept our eyes peeled in case of suspicion as we went around a corner to see the color-stain, partly-broken glass window with the non-workable clock in front of the Church, only we lightly press our backs against the arterial design while we side-walked onto the open space between the ledge and the stain-glass structure while seeing a jagged opening on the far-right side of the broken window, just big enough for both April and I to squeeze ourselves in. We side-walked carefully and watchfully onto the space as we near the broken gap of the color-glass window's corner, having April to go in first as she turns herself around to the other side of the broken opening with a steady balance, kneels herself down with a quick glance behind her, then she finally crawls in. I then took the same motion as well; having me carefully turn around over the opening, kneel down, and precautiously and steadily crawl into the gap without having myself get pricked or scraped from the broken window's sharp edges.
Once April and I were finally inside the decrypted Church, we both then gazed into the actual stronghold of the Foot Clan itself, having us both gasp with fearful expressions on what we were seeing. The inside of the Foot Clan's hideaway, typically known as Shredder's throne room, was more intimidating and creepy-looking in real life then on television. The sides of the room had encrypted cases of stone-like pillars on the inside, from below was the glass-flooring of an indoor pool with a grey-cemented walkway that led from the triangular door from below us all the way over to the stairway that came up to the platform, where Shredder, who was right where he always been, sat atop his stone-carved throne. The rest of the area was surrounded by glass-framed windows, showing the rest of the City, as well as the night-lit sky as the Darkness within the room shadowed Shredder's horrid and menacing armored form, making him more terrifying and frightening as ever.
As I saw Shredder sitting in his throne, I then felt the red-aural negativity becoming stronger when I stepped into this very room, having me silently grunt in agony, feeling my stomachache and headache coming back to me but only ten times worse, making me lower my head down, squeezing my eyes shut, furrowing my brows and gritting my teeth tightly while placing my left hand onto the plate of my stomach in holding in my queasy feeling.
"Alora? Are you okay?" I heard April ask in a whisper, having me urgingly turn my head with my eyes squinting through my eyelids to her, seeing the worried look on her face as she saw my sudden reaction.
I then turn my head back down, squeezing my eyes shut again while taking a few deep inhales to ease the pressuring sickness.
"[Groans sickly] y-yeah, I'm okay," I muttered softly to her, having me to ease the queasiness a bit as I looked back to the concern freckled female again, "I'm just not feeling so well since I'm sensing a lot of negative aura in here."
"[Silently gasp in shock] Oh my gosh! Are you gonna be alright?! Do you wanna leave here and meet with the others so you won't be feeling this way?!" April questions softly yet frantically with absolute worry and fright, having to come over to me and placing her hands on my shoulders for support.
I quietly chuckled with a small yet weak smile, seeing her like this just like Leo and the others were to me earlier today, knowing on how much they all care about my well-being of how my powers were affecting me with this kind of sense was both appreciative but a little exasperating.
"I'll be fine, April. I'll hold on for as long as I can, and I don't wanna leave you in here by yourself with these treacherous scavengers and murderers. So it's okay, I'm staying right here with you," I assured with as much perseverance.
"You sure?" She asks with uncertainty as I nodded back to her with that same smile I had, having April glance to the side unsurely before letting out a sigh, looking back to me while saying, "Alright."
I smiled a tad bigger as she pulls her hands off me and we both looked back to the haunting area of the throne room, yet as we looked toward in seeing Shredder still sitting on his throne, something seemed to have changed. He then tensed up slightly within his chair, hearing a low grunt coming from him as he lightly glances from side to side with his half-blinded eyes, like as if he was detecting something. Seeing him react so suddenly like this had me withheld a curious and somewhat fearful demeanor upon what was interpreted.
'Does Shredder somehow sense us? Like - does he know that April and I are both here?'
But my frightening thoughts were interrupted, only to hear the sound of a door closing from underneath April and I, having us both look over the edge to see none other than Dogpound, the Purple Dragon leader Fong, and a few Foot Soldiers march into the entrance with stern looks. Alongside near the walkway, splashing up from the water from one of the glass floor openings in the indoor pool was the mutant fish that was actually the Gangster Leader Xever himself. As he held onto the side of the walkway with his right, claw-like finned hand, gazing and listening in the conversation as the giant mutant Ninja Dog and the Purple Dragon thug approach and stood apart from the stairway platform as Shredder, whose glancing action diminishes and brings his attention back at hand, stared strictly and threatingly at them through his metal helmet.
"Listen carefully," He instructed in his low and bone-chilling tone as both Dogpound and Fong knelt before their Master in awaiting their orders while Shredder continued:
"Five of you will hijack a tanker truck on Houston in approximately fifteen minutes."
While Shredder was talking to his fellow men on the plan, April, thinking fast, reaches over with her left hand to her right pocket, pulls out her red cell phone, presses a button that was the speaker mode onto the touchable screen, and holds it out within her right hand to where Shredder was speaking. She was letting the guys from outside actually listen to the meeting of Shredder's dark attempt of taking us out, but, knowing the guys, they'll probably be overly talking with what the Master of the Foot Clan's directions means and ended up into an intense argument that'll make them fully miss on what the plans' Intel here.
No One's POV
Know Alora's accusations are true; the Turtles all huddled around as Leo held out his T-phone within his right hand, listening closely and surely to Shredder's plan as the evil psychopath was speaking through the small handheld device.
"The chemical is extremely rare, so you will not have another chance."
Once the Turtles' had heard that part of the info, their expressions went into concern yet curiousness on one particular word.
"Chemical? What chemical?" Raph questions suspiciously to his brothers as Leo flinch with his eyes glancing upwards on the left with his shoulders tense up at the red-clad Turtle's impatient question.
"How about we listen and find out?" Donnie retorted quietly, having Leo turn to his scientific brother with a worried look while Mikey started to express an excited and ecstatic smile on his brothers' bickering.
"How about I break you shell on my knee?" Raph retorted back as both he and Donnie hovered over their Leader and glared dagger eyes at each other, only for Leo to push them both apart from each other while pointing to the phone, turning to both of the glaring-eyed Turtles and retorting to both of them angrily:
"How about you two shut it for a minute while we try to hear Shredder's evil plan!"
As they stood quiet to listen on more of what Shredder was saying, the whole time he was talking through the phone, which held the photo icon of April's raised-eyebrow, smirk-like expression and above it entitled her full name, while the red-clad and purple-clad Turtles retorted at each other, the last bit of the conversation was now ending.
"Which will destroy them once and for all. Now go."
"We missed it! Oh, great" Leo exclaimed bringing his head up and back down, as well as putting his left hand in a holding position underneath the back of his right with an irritated look before looking between his brothers, "Nice going, guys."
With Leo blaming his two bickering comrades, Raph simply tightened his balled-up fists with his narrow stare increasing at the blue-clad Turtle, while Donnie turned and ran over to the ledge with a worried and frighten expression.
"We've gotta get April and Alora out!" Donnie stated out worriedly, having his left foot atop of the ledge as he was about to jump over, but Leo rushed over and placed his left hand on the purple-clad Turtle's right shoulder, stopping him and gaining his attention.
"No, if we rush in there, we put both of them at risk. We wait," He instructed informatively while releasing his right shoulder as Donnie looks back to the decrypted Church with a sulking look of constant worry.
Alora's POV
When Shredder finished talking to his men on his demonic plan, seeing Dogpound, Fong, and the Foot Soldiers bow in respect to their Master, standing back up, turning around, and walking back the way they came in through the triangular doors, April and I wasted no time as we crawled our way out through the broken gap of the color-glass stain frame work, side-walked away and over the same side we came upon, and saw them walking over on the left side of the building to a black van. Though I knew April would possibly jump over back to the fire escape's top railing again, climb back down, dangle and fall atop of the dumpster that was right underneath the fire escape, and then, jump down and lightly hid herself near the apartment's cement wall while Dogpound and the gang of killer Ninjas were preparing to ready to leave, but instead of going through all of that, I had a better and safer way in mind.
Setting my idea into action, I then grabbed ahold of April's left hand, much to her surprised as she looks down to our intertwined hands and up to me with a perplexed look.
"Just trust me and hold on tight, okay?" I assured, having her looked at me questionably, but nodded nonetheless.
As I held onto her hand, I then activated my aural flight once again, except as I did, this time, it came with a surprising yet astonishing twist. The aura that surrounded my outlined form, the aura stretched out from my right hand that was connected to April's, it then started to envelop her as well. It reached from our intertwined hands, traced its way from April's hand up her arm and continued surrounding the outlines of her body, seeing the sparkling aura fully upbringing her form. Once the aura finished covering her feminine form, we both then began to be lifting of the concrete rooftop's edge a few inches in midair, having both our pairs of feet nearly not touching the roof's flooring. April, seeing that she was being upheld with my magical aura, looks down and around her, noticing her ponytail and the bangs of her hair flowing all around her, with both of her arms outstretched by her side, turns to me with awe and a big smile on her face, having me smile back in seeing that she was enjoying herself.
Even though how enjoyable this was for both her and I, we knew that we had a mission to uphold and, without wasting another feeble minute, we slowly and surely soared down over the edge, holding our hands tightly to each other in not letting go, while making sure Dogpound, Fong, or the Foot didn't see or hear us descending down and, to our great and soundless relief, they didn't suspect us at all. As we neared the ground between the decrypted Church and the Chinese man's apartment, we swiftly zipped over near the side of the apartment's cement wall where the dumpster, trashcan, and the cat that sat atop of the tin can are, gently landing our feet to the ground and lightly pressing our backs against the wall of the building as Dogpound and his band of thugs that followed behind him walked by, hearing the mutant Dog's growling as he continued over to the black van.
With our backs pressed against the building while peeking over the corner in spying the group, I saw April reach into her back pocket with her right hand, pulled up her red phone, and pressed it to her right ear, detecting that she was talking to Leo through it.
"We're gonna hitch a ride, see where they go," April informed softly as she scooted closer near the stairwell's side, peeping over to see Dogpound's spikey, hard-covered back while growling that low, dog-like growl.
I knew that this was the part where things would go haywire from here, leaving me no alternative but to quickly lean in with my left outstretched arm, grabbed April's arm, and gently yank her back, having her lightly gasp in surprise as she looks at me with a blank look.
"April, no; we can't. It's way too risky. We've already done our part so you should leave the rest of this to us," I informed in a whispery tone, knowing that this was about to take a dangerous turn for the worse as we then heard Leo's frantic voice rang out through the red-cell phone:
"Alora's right, you've both done enough. Now get out of there!"
While Leo stated that, I then glanced over the determined and over-confident teenager, just to see Dogpound straighten up with his doggy ears pointing straight up, then his right ear began twitching and turning, having me inhale slowly with a gaped mouth and right at that moment –
The Mutant Dog turns around with a narrowed stare and a growl, looking right at April, who was still facing me while Dogpound was staring angrily at us, and I as I looked with a wide-eyed expression of total fear.
"Uh-oh," I muttered worriedly as I kept my scared gaze at the dangerously evil Mutant since I knew for sure…
We were both in seriously major trouble.
No One's POV
"Bradford heard you! Alora! April! RUN!" Leo cried out frightingly through the phone as Raph, Donnie, and Mikey huddled around him with worried and fearful expressions of their own.
Just after Leo cried that out, April turned around with cell phone in hand, seeing Dogpound walking right towards them, making her gasp with a wide-eyed fearful look while hearing the cat on the trashcan screech at the giant Dog Mutant's appearance as he approaches the two females. As Dogpound came close to them, Alora quickly got over next to April and put up her left outstretch arm in front of her in a protective manner, keeping her narrowed eyes fixed on the huge walking animal as he came a few stomping steps closer.
"You take one more step closer, Bradford, and I'll strike you down, hard!" Alora proclaimed out in a threatening way as possible, doing her absolute best in not showing any fear.
"[Chuckles amusingly] I like to see you try, little witch girl," Dogpound taunted with a smug, doggy-like smirk.
When Dogpound took another step over to the two frighten Kunoichis, Alora, who tried to warn the Mutated Ninja pupil, took matters into her own hands as she brings up her aura-filled fists and throws two to four power punches at the huge Mutant, who, eventually, blocks them with his right, hard-covered substance hand, seeing the blasts dissipated into specks of light when they made contact. Seeing that didn't work out, Alora then decided to take a faithful yet risky move as she activated her aural flight to her will and, with undeniable force, pushes herself up and heading straight toward Dogpound.
Alora tries to hold out the big Mutant for as long as possible 'til the Turtles arrive; throwing out as many power punches to throw him off, causing Dogpound to quickly cross his arms in front of him for self-defense, before the Noble Light sends a sonic-wave, roundhouse kick towards him that has the overgrown Dog stumble back a couple of feet away from the two teens, even knowing that he wasn't gonna go down so easily, Alora then speeds over to the enormous and furry-like Mutant to finish him off.
Yet as Alora charges at the bulky-headed Mutant with such force, Dogpound retracts his arms at his sides and gives the magic-wielding teen a strict attentional glare with a low and menacing growl, waits for the opportunity when his enemy speeds in closer and, at the exact moment, brings up his large, left hand across from him and, only for Alora, seeing her not having any time to react, Dogpound sweeps down his hand and –
*WHACK*
Alora was sent flying on the right side and banging into the Church's wall, hearing her grunt painfully at the impact before falling onto the ground motionlessly. April, who gasps in shock and fear for her dear friend, hears the growl of a dog that made her turn back to the source of it, seeing Dogpound turn his direct attention to her and starts walking over to nab her, much to April's horror.
As Dogpound approached closer to the terrified redhead, the Turtles, with narrowed looks on their faces, rushed down from the side-buildings' fire escapes, jumping from one railing to another as they tried to make their way down fast enough in helping and rescuing their friends. While the Turtles were doing so, Alora, who groaned hurtfully at the hard material she collided with during that attack, began to regain consciousness as she grudgingly pushes herself on her hands and knees to get back up. Feeling the dizziness and agonizing pain coursing through her body, she was able to woozily get back on her face, yet her vision was going in and out of blurriness, but when it cleared for a moment, her eyes widen in terror on what she was seeing.
April, who was now knocked out cold, had her wrists tied behind her back with a piece of duct-tape over her mouth, was behind carried over by the huge hands of Dogpound, who walked over to the black van with a smug grin plastered over his doggy mug. Alora's horrified expression turned into infuriating anger, having her glare hard and grit her teeth together in fury.
'No one, and I mean NO ONE, ends up doing that to any of my friends!' She declares out furiously in her mind and, feeling all the pain and wooziness dispersing as if she wasn't hit at all to begin with, starts running over in stopping Dogpound from succeeding.
While she did, Dogpound opens the right side door of the van, where Fong was in the driver's seat, tosses unconscious April inside with a groan.
"Buckle up," He informs sinisterly as he used his paw-like hands to reaches, brings around and over down to where to fasten the seatbelt with a satisfied 'Click' of the buckle, followed by Dogpound laughing triumphantly as he shut the side door closed.
Hearing Dogpound's laughter made the Noble Light's anger burn more as the Mutant had walked over and turned with his back facing her, now's her chance, making herself run faster and quicker, she charges in with a yell and, without noticing, jumps up and grabs ahold onto the Mutant Dog's spikey back, catching the evil Ninja henchman by surprised.
"LET APRIL GO! NOW!" Alora bellowed out angrily as she clanged for life onto the spikey hard-covered, furry back of the giant Dog Mutant.
Dogpound moved himself around, waving his pawed hands around behind him in trying to grab the female Ninja that was clinging onto him, much to his annoyance and irritation. Alora ducked and swerved in trying not to let the bulky Mutant grab her, managing to by the others some time to get here, only, to her sudden expectation, Dogpound flings over his big, left hand over his right shoulder, grabs Alora by the waist, making her yelp as the Mutant pulls her off of him and holds her tightly, squeezing her structure as if he wear a wind-up doll in trying to break her, having Alora grunt and groan while pushing herself with her hands against the outer rims of his hand to break free, but it didn't seem to work. She would've tried to use her see-through power to phase through Dogpound's hand, but under the circumstances, she had only done it to non-organic materials and had no idea if she used it through a skinned-flesh body part that could likely cause any bodily harm to her or the opponent, either human or Mutant alike. Knowing there was no way around it, Alora grunted one more time before giving in and directing a dagger-eyed glare at Dogpound, who reflected the same expression back to her while growling threateningly.
"We won't let Shredder get away with this!" She declared firmly at the evil Ninja Mutant Dog.
"Don't make assumptions that you can't hold on to, witch," Dogpound replied with a low growl as he tighten his grip of her, making her groan painfully at that, "Cause after I finish in destroying your home and your precious Sensei, I'll be coming after you and your freakish friends next. And with the Turtles out of the way, I'll be delivering you straight to Master Shredder like we informed – and I'll be enjoying myself to see him make you suffer."
With that said, Dogpound suddenly threw Alora over and away on the far opposite end of the road, seeing her spiral over the pavement's road before rolling a few feet away and lying there in pressuring pain. Dogpound chuckled in satisfactory as he moved onto the side when the black van started up. With Alora lying on the ground on the right side of the Church, groaning from the reacting motion, the Turtles came down and immediately ran over to their fallen friend with worried and frightening expressions.
"Dudette!" Mikey cried out fearfully as he and his brothers all gathered around the Noble Light as Leo knelt down next to her on her right side.
"Alora! You okay?!" He asked terrifyingly as he gently tried to help her up in a steady motion by using his left hand to push her back and his right on her right shoulder.
Although Alora had her head down, eyes shut tightly and pressing the palm of her left hand near the side of her forehead to stop the agonizing pain that throbbed her head, she then heard the distance sound of a car being turned on that made her head snap back up with a wide-eyed look and a horrid gasp escaping her lips, ignoring Leo's concern question and looking towards the black van that held someone really important to all of them.
"No…NO!" She shouted out in desperate plea as she quickly staggered back up on her feet and started running towards the van while yelling out, "Stop that van! They got April!"
After hearing that, the Turtles went wide-eyed in fear as they followed suite right behind the Noble Light, yet the van already started to drive away, and after a few feet of driving, Dogpound came out, jogged over to the road and jumped onto the right back side of the black vehicle with his left arm hooked over it to keep himself steady. Once the van drove off down the street passed the Church, the Turtles, and the Noble Light ran as fast as they could, but had to stop where they were at; knowing that they wouldn't be able to catch the van that was already over a mile away from them at the rate.
"No! We're too late!" Donnie exclaimed horrifyingly as he and Alora held looks of terror while Leo, Raph, and Mikey narrowed their gazes at the drove-off van.
As the black van drove on, Dogpound, who was hanging on to the back end of the vehicle, glances back to the group of Ninja Heroes with a narrowed stare before turning away with a chortle with the van driving away and turning a corner…
Leaving four distraught Turtles and a magical female Ninja in total paranoia.
Oh, man! Poor April. So much for disguises and clever thinking. April and Alora were able to sneak into the Foot Clan's base and listen intently on the meeting. However, thanks to both Raph and Donnie's bickering over the conversation that was heard from Leo's T-phone, they haven't fully discovered on the Shredder's attempt to destroy their home. Though things couldn't possibly get any worse, both the Kunoichis' identities were caught by the big, bad Dog Mutant himself, grudgingly knocking out the Noble Light, end up taking April hostage, and driving away to persecute the evil plan while leaving the Ninja Team behind in disarray. Will the Turtles and the Noble Light be able to get their heads back in the game to complete this mission? Will they be able to save April and the Lair before it's all too late? Find out next time!
I'm so very sorry for the long delay. Been very busy in helping put up the cleaning, tidying, and putting up the Christmas decorations around the house (especially when the inside of the house is really small to find enough room for so many delicate holiday items). Also, I had to practice with my sister on an important occasion this pass Wednesday, so that kinda had to hold me up on this. Anyways, I really appreciate on all of your patience, and don't worry, I'll be sure to finish the next part of this episode just before Christmas (hopefully; fingers crossed). Thanks again!
P.S. There are also no just one, but FOUR, questions from a few of our readers that was sent to the Turtles, April, and Master Splinter; but let's start with the first one that was sent to the Turtles:
"If you guys had superpowers, what kind of superpowers would you want to have and why?"
Mikey: "Yo Dude, the Superpower I would love to have would be to be able to eat as many pizzas as I possibly can at one time. I could eat pizzas every second of every day, enjoying every morsel, without ever getting full or fat! That would be Awesome!"
Donnie: "My superpower choice would be focused in the area of science. To be able to find all the cures to every disease that has ever been would be the greatest superpower anyone could hope to have, and that's the superpower I would wish for."
Raph: "Man! I'd really love to have the superpower of eternal strength, so I could fight all the bad guys without ever getting tired or sore. That way, I could overcome all the evil in the world, help everyone who's being hurt by the bad guys and not worry about having to rest every night. I could just keep going and going and going! That'd be great!"
Leo: "The ability to know everything I can and solve all the problems in the world BEFORE they even happened – that's the superpower I want to have. That much power would help me help others. But, this type of power would have to be accompanied by compassion and wisdom, which would help keep the first superpower in check!"
Now, onto the next question from one of our other readers that also goes to not just the Turtles, but to April O'Neil and Master Splinter as well:
"What do you think of Alora? Because I am very curious about what they think of her."
Mikey: "What I think about Dudette? She's totally awesome, yo! She's kind, super cool, caring, always there for us to help out; she is like the best! And to top it off, she's got these sweet powers that give us the back up for it, dude! She even laughs at my jokes, stands up for me, trusts me and believes me on somethings that my bros won't, and I'll always look up to her no matter what anybody says!"
Donnie: "Alora is a sweet and loving girl that I think would do anything to lend a helping hand. She looks out for my brothers and me just to make sure that we don't cause a ruckus or end up tearing each other apart over our constant bickering. Sometimes, she helps me out in the Lab with my inventions and preparing special equipment for one of our missions, which I find it really comforting and appreciative on the matter. And once we've defeated both Shredder and the Kraang, I'm going to do everything in my scientific power to create a safe way for her to return to her dimensional home of Earth to reunite with her family again. Although, since we're on the subject, she's actually been a major part of our family as well; she's actually been like a sister to me."
Raph: "What's my intention about the kid? Well, for starters, she has been a real asset and shell-kicking fighter here to this team. I admit, I didn't quite trusted her at the beginning when my bros and I found her and brought her back to the Lair, but after getting to know her a bit, and seeing my little pal here Spike taking a likeness towards her, I started to let my judgements about her slide and accepted her as both a teammate and a good friend. Right, buddy? [Raph turns his head over his left shoulder, seeing Spike climb up in appearance and nods his head with a smile before both Turtles looked back] So, yeah. Alora and I are both cool. [Smirks] And besides, it's a good thing that I'm not the only Ninja here who has a hotheaded temper."
Leo: "Alora is such an amazing person to be around with. She's caring, compassionate, and respectable to all of our needs, whether good or bad. I can relate to her since we're both the older sibling of a family and we share a responsibility in taking care and protecting the people we care and love. She's willing to do everything she can to keep my brothers, my Sensei, and my friends safe from any evil threats, mainly the Shredder and the Kraang, and I don't blame her on it cause I would eventually do the same thing, but I just wish that she didn't have to bear the burden by herself. So, as her best friend, I'm going to stick by her every step of the way and, not only to protect her, but also to give all the help and support I can share so she wouldn't have to face this fight alone, and I know my brothers wouldn't hesitate to do the same, too. She's… she's the greatest friend I've ever had."
April: "Alora's an incredible friend and I've never met anyone quite like her. She's kinda a bit like me; strong, determined, stubborn, and always willing to help out. When I first met her, she risked her life in trying to save mine by punching out one of the Kraang that was dragging me to the van my Dad was thrown in. I was so shocked and amazed that someone I barely knew would jump in and tried to rescue me, and to hear that she knows about me, my family, my world, all that is based on a TV show and is really from another dimensional version of Earth, how could I not be any more bewildered by that?! Either way, I knew she was telling the truth since I get these 'feelings' whether somebody tells me something that's true or not, and, I wanted to get to know her, not just because she saved me and is from another Earth, but that she was being kind to me and was always there for me when I'm either feeling down about my Father or something personal, or when I'm having trouble with training. So, Alora and I are like totally normal friends, even though she has these magical powers, but I think it's cool to be friends with someone who has your back."
Master Splinter: "Miss Alora is a very resourceful and kindred spirit who has a pure heart and a loving soul. She has made things easier for both myself and my sons in keeping our family well-guarded and out of harm's way. When I first saw her, I knew that she was someone very special and unique, a person who is willing to give their life and sacrifice in order to protect the ones they care and love for. That is why I had given her the task in being my sons' protector, a warrior whose true power comes from within of both honor and loyalty, and a friend who can share the intentions of love and nobility. I had hoped someday she would learn the true nature of both herself and her powers, and uncover the secret of her destined path to victory. Miss Alora has helped us in more ways than one, and that is something that my sons and I will forever be grateful for."
Okay. Now onto the third and final question that was sent just to the Turtles:
"If there were any crossovers between any TV or comics, what will it be and why? For example: Leo, if you were to crossover into the Star Wars universe, what will you do, who would you want to meet and why?
Leo: "Star Wars, huh? Hmmm! Believe it or not – I think I'd like to pair up with Chewbacca! Chewie's not only a great warrior, he's a very compassionate, caring, loving creature, who's underrated. I think I could learn a lot from him if I traveled around the Universe. I would also like to visit his world, where he came from, and find out more about his family, relatives, friends, because I believe there's a lot more to Chewie than just his friendship with Hans Solo."
Donnie: "My crossover would be with the Fantastic Four, specifically with Mr. Fantastic – Reed Richards. I think he is a brilliant scientist, from whom I could learn volumes of information. He would be a great teacher, a great mentor, and a great man to not only learn more scientific information from, but also learn humility and wisdom."
Mikey: "Oh Dude! There's only one crossover I want to get into - Scooby Doo! Both he and Shaggy LOVE to eat and that's where I come in. We could go out to all different kinds of restaurants, definitely pizzerias, and eat tons of really cool and totally rad food. I think we could get along real well! Man, we'd be eating ALL the time!"
Raph: "Batman! Definitely Batman! That guy knows how to get down and fight the bad guys until there's not one bad guy standing. Fighting side-by-side with Batman, sitting in the Batcave with Bruce Wayne, formulating our strategy to take down the evil in the city – that's MY kind of crossover!"
As to my character 'Alora', she wants to let you know she appreciates the compliment. She will have time to make the best of it in New York City, even though she's occupied with helping take down the bad guys and alien robots, she'll see what can happen, since she is the only female to transport into her favorite TV show. We're both grateful to all the readers who are enjoying this story.
Stay tuned and thanks for reading!