Chapter 54: Panic in the Sewers – Part 4
Alora's POV
After when Dogpound and the black van, who held April captive within it, disappeared from sight, Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and I all stood in front of the spooky-looking Church that decrypted behind us, feeling the distressed and paranoid anxiety creeping up inside us. I felt the worst for wear since I couldn't protect April from Dogpound; he was just too darn strong! I did everything I could use with my powers to hold off the giant Mutant Dog, but all they did wasn't enough to lay a single mark on him, only dissipate in sparks of light when they hit his hard-covered hand, or send him stumbling back a few feet away. I hated feeling useless and powerless when confronting an evil Mutant henchmen like Bradford, especially now that he's becoming more unbearable and invincible to take down.
I stood near next to Raph while Mikey and Donnie were on the opposite side of us as we all saw Leo pull out his T-phone, pressed the middle button that made a beeping sound while holding it in both hands as he called out desperately into it with a worried and fearful expression in hopes April would pick up the call:
"April. April! Are you there?!"
"She's not gonna answer, Leo," Donnie informs before he asks worriedly, "What do we do?"
Leo, who still stared at his T-phone in a hunched position, then, after Donnie's concern question, the blue-clad Turtle begins to exasperate with himself by grabbing the side of his head with his left hand, then bringing it back down, jerks his head in glancing at Raph and I, and then grabbing both sides of his head with both hands while still holding his T-phone in his right hand before bringing his gaze down, having him go into a major anxiety breakdown:
"We gotta get April out of that van, but-but- Dogpound's in there, and-and-we're not ready to fight that guy. Aw, Splinter was right! We should've stayed below."
When Leo held his head down at that, having me feel sympathy and concern towards him, just then, an exhale was heard as both Leo and I glanced over our right to see Raph turn to the say with a blunt look on his face, knowing exactly how to bring Leo back to his senses.
"[Exhales] Can't believe I'm gonna say this," Raph mutters in an annoyance, before glancing at us, then turning to face his Leader and said that three-liner phase in a dramatic and persuasive voice that actually brought a uplifting feeling and a smile on my face:
"Get it together, Captain. You're our Leader! So act like one."
Right after Raph announces out that important line, Leo then straightens himself up with his back turned to us, before turning his head to the right than halfway with a calming and confident demeanor, like as if the anxiety breakdown never even happened.
"You're right, Raph. That was the anxiety ray talking," Leo stated out in a simple and content tone with a toothy-grin, having me grin back happily that things were looking up again.
"What, that's it? You're not gonna slap yourself?" Raph questions with a raised-eyebrow, smug-like grin with his arms crossed over his plastron as I came over with my hands on my hips, giving a 'really' look to the red-clad Turtle.
"Seriously? Come on, Raph, we both know Leo's not that stupid in doing something like that," I intercepted skeptically, knowing Leo wouldn't actually slap himself in knocking some sense into him.
"Well it was worth a shot," Raph replied with a shrug at me before look back at his older brother, having me roll my eyes with an amused smile.
"Psst, let's save April," Leo proclaimed determinedly.
"And our home," Raph added in with the same amount of determination, having me nod with a confident look.
"But we'll never catch them on foot," Donnie exclaims with a hopeless tone as Mikey held a concerning look while standing next to his scientific brother.
After Donnie mentions that, Leo then turns around with his shell facing us again, still with a content grin on his expression while Raph, who still had his arms crossed, and I smiled, only mine grew bigger with both excitement and enthusiasm when the blue-clad Turtle informs quite accurately:
"We're not going on foot."
And boy was he right on that imply.
Once we all got our focus back on track, we quickly headed back to the Lair right into Donnie's Lab and picked up something that was gonna be a major help on this mission, and when I meant 'back on track', I actually mean on track. We grabbed onto the one and only Patrol Buggy, having each of the four Ninja Turtle Brothers seated in the two front and back side-cars with respectable and safety head-gears on; Mikey in the right/back sidecar wearing an air-pilot wrap with the strands dangling near the sides of his face while putting the goggles over his eyes for protection, Raph in the right/front sidecar wearing a red football helmet with a single black with white-side line stripe in the middle along with white zig-zags coming from the white outlines that spread separate ways on the helmet, Donnie in the left/back sidecar wearing a greyish-black hockey helmet with a white number sixteen printed in the middle, and Leo in the left/front sidecar wearing a navy-blue baseball helmet with a white baseball skull-like face printed in the middle of it.
As the Turtles got each into position in the buggy, I stood by next to it while activating my aural-flight when they start the engine. Leo, who was taking the lead in driving the contraption, starts it up and before you know it, starts taking off in a quick motion, having me follow right behind them in speeding force. We race through the Sewers as we made our way back up to the surface, running super-fast like on a racetrack through the highway on the streets as I flew right next to the buggy on the left-hand side next to Leo and Donnie's sidecars. I held an enormous grin on my face as I race alongside the guys in their new vehicle, feeling the pressuring wind pass through me while hearing the engine of the patrol buggy revs and the excited cheering from an overly having fun Mikey.
"Yeah, this is rad!" Mikey cheered out as we drove through the streets in Chinatown.
"It's not ready!" Donnie yelled out informatively, since we decided to take the buggy out for a spin in this crisis, he's been protesting on not doing it for the matter of not completely finishing it.
Although, the others believed to be, even though I was with Donnie on this, Leo made a sharp right turn, causing Mikey to scream out from the turn in – possibly - absolute enjoyment. I quickly screech with a halt when Leo made that rotation move, having me snicker to myself at the screaming noise before swiftly zipping right after them and, flying at top speed, right next to them on the right side yet again.
"This thing is awesome!" Mikey cried out happily and joyfully before motioning his right index finger while questioning quite loudly, "Does it have a radio?!"
"No, it doesn't have a radio!" Donnie shot back irritatingly to his younger brother before to look back behind Leo's head and mention yet again, "I'm telling ya it's not ready!"
Right after he said that, Leo takes his left hand onto a lever on the side of the buggy, pulls it back, and just when you know it, the buggy begins to increase in speed as I sped myself up to catch up with it.
"Seems ready to me," Leo replies with a grin, only in sudden motion that the steering wheel he was holding onto came out, having him let out a "Woah!" before putting it back in place with a surprising look.
"[Giggles] you were saying, Leo?" I questioned aloud with a raised-eyebrow, smug-like grin expression, having him turn to me with pinkness on his cheeks, feeling embarrassed before looking back at the wheel then turning to his brothers with a sheepish expression.
"Eh, okay, don't pull on that, and we'll be fine," He assures them, having Raph, Mikey, and Donnie stare at him with blank looks while I chuckled quietly within the back of my right hand, thinking it was really funny and adorable at the same time.
As the guys and I continued to speed our way down the roads, I then reminisced when the Turtles were on their way to track down Dogpound and his pack of scumbags, the evil bunch would be driving to Houston 'til they spotted the Tanker Truck that held the chemical they were scouring for, having them turn a corner to follow suit to where the Truck drove. Then, Dogpound would order Fong to speed up in order to 'catch it' as the gigantic Mutant dog put it, making the tires screech while speeding up on the right and racing up ahead so they would stop the huge contraption from going any further. Once they sped up in front of the Truck, with tires screeching yet again, the black van swerved around as Dogpound jumps off and stands in the middle of the road, waiting the right moment for the Truck to fully come to a complete stop. And that's just what happen as the driver, who was driving the Truck while lounging with his right arm hung onto the extended seat in a relaxing way, goes wide-eyed as he sees Dogpound, gasps in shock while retracting his right hand back on the wheel, then presses his foot down on the breaks, having the tires screech as the Truck began to slow down and came to a halt right in front of the dog-like Mutant while hearing the horn honk loudly. When it stopped in front of him, Dogpound trudges his big, paw-like feet over on the left side of the driver's compartment, seeing the driver following the Mutant's movement with a frightening expression, hearing the angry Mutant dog growling in a warningly way, Dogpound then stands right in front of the left-hand door with a narrowed glare, takes his big, bulky left hand, and tears off the left door while tossing it aside, having the driver scream out terrifyingly at the Mutant's actions. Dogpound would tell the driver to "Get. Out," in a threatening way, having the poor man quickly take his seatbelt off and scramble out of there in a shuddering motion, having the bulky-headed creature follow his retreating form run off. With him gone from behind the Tanker Truck, Dogpound turn the other way and motion his head over to the driver's seat with a growl, having one of the Foot Soldiers jog over, climb into the driver's compartment, and start driving it off while Dogpound jumps onto it in hold of the Tanker as the Truck moves away with the black van rotating around with screeching tires, following behind them. When that was said and done, Dogpound would instruct the Foot Soldier within the driver's seat to contact Shredder, saying that they got the Tanker with the highly explosive chemical and inform that they were on their way to extract the plan, with no problems encountered.
However, I knew that wouldn't happen, not 'til the guys and I made another turn on our left, seeing at the moment both Dogpound and the Tanker Truck in front of us. I looked directly at the Mutant Dog as he glared at us with hatred in those red eyes, having me match his expression towards him as I saw his mouth moving while he was still gazing at us angrily, knowing what those exact words were he told the Foot Soldier in the Truck:
"Run them down."
Just then, the Truck started to pick up speed, coming directly towards us with no hesitation in a single split as I then heard Leo ensured to his hotheaded brother:
"Raph, get ready."
"For what?" Raph asked, turning his head to his Leader in puzzlement when I saw Leo put his right hand on another lever, having me grin at the thought of what he was about to do.
"This!" Leo informed, and when he did just that, the buggy groaned and split into two half's, having Raph let out a "Whoa!" while taking ahold of his steering wheel in front of him with a wide-eyed shocked look.
When the Truck was near at hitting us, the two parts of the buggy averted on opposite sides, having the Truck and the black van pass between us as I flew onto the left side with Leo and Donnie's half, hearing the surprised screaming from Mikey before both side buggy cars swerved around, with Mikey now laughing excitedly, and then racing right after the two vehicles.
"LEO!" I heard Raph yell out as I flew in the middle of the road while Leo and Donnie were now on my left, only for Raph and Mikey's sidecar buggy comes running up alongside on the right and the red-clad Turtle states out angrily to Leo, who was smiling contently, "You could've been a little more specific."
"Where's the fun in that?" Leo replies skeptically as he then speeds up ahead of time.
I laughed at that, knowing that he got Raph good on that move with the 'detachable' sidecar thing, seeing what looked like Raph was grumbling under his helmet, having my chuckle silently at his behavior. Although, my happy-laughing spree was at a pause as I looked ahead to see the black van move to the right, began to speed up right next to the Tanker, and then over in front of the Truck while the guys and I were racing right up near behind the huge vehicle in pursuit.
"Get ready," Leo informs as we all cling on close right behind the Tanker, only for Donnie to look over behind the Tanker, seeing a fancy-lettered word in bulb, dark-blue printed letters as he read aloud:
"Cholorosulfonic acid?"
Just as he read that, Donnie's expression went from quizzical to wide-eyed grim, knowing exactly, as well as I do, on what that chemical was intended of using for Saki's aid.
"Leo, I think I figured out Shredder's plan!" He states out over to the blue-clad Turtle driver, having Leo perk up in surprise at that as Donnie explains the reason, "That acid reacts violently with water!"
"So if he dumps it in the Sewer - ," Leo begins to say in realization, only for Donnie to finish then sentence with a fearful tone:
"It'll all be incinerated in seconds, including the Lair!"
"And Splinter!" Leo adds in terror before narrowing his expression while declaring, "We gotta stop them."
"Agreed," I inquired with confident tone and a nod before informing worriedly, "But we also gotta save April from them, as well."
"Right," Leo says in agreement, as we both turn our attention ahead with narrowed looks and continued to follow behind the Tanker Truck with Dogpound riding it and the black van that Fong was driving with a tied-up April inside.
We kept up our pace at them as they turned the next corner on the right, having us follow strict at that, even though they were trying to lose us on the road with their speedily driving skills, it wasn't gonna be that easily to get rid of us. While doing so, Leo, Donnie, and I sped up right behind the black van, having see Fong looking in the side-view mirror at our approach, looking both annoyed and angry, he then turns a corner, separating from the Tanker as Dogpound hears the van's tires screeching that made him glance on his left in seeing the black van turning away in a different direction, then gazes back forwardly as if he didn't care, which I knew that he doesn't one bit.
Except for him, the guys and I did and knew that this was a crucial time to split up and take different routes.
"Donnie. You and Raph stay with the van and save April. Alora, Mikey, you're both coming with me. We have to stop that Tanker!" Leo instructs firmly, having me nod in approval.
"Uh, if you haven't noticed, I'm stuck with Raph?" Mikey mentions unsurely, having me let another grin grace my lips as I saw Raph's expression turn from narrow to a smirk at that.
"No problem," Raph stated calmly, as he then reaches down with his left hand to a lever, grabs ahold of it, and , with a firm grip, pulls it up towards him, having the back of the sidecar make intricate noises.
Just then, when the noises stopped, Mikey, looking around frantically on his car, holds down onto the sides and then, the back sidecar separates, having the orange-clad Turtle start screaming wildly at controlling of his contraption far off behind us as Raph speeds up right next to us with a smile.
"Well, that was fun!" Raph admits half-heartedly at that.
"Told ya!" Leo responded, having me laugh once again when the blue-clad Turtle glances to his left, pulling the same lever on his side, and having the sidecar behind him that Donnie was in separate from his.
Donnie let out a "Whoo-Hoo!" when his sidecar was released, having move several feet back from us just like Mikey's had, hearing the screeching of tires as it reared itself backwards. Once all four sidecars were parted from each other, I decided to set back a bit near Raph and Donnie's sidecars since we won't see them 'til after we've stopped Dogpound from unleashing the dangerous chemical.
"You guys be careful and make sure to get April somewhere safe, okay?! Good luck!" I called out to them with a caring and pleadingful tone.
"We will! Same goes for you guys, too!" Donnie called back as he and Raph nodded in appreciation, before they both turned the opposite way to where the black van had headed.
After Raph and Donnie turned the corner in going to rescue April, Leo, Mikey, and I sped our way back to the Tanker, going at full length in keeping up behind them in making sure they didn't escape our sight. As we were nearly a meter away from it, Dogpound heard the commotion of our engines gaining on them, having him turn his gaze back at us with an angry growl in his throat and glaring dagger eyes. I kept right next to Leo on the left side when Mikey skidded his buggy over to us on my left, having us all huddle together while keeping our narrowed stares straight at the target.
"Mikey, let's slow this thing down," Leo suggested to his younger brother before ordering aloud, "Fire grappling hooks!"
Just then, the front part of Leo's buggy shot out a grappling hook attached to some rope that spiraled out straight onto the lower back part of the Tanker Truck.
"Got it!" Mikey replied as he too shot out his grappling hook a second before Leo's did.
Both grappling hooks fired out and soon connected themselves atop of the bottom hem of the Tanker with light-blue sparks flying from the contact, only as the Truck sped up, making the ropes expand there extension, both hooks disconnect not from the Truck, but from both Leo and Mikey's buggies, just seeing the ropes attach to it fly away behind it.
"So much for the grappling hooks!" I replied dryly at that with a deadpan look.
"Donnie did say they weren't ready!" Mikey exclaimed informatively at Leo.
"I know!" Leo replied annoyingly as the three of us ignored the temporal problem with our buggy's equipment and headed straight on in stopping the Foot from achieving their primary goal.
We kept on driving behind the Tanker with Dogpound still clinging onto it from the left side, glancing back at us every now and then if we were ever going to give up on following them, but disappointing to them, we didn't. As we followed suite in trailing the Foot Clan's scavengers, I would pray in my mind in hopes of both Donnie and Raph to rescue April from Fong and those few Foot Soldiers in the black van. Even though I knew that from the original episode that both of them do attempt to track them down, throw a smoke bomb into the driver's compartment in front of the vehicle (though Donnie would warn April to hold her breath from inhaling the scent) to catch Fong by surprise, stop the black van with spreading spiky tacks on the road (which are known in Japanese as 'Tetsubishi' or 'Caltrops') that would cause the tires to blow holes into them that release the air, take out a couple of the Foot Soldiers from within the back of the van, and finally, April would add the finishing touch by kicking open the right side door when Fong comes over and charges at them but gets smacked and knocked out from that, not getting the chance to attack either Raph or Donnie. Donnie would get impress by that in saying "Nice shot!" while she replies "Nice wheels," which referring to the two buggies near the far side of the road in impression, having Donnie smile in pride in saying he build them. Yet after he said that with a chuckle, the buggies start to fall apart on them with spits of steam smoking out of them, having all three of them look towards the fallen out vehicles with blank looks at that, only for Donnie to glance skywards and sheepishly tell them that "They're not ready yet" while placing his left hand on the top side of his head with his right on his hip as April just smiles at him and Raph, with a blunt look, goes behind the redhead and starts to untie her.
Though I knew that would happen, I still felt uneven if anything would change since I was here, but after knowing that everything was going as it should be, I began to feel that it seems that everything's just fine. That is, 'til I was brought back to reality when the Tanker Truck had suddenly swerved around on it left with Dogpound jumping off its side, starts jogging over a few feet while growling, and then, with a swift motion on his right side, sweeps around and turns with a manhole cover in his right hard-covered hand and throws it like a Frisbee, spinning through the air straight at us and, with total horror at where it was heading, right towards Leo's buggy!
"LEO, LOOK OUT!" I cried out, turning to him with a wide-eyed expression of contorted fear.
Hoping that my cry out was heard, Leo, who was still driving in top speed from his buggy, saw the spiraling manhole cover coming in hot directly at him, lets out a surprising "Whoa!" and quickly sprints out of his seat as the cover hit the buggy itself. Leo, who was still in midair and without his helmet, flipped over and landed safely onto the ground in a knelt position with a groan with his hands behind him and, while standing back up, pulled out both of his katanas, holding them in his hands with a firm grip as he stared down at the standard positioned Dogpound. I sighed in relief and gratefulness that Leo didn't get hurt from that attack as I swooped down and stood right next to him, still in my aural-flight mode as I brought both my fists up in front of me in ready.
"Is that all you got?" Leo taunted with a narrowed look, yet instead of an answer from the big, furry Mutant, Dogpound growls with an angry glare and starts charging in at us.
With Dogpound running right towards Leo and I, having withheld worried looks at that as Mikey skids over to us, still on his buggy sidecar with the tires screeching as it came to a stop at its right side.
"I'd say that's a no," Mikey replies after glancing from Dogpound to us with a worriedsome look as we glanced at him with the same expressions.
With that said, Leo and I then took charge towards Dogpound with Mikey, coming from behind while jumping out of his buggy and removing his air-pilot cap, as we all ran straight at the bulky-headed Mutant. With battle yells and weapons, in my case aural-filled fists, drawn out, we came fast up close to Dogpound, only that he raised his giant left fist down to stomp us, but we dodged it by jumping into the air while I flew up right beside the two Ninja Turtles. Dogpound looks up with a narrowed glare as Leo, Mikey, and I started to come down at him, but manages to hit Mikey out, who let out a groan from the impact, with an uppercut, but Leo and I still were pursuing further. Leo slashed both of his blades while I threw a left power-punch, only Dogpound deflected both attacks from behind his left-handed wrist with a groan, having us both knelt on the ground with my aura dispersing around me when the red-eyed Dog Mutant retracted his arm and glared while I heard the distant screaming of Mikey and then grunting, indicating that he just hit the concrete ground hard. Leo and I got back on our feet when Dogpound threw down his left fist at us again, having us jump back a bit as the blue-clad Turtle then took the lead, swiping his double katanas while letting out some fighting grunts at Dogpound, who keeps avoiding it from left to right like it was nothing, it when Leo knew he wasn't laying a scratch at the giant Mutant, wide-eyed in fear, Dogpound took his turn and starts throwing punches at the katana-wielding Turtle, who had to reel himself back from getting whacked. However, as Dogpound wasn't looking, Leo then strikes both swords down at him, but the Mutant jumps a foot back with a turn around, and then with that, throws his right hard-covered fist at Leo and punches him, pummeling him onto the ground.
With Leo down for the count, having me gaze at him fearfully before glaring dagger eyes and gritted teeth with a scowl coursing in my throat at Dogpound, I then took lead next as I sent the evil Mutant an angered glare while throwing at least a dozen power-punches at him, having him raised his huge left arm in front of his face to protect himself, but was stumbling a few feet back from the powerful hits.
"This is what you get for kidnapping and tying up my friend April!" I snapped out furiously before charging in, swept under his arm, and delivering a powered-raise uppercut right under Dogpound's furry chin.
The gigantic evil Ninja Mutant grunted at the hit while staggering back more from my attack, before recovering from it and glared his eyes at me with a deepening growl. Though matching his expression back at him, I then turn and swung my right leg around in sending a power-wave, roundhouse kick straight at the Mutant henchman, but Dogpound swiftly and quickly sprinting to his right in avoiding the wave that pass by him, seeing that didn't help, I send my left fist out with a power punch forming and shooting out toward Dogpound, but yet again, he blocks it by holding up front of him his right hard-covered hand, having it dissipate into sparks when it came into contact with it, just like the other power-punch blasts I sent. Though I didn't know what happened next 'til Dogpound speedingly pounces towards me, grabs my left arm, making me yelp out with a wide-eyed shock look, then with such forcefulness, pulls me up over his head before bringing me down onto the hard-concrete ground with a loud 'thud', having me feel the achiness and pressure coursing through my body as he did that.
I laid on the ground with my head turned on my left side, feeling the agonizing pain spring up and down through my muscles and bones from that dirty yet lethal move. I groaned and grunted as I tried to push myself back up, only to feel the negative-aural presence and hear the sound of huge stomping feet approaching me, having my hazy and blurry eyes look over and up to see Dogpound coming over with an angry glare and a hint of triumphant in his eyes. I struggled to move fast and away from the Mutant that was hovering over me, but my body wouldn't respond in strugglement from the pain as I saw Dogpound lift up his huge left fist above him and looked like he was ready to finish me off. Only to hear Mikey's battle cry as he came in and kicked his right foot directly into Dogpound's furry mug, having the giant Mutant Dog stumble back a few feet away with Mikey's foot pushing his ugly, dog-like face before jumping down and taking him on to by Leo and I some time to recuperate.
I gave a small smile on Mikey's rescue in stopping Dogpound in time, though he wouldn't be able to hold 'Rad-Brad' Dog for long, I had to get back in the fight and help him. I did my best on getting up on my hands and knees, yet I felt a tad better, possibly that my powers were helping me recover my strength and energy, but the pain still lingered to me as I hiss through my teeth at the pressuring achiness as I moved myself. As I still stood there with my hands and knees plastered on the ground, I then felt another aural presence coming towards me, not the negative kind, but the pure-positive kind, having my head look up to see Leo running towards me, knelt down on my slight right, and placed his left hand on the side of my back with a worried yet frighten gaze. He stared at me as if I was okay from Dogpound's attack, having me felt my heart melt on his caring concern for me, letting a weak grin cross onto my lips and gave a little nod, saying that 'Don't worry, I'll be fine', having his expression change from worriedly frightening to easing relief with a smile. Leo then help me get back onto my feet by grabbing my right hand while moving his left hand onto the center of my back, then gently raised me up slowly and carefully, though feeling the tensional achiness slightly increase from moving a little too fast, but I held it back as I stood up once again.
When I was up and about on my legs, Leo still held onto me in that same position, having me look up to him in seeing that wonderful face of his again; his navy-blue eyes that held that spark of compassion and confidence in them, and that lovely smile that made my legs buckle beneath me when I saw it. I felt my heart starting to beat wildly in my chest like a jet plane and my cheeks flaring up like crazy, having me smile shyly back at him from how kind, caring, and generous he is in helping others. Though the moment had seized when we heard Mikey's yelling and Dogpound's growling, groaning, and grunting that had us both looked in the same direction where the fighting was taking place. Leo removed his hands from me as I stood in a straight posture, feeling the painful effects around my muscles subside, now fully strengthen up and ready, we both glanced to each other, nodded in knowing we should get back in stopping this, gazed back with narrow expressions and, with both weapons out and aural-fists up and set, charged in to the fight between the orange-clad Turtle and the brutal, bulky-headed Mutant Dog.
Leo and I came in as soon as Mikey pressed his feet onto the nearest light-post, twirling his nunchucks out on both sides, and pushed himself towards Dogpound, but the Mutant creature whacked him away with his huge, left arm, having Leo swing up and bring down his katanas at him from behind, but Dogpound turn the opposite way and roundhouse kick Leo away to where Mikey was. I then used my aural-flight to charge in and did my best to throw an actual hit at the Mutant mutt, but he swatted me away at the same place Leo and Mikey were. I crashed on the right side next to Mikey while Leo was on his left, near a partially done building structure with wooded floors, metal floor outlines, and tarp hangers. I quickly sat up to see Mikey rubbing his head with his right hand while Leo was recuperating from the hit, only for the growling sound coming from Dogpound had them perk up in alert at that, having us all gaze forwardly that the Mutant was coming right at us. Acting fast, Leo got up on one knee, retracted his right hand from behind himself, which was basically a smoke bomb, raised it up and then threw it down right in front of us, having he, Mikey, and I enveloped in purple smoke.
In just over five to six seconds, we reappeared onto the second flooring of the building structure in kneeling positions with Leo placed his left hand on his head while Mikey looked onto his right unsurely, since we were mostly safe for now, yet to hear a noise that had us looked over to see the Tanker Truck that released some air. We then saw the Foot Soldier that was driving the Truck climb out of the driver's compartment, went over to a small holder where the hose was, started pulling the head of the hose out and bringing it all the way over to the open manhole is, having me fearfully look that he was about to release the indestructive component.
"They're getting ready start the process!" I exclaimed out in terror, only to see Dogpound climbing up from the metal outlines up to us, swinging, and banging his right fist at us to catch us.
"Don't let'em dump that acid!" Leo ordered Mikey as he jumped back when Dogpound slammed his left hand down on the wooden floor.
Though as the Dog-like Mutant swung his left arm over on the right, Mikey flipped over, side-rolled over to back, his hands holding the other side of the floor, having him dangle onto it for a bit, then he swung himself under and grabbed the other metal outline at the front of the first flooring then swung and jumped onto the ground just in time before Dogpound jerked halfway on his left side with a growl and, with his left, bulky hand reach down to grab the comedian Ninja Turtle. As the Foot Soldier placed the head of the hose far enough deep into the manhole and then jogs over to start it up, Mikey charges in with all his might with an increasing battle cry, quickly rolls in, and then, just before that one Foot member could begin on anything, Mikey then rolls onto his hands and pushes his feet straight at the Foot Soldier, having him stumble back away with a groan from the hose's containment. After the Soldier regains his senses, he pulls out two of his own Ninja weapons with a fighting stance as Mikey comes back onto the ground, pulls out both of his nunchucks, twirls them around in demonstration and showing-off, then charges in with still twirling his weapons in the air at his sides with a cryout.
Dogpound watches the whole thing with a surprised look before glaring while growling angrily at this, then he lets go of the metal outline railing, having him crash-land onto the ground in a kneeling position as the Earth shook from his landing impact as if there was an earthquake, and starts running straight toward where the Tanker, Mikey, and the Foot Soldier were, having Leo and I gaped at that.
"Oh no, you don't!" I stated out angrily as both Leo and I started running over on the second flooring and jumped down from it far over to where Dogpound was going.
As Leo and I both neared the furry Mutant in midair, his katanas up over his right side and me with my left fist up the side near my face, we came in to strike, but Dogpound turned, saw us coming at him, and whacks us both with his right elbow. We were both send flying backwards with grunts, yet we saved ourselves from hitting the ground with Leo placing his feet onto the metal outline railings on the first floor in a bended knee position while I quickly activated my aural flight that made me straighten up right yet being held up in midair. We both had our heads down 'til we at the same time pushed ourselves out with our narrowed gazes staring right toward Dogpound. Reacting to our oncoming approach, the Mutant Dog reaches over on his right, grabs a parked car with his big left hand, and swings it over at us, but Leo and I went over it and came over on the sidewalk near where the car was, yet with Dogpound still holding onto the turn-off vehicle, he roughly swings it at us again. Leo and I both jumped over it, having the car crash on its top side into the wall of a building, as the blue-clad Turtle sprinted in to strike the evil Mutant henchman while I hung back to allow him the hit. Leo swung his katanas at Dogpound's left arm, only for the giant Dog-like creature to grab Leo with his right hard-covered hand and throws him away - as if he were a piece of garbage – right over to where Mikey was fighting the Foot Soldier, who he hit with his left nunchuck and kicked him back, but Leo collides at him, having both Ninja Turtles grunt and hit the ground with a couple of groans.
I then flew over straight towards the two in hopes that they were alright, only to gaze behind me in seeing Dogpound coming right at us full charge in anger and vengeance. I then flew in front of my two fallen friends and started blasting power-punches at the speeding Mutant in trying to slow him down, but he averted or deflected them again as he still came towards us, and when he was right in front of us, he raises his giant left fist up above him with a yell-like growl and brings it down, but the three of us quickly sprinted, in my case zipped with a midair flip and landed safely, and cartwheeled out of the way when Dogpound's fist met the ground instead. Mikey was on the right side while Leo and I were on the left as Dogpound moved his left fist at both of us, having us lean back from the movement, and then Leo brings in his right katana to strike, but the Mutant Dog pushes it down with his left big knuckles, having Leo groan at that before Dogpound grabs ahold of Leo's left wrist, that held his other katana high up in pursuit, and then shoves him back into the Tanker while the blade of Leo's weapon was jabbed into the metal's containment. Leo gazes up and looks in shock to see his jabbed sword in the Tanker, seeing a trail of green liquid sprucing down from the open gap, even while so, I then decide to help out as I swiftly flew behind Dogpound, without him noticing, and I quickly grabbed his furry dog-like ears and, with all my forceful strength, started yanking them hard, having Dogpound cry out from the straining of his ears.
"Put him down, you arrogant beast!" I demanded infuriatingly as I kept pulling at his furry, triangular ears.
While holding onto them as best I could with Dogpound pulling his head back, moving it around roughly and grudgingly in trying to shake me off, Leo then takes his chance and kicks Dogpound in the face with his right then his left, having the Mutant let go of his left wrist, which let me release the big Dog's furry ears at the process, and Leo retracts his katana from the Tanker's metal hold, having the chemical flowing out of it through a bigger gap as both the blue-clad Turtle, who dodge-rolls to the right far side, and I, who flew right on over and landed on Leo's left side, stood far off from Dogpound as he glares at us from the opposite side of the flowing chemical's substance.
Leo gets back up, turns around, and turns his head towards me with an appreciative grin.
"Thanks for the save back there," he says with a relief yet grateful tone.
"No problem," I replied with a nod and a smile, but when into a worried frown as I turn my attention back at the spilling Tanker and the growling Dog Mutant who then began to walk over to the contraption while informing, "Although, this is seriously a major problem."
Leo turns back at the same situation while mirroring my expression before he asks in remembrance on Donnie's discovering theory, "What'd Donnie say about this stuff?"
"That it's highly explosive when contacted with H2O," I reminded, having Leo perk up at that before turning his head over to Mikey, who stood right next to us without us knowing he was there.
"Mikey! Throw the water balloon!" Leo exclaimed in an order-like tone, having the orange-clad Turtle glance down at his right side then looks away with a nervous look.
"Uh, what water balloon?" Mikey asks while glancing around anxiously, in pretending like he doesn't know what we were talking about, having Leo give him an annoyed narrowed look at that before stating irritatingly:
"The one you were gonna hit me with?!"
Just when he said that, Mikey, with a surprised gaze at Leo's recognition, glances back behind himself, looking at the yellow tied-up water balloon that was in the palm of his right hand while Leo had his fists on his hips with a blunt look and me just standing with my arms at my side with a worried expression, knowing that he'd been had; he said it with a calming yet amazed intuition:
"Dude, - you're good."
Then Mikey lifts it up and throws it straight at the spilled-out Tanker, and when he did that, Leo, now with a wide-eyed fearful look, tackles Mikey down, who lets out a grunt, while I used my aural-flight to shot straight out of the way. When I heard a 'SPLASH' noise and a startled growl from Dogpound, I knew the water balloon encountered the substance, and since it did, I high pitch sound was heard coming from the Tanker then –
*BOOM*
The entire Tanker Truck was corrupted in a massive cloud of flame, smoke, and toxic fumes that shot out of it like rocket missiles as Leo, Mikey, and I were pushed back from the excruciating pressure of the explosion that had us crash-land behind the 'onto-its-side' parked car as black smoke covered the entire neighborhood. When the Earth stopped shaking and the explosion's fiery scene settled down, Mikey, Leo, and I each stood up from behind the car, staring in awe-inspiring by the sudden reaction before turning our expressions into relieved and happy grins, knowing that we had completed the mission and saved our home.
"Nice shot, Mi – Oh!" Leo was about to compliment his younger brother, only for the orange-clad Turtle to reach both of his hands up and behind him before throwing an extra water balloon straight into Leo's face, catching him completely by surprise.
"Doctor Prank-Enstein for the win!" Mikey cheers out in victory with his fists in the air before bringing them down in a DJ motion, having me spat out a laugh at that while Leo gazes at his brother with a flabbergasted expression.
"You had two? Where do you keep them?" Leo asks in bewilderment at Mikey who had a happy grin on his face.
"That's one of the many mysteries of Michelangelo that we'll never know," I stated out calmly with a smug expression.
"You said it, Dudette," Mikey agreed as he brings his left fist up to me in letting me fist-pump him, which I gladly returned by bringing up my right fist and pounded into his.
I grinned that we managed to save the day again when I felt two aural presences coming from behind us, while hearing the sound of running feet, having me turn around and see both Raph and Donnie racing up to us with smiles of their own, having me grin more as they stood right in front of us with Leo turning to them with his hands on his hips.
"Eh, looks like we missed the fireworks," Raph stated out as he saw the explosion from behind us.
"That and having Dogpound's furry tail get kicked," I mentioned with a smirk and my right hand on my hip.
"Now that's something I would've loved to see," the red-clad Turtle pointed out with a snarky grin.
"Donnie, the go-Kart worked great. Nice job," Leo informed his scientific brother with a prideful grin.
"Thanks, Leo," Donnie says back before bringing up his right index finger while reminding sternly, "And it's a patrol buggy."
Leo, who had his arms crossed over his plastron, Mikey, who had his hands on his hips, and Raph, who simply stood next to Donnie with his arms down, just stared at the purple-clad Turtle with blank expressions on that when I decided to ask both the other two Turtle brothers about a certain redhead female with a worried expression.
"By the way, how's April? Is she alright?" I asked with utter concern while both Donnie and Raph smiled with calming demeanors.
"She's fine; we took her back to her apartment after we saved her from those whack jobs," Raph reassures with a confident grin while crossing his arms.
"She also told us to tell you that she wants to thank you for helping her out in sneaking into Shredder's Lair and hopes that you're alright, too," Donnie added with a beaming smile at that, having my worried intentions fade by sighing out in relieve.
"[Sighs] Thank goodness. I felt so bad for not being able to keep her safe from Dogpound just cause I wasn't strong enough," I stated somberly while looking down at both of my open-palmed hands in regret, only to feel a hand on my right shoulder that made me look over to see Leo with a kindred smile.
"It's okay, Alora. None of us here feel like we're strong enough, either," he assures while nodding his head to Mikey, Donnie, and Raph, who nodded their heads in response at that before looking back to me with a serious glint in his eyes, "So don't worry; you're not alone in this. The next time we face a threat, with a little more practicing and precision, we'll be ready for them, and we'll do it together."
I felt my somberness drift away that was soon replaced with gratitude and compassion, having me let out a smile with a gleaming of appreciation as I nod to him while saying, "Thanks, Leo."
Leo smiled bigger and nodded back, happy to see that he made me feel better on the subject. We both kept staring at each other, smiling and all, only to hear a *Ahem* being sounded, having us both break eye-contact and look to the others with Raph who coughed into his right fist before he spoke up.
"Uh, I hate to interrupt this… whatever this is, but April also told us to say to you that she enjoyed the little 'fly-by-night' thing you did with her that gave her the 'flight' of a lifetime," Raph mentions before glancing to the side then back at me with a raised-eyebrow look of curiousness, "Which – to be honest – was really surprising on my end, if you ask me."
"Yeah, I was wondering on it, too. How was it that you manage to do that, Alora?" Donnie inquires with curiosity yet wonderment as well.
For some odd reason when both Raph and Donnie questioned that, I honestly haven't the foggiest clue on how I did it. All I remembered is wanting to get down near that alleyway landscape next to the apartment building safely, for April's sake so she wouldn't have to do that whole 'jump-over-the-far-off-rooftop' routine again, so I immediately took ahold of her hand and, the next thing I knew, my aural energy flowed all around her and we were both being upheld in the air, much to her awestruck enjoyment on it and mine as well. I tore my gaze from the guys, held up both of my open hands in front of me, and stared at them with unsureness and wariness.
"I… I honestly don't know," I confirmed in a puzzled-like tone, still looking at me finger-tipped hands before looking back to the wondrous yet confused Mutant reptiles, "I only did it cause I didn't want April to jump over the steep alleyway and almost trip herself off again. So, I just used my aural flight to help us get down on the ground easier; for both of our benefits."
"Well the question still remains: how did you do it?" Raph asks with suspicion with a raised-eyebrow look with his arms crossed.
"I don't know. I just… know," I replied knowingly with a slight shrug, as if I already knew the 'sharable-flight' trick in the first place, but never done it or have known it before, which was completely strange for my part of it.
'Which might be another occurrence? Great, one extra piece to the puzzle,' I muttered annoyingly in my head at that, knowing this just got a whole lot complicated.
"That's so cool, Dudette! Do ya think ya could try it on us, too?!" Mikey questions excitedly, leaning up towards me with his hands intertwined together under his chin with sparkles in his big, bright eyes and a beaming smile.
I chuckled at the comedian's enthusiastic behavior on the flying thing as I placed my left hand on Mikey's right shoulder and gently pushed him back while replying, "Maybe, but we'll see next time, okay?"
Mikey calmed down as I mentioned that, but still held that big smile on his face and nodded, seeming to understand as I grinned. When that was said, I turned my attention back at the fiery sight of the fuming Tanker Truck that was slowly burning up, seeing the flames around it consume its heating flare and turning it into ash, as I turned fully at it and walked over near the other side near the parked car while scanning around the area, I noticed a certain Mutant Dog was missing.
"Looks like Dogpound managed to escape," I stated with a firm tone while crossing my arms over my chest.
"Sure looks like it," Leo replies as he comes up and stands next to me on my left while looking around as well before he leans his head near me without taking his gaze away from the scene, implying, "I'm guessing he's heading back to inform Shredder."
"Oh I know he is and, from the way things are looking up right now, I'd say old 'Shred-head' isn't gonna be please about it," I said with a hearty chuckle and a smug grin while glancing to see Leo let out a grin as well.
Along with hearing some snickering and chuckling from Donnie, Raph, and Mikey, I knew full well that the Leader of the Foot Clan was seriously gonna be ticked about our success and his men's failure.
No One's POV
With Alora's assumption on that, she, as always, was right upon the theory. When Dogpound was pushed back from the major explosion that was caused by the freckled-face Turtle's water balloon attack, he immediately knew that he had been beaten yet again and quickly but swiftly raced back to his Master's Quarters. As he returned, he was in the Throne room where Master Shredder awaited, sitting in his stone-carved throne with the moon's gleaming phase beaming down around him and two Foot Soldiers that stood a couple feet away on each side while holding out spears in front of them in attention. Dogpound then knelt on the cemented walkway on the watery-glass floor with his head bent down, avoiding his Sensei's angered gaze, reporting everything that had already transpired with the Turtles and the Noble Light, mentioning the gear and equipment they had with them that destroyed his Master's plan, and from the looks on Shredder's hungry-powered eyes within his helmet, he didn't like what he had just heard.
"They defeated you with go-Karts and a water balloon?" Shredder questioned with a slight disbelief and anger as he squinted his eyes before adjusting them back widely at the ridiculous accusation.
"I know it sounds absurd, but…," Dogpound started to explain in reason, only to look back up in seeing his 'not-so-pleasing' Master was right in front of him, outstretched his right armed fist with his gauntlet blades out with its tips pointing at him, having the Mutant Dog gasp fearfully in a doggy whimper before putting his other knee on the cement flooring and his right paw-like hand on it as well.
"Uh, it won't happen again, Master, I promise you," Dogpound swore quickly while bending his head down that nearly touched the walkway.
"If you break that promise…," Shredder had ensured in a low threatening tone with a narrowed look, before he swiftly swiped his blades across behind Dogpound without taking his half-blinded, hardcore glare from the Mutant henchman.
From that swipe, one of the hard-covered substance spikes from Dogpound's left shoulder broke off easily, having the scared Dog-like creature groan from the sudden tore-off, glance to where the spike once was on his shoulder, looks back at Shredder with a fearful shudder as in knowing that was a fair warning of not to disappoint him again, before bowing his head down once again and replies in a timid voice:
"I understand, Master."
Alora's POV
After the guys and I's triumphant accomplishment of stopping Shredder's disastrous scheme and saving our beloved Lair, we went back to where we belonged in celebration of achieving that victory. While doing so, Mikey came back already with a pizza in hand, having Leo, Raph, and Donnie caught off guard in getting it so quickly, yet I knew where it literally got that pizza box from, and I didn't say anything about it to spoil the 'soon-to-be-hysterical' moment. Once we returned to our base of operations, we had informed Master Splinter that we managed to stop Shredder's plot, took out Dogpound, and destroyed the chemical that would demolish the Sewers, having looked relieved and proud that we had succeeded.
Once we were settled in after the big fight with Shredder's goons, Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and I all sat in the Living area with the pizza box open, showing the actual meal inside as each of the Turtles took a slice out of it, except for me.
"Nothing says victory like the sweet taste of pizza," Mikey states out with pleasure while staring at his slice in his right hand before shoving the whole thing into his mouth.
Mikey was chewing and moaning happily in having the slice before he looks over to me, notices that I wasn't having any of the deliciousness from within the box, asks confusingly with his mouth still full, "Aren't ya gonna have some, Dudette?"
"Uh, no thanks Mikey. I'm not really that hungry," I replied with a wave-off from my right hand, though it was mainly a fib since I was hungry, just not wanting any from it on where he got it.
"Eh, suit yourself," Mikey muffled out with a shrug before going back into moaning blissfully on his pizza he was eating.
Yet when I looked over to seeing Leo, who was sitting above the concrete couch, and Raph, who was on the floor in between me and the pizza box, were busy chewing their pieces, Donnie, who was actually sitting on the couch right next to Leo, looks at his slice before taking a bite out of it, but perks up from the sudden taste of it. He then retracts it out of his mouth, holds it limply near his face while sniffing it a few times in puzzlement, then leans back away from it with a grimace look on his expression.
"[Groans] this pizza smells kinda funky," the purple-clad Turtle intels before turning to his younger brother, who was also on the floor in the Living area a foot away from Raph and I, and asks quizzically, "Where'd you get it?"
"It's the one April threw out," Mikey replies with an eyes-closed blissful look in finishing his pizza.
Having all three Ninja Turtles go wide-eyed at what their little brother had said, they threw their slices away while making groaning and gagging noises and disgusted expressions with Raph holding his neck with his left hand and pounding his chest with his right fist. As both Mikey and I recoiled back from their disturb reaction, though I had to press my lips together tightly from bursting out with laughter at this, but I couldn't help but grin hysterically from this.
"What? We live in a Sewer. Now you're clean freaks?" Mikey questions in a dumbfounded tone, before he laughs to himself and then leans in while gathering couple of the garbage slices and says, "More for me," then shoves them into his mouth, munching them up.
Leo, Donnie, and Raph gave narrowed looks at the orange-clad Turtle while Raph growls angrily before he glances at me and notices my grinning look, having him narrow his eyes at me deeper as if he suspects my intuition with this.
"You knew all along he got this from the dumpster, didn't you?! That's why you didn't take some from the box!" Raph accused in an irritated voice, having both Leo and Donnie turned to me with surprised expressions.
I shrugged my shoulders with my head lolloped on my right side while stating, "Hey, guilty as charged."
Leo, Donnie, and Mikey, who was still stuffing himself with trash-smelled pizza slices, all glanced at one another and shrugged as if saying 'oh-well' while Raph gave a deadpan look at my response.
"My children."
We all perked up and turned our heads to see Master Splinter standing a foot away from us with his hands behind his back once again before taking a few steps towards us when hearing his voice spoke out in not harsh or forceful, but as it should be; calm and sufficient.
"I owe you my gratitude – and an apology," He admitted while closing his eyes and lowering his head down a bit in shame.
"An apology?" Leo questions in a surprising yet confusing tone as he stood up from his seat, fully facing his Father.
We then each began to stand up while Mikey was clearing out his left ear with his left ring finger as Master Splinter continued on his reason for forgiveness.
"Fear clouded you minds. However, it was not the Shredder who fueled that fear, but me. You overcame that fear and performed admirably."
"But Shredder did do it, Sensei," I intercepted, having all eyes turned to me as I walked up near the concrete couch as I went on:
"He only faced us so that we would fear him and let that fear drive us down. He wanted us to feel scared of him and let us hide in the Sewers to lead him to where we are, which was his advantage against us to take us out. Shredder did have a part of this, Sensei, so you aren't the one to blame."
"I appreciate you including your institution, Miss Alora," Master Splinter said with a smile before turning it back into a frown while bowing his head and closing his eyes, inquiring, "I would also like to apologies for becoming rash and taking my anger out on you. For you were right; I was being too hard on my sons in fear of losing my family once again to that evil man who was once my friend, and for that, I am deeply sorry for what I have said and done."
"It's alright, Sensei, I was being overly rash and angry, too. We were all tired and cranky from the expansive night training during the past few weeks; so, let's make sure we don't overdo this again," I imposed formatively, having Master Splinter look back to me and nodded with a grateful smile on his muzzle.
I smiled back beamingly with a nod in return 'til I heard Raph spoke up, having me turn halfway around to see him look a little nervous by rubbing the back of his head with his left hand and glancing to the side anxiously.
"Hey, um, I also wanna apologize, too," Raph implied, having me give a surprised look at that, as well as to Leo, Donnie, and Mikey, and surely Master Splinter, in hearing their hotheaded brother bring up an apology that he rarely never does as he continues:
"I'm sorry for yelling at you and taking all my anger and frustration for accusing you on our fight with Shredder. I wasn't thinking straight, I was just so mad from all the training, and not getting enough rest that it made me angrier than I usually am. So, you were right, about being stress-out and all that, so…yeah…"
When he finished his apology by bringing his head down with a guilty expression, I held a sympathy smile at that, feeling the overweight abundance of our fight fade off from my memory, as I walked over to him, placed my right hand on his left shoulder, having him look up at me in attention as I smiled at him in a caring way.
"It's alright, Raph. Like I said, we were all tired and cranky from not getting enough sleep and we're all hung over about it. So, don't worry, I forgive you," I stated with a big grin, having Raph go from surprised to appreciative as he grinned back happily.
I then removed my right hand from his shoulder before turning halfway to look at the others, who were smiling and looking better and in none-stressed as if everything was still the same and – from this point out – is what it should be.
"Shredder may think he has us fooled by having us live in fear in his reign, but he doesn't. Instead of being consumed by it, we need to overcome it; drive it towards our way to fight through this battle and end it. So once we've faced our fears, we used it and take it straight to Shredder, and we'll hopefully one day finish him off once and for all," I declared out with confidence, courage, loyalty, and determination.
After that encouraging and efficient speech of mine, all four Turtles nodded with the same emotional expressions as mine while replying out agreeingly to my declaration:
Leo: "Right!"
Donnie: "Absolutely!"
Raph: "Right on, kid!"
Mikey: "Word up!"
"Indeed," Master Splinter added in agreement as well, having us all turn our gazes to him again as he then announces out, "No training today…"
"YES!" Leo, Raph, and Donnie all exclaimed out cheerfully with wide-toothy grins.
I was smiling happily as well on that when Master Splinter turned and began to walk away, only I knew what he was about to say next with a certain freckled comedian Turtle as Sensei stopped a foot away with his back turned to us and informed to us sternly:
"Unless Michelangelo throws that balloon at Miss Alora."
'Wait, what?'
Taken off guard from what Master Splinter had, the Turtles, who turned to their Father's informant and perked up at that, and I turned our attention to Mikey, who held up his right hand with the sky-blue water balloon and was aiming right at me with a concentrated, 'tongue-stick-up-the-side-of-his-upper-lip' look, yet goes blank as he saw our gazes turned to him and giggles nervously with a sheepish smile. Though with me going wide-eyed at that, I glanced to the others in seeing those narrowing glares at their younger brother, knowing that he was in serious danger at this rate, I leaned in with my right hand near the side of my mouth and muttered softly to Mikey:
"Uh, if I were you, Mikey, I'd start running."
Mikey, who perked up at that with a frightening expression, looked to his brothers with a nervous gulp as Leo, Donnie, and Raph prepared themselves as the red-clad Turtle proclaimed out angrily:
You're so gonna get it!"
Then just like that, all three Ninja Mutant Turtles charged in as Mikey began to turn and run, but was quickly tackled by all three of them, having the poor orange-clad Turtle scream out as he collided onto the floor with his water balloon splashing right next to him while triple angry brothers grounded him. I, on the other hand, just simply chuckled with an amused smile and a shake of my head with my arms crossed over my chest while glancing over my right to see Master Splinter, with his back still turned, had his head turned to his left in glancing at his sons' brutal yet grudgingly display.
As the guys were busy in taking care of Mikey, I was glad to know that everything was back under control and the tension between us was gone, for now, that is. Even though we managed to face our fears and took serious measurements of progress against fighting our enemies, we still have a long way to go…
And it's gonna take a lot more than that on where it came from.
Hey, fellow readers! I'm back! I got part 4 up for you and just wanted to thank you all so, so much for understanding and waiting patiently for this. I've had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas break and it really cleared my head of all the stress. Hopefully, I'll be more focused and stress-free after this.
The Turtles and the Noble Light had saved not just their friend April, but their wonderful Sewery home and Master Splinter. Thanks to Raph's ingenuity using that one-liner from 'Space Heroes' in getting Leo's mind in set, our five Ninja Heroes had set off to track down Dogpound, finally learned of Shredder's demonic plan to destroy the Lair, and put a stop to it before the consequences were made evident.
Although, Alora has now learnt of a new magical improvement of her powers, which caused the touch of her hand to uplift the aura of another person's energy. Another occurrence that could relate to the rest of the unknown possibilities, perhaps? Will Alora figure any of this out during her next adventures with the Turtles? Find out next time!
P.S. I also have a question from one of our readers that was sent to the Turtles:
"If you guys could enter any video game, which video game would you enter and why?"
Mikey: "Tron is my game, dude! Flying through all those mazes, driving those cool light cycles and squashing all those Grid Bugs is my kind of really awesome adventure."
Donnie: "Entering a video game…hmmm! I believe I would like to try Surviving Mars, because of the difficulties it presents to the player. Just surviving the trip to the Red Planet would be an adventure itself, but add to that the overwhelming problems of building a structure that could withstand the pressure of Mars atmosphere, attempting to build a colony so everyone who was there or would come there…that would be fascinating to me."
Raph: "I gotta go with Mikey on Tron! Driving one of those speedster cycles, chasing down those crazy bugs, taking out all the enemy tanks, and making it to the end of the game in first place – yeah, that's a dream come true for me."
Leo: "A Harry Potter game, like The Order of the Phoenix. I'd love to stand side-by-side with Harry while he fought off the Slytherins, found clue-after-clue throughout the halls of Hogwarts, and to play Wizard's Chess – boy oh boy, that makes my mouth water at the anticipation. Harry Potter it is!"
Now, here is not one, but two questions to our main, female character of the story:
"And Alora, how are you getting along with the Turtles? Do you think that you'll face Shredder or Karai in the future?"
Alora: "I'm actually getting along really great with the guys. Even though they are a bit of a handful – being teenagers and all – I love being around them. They're like brothers to me, yet they can drive me crazy and wanna end up killing each other for whatever stupid reason, I'll still be there to keep them safe, as well as Master Splinter, April, or whoever else they'll make friends with. The thing is, they've become a part of me; a part of my family, and I would do anything in my power (literally) to protect them.
"As for facing Shredder or Karai? Well, there's a slight chance that I'll have to face them. I know that Shredder would be a major challenge since he's already a Master of Ninjutsu, yet he's got a full fleet of Foot Soldiers and his now two 'Mutant' lieutenants right behind him, but the Turtles and I, along with our future allies along the way, we'll be able to stop him. Although, something about him feels different, as in when he somehow knows about my powers like the Kraang do, I can't shake this feeling as if he's hiding something; something that could be very dangerous and uncontrollable for us to handle. Karai is also a major challenge, too, being a highly trained Kunoichi and deadly assassin, so I'll have to face her since she won't back off so easily. Even though she's really Master Splinter's long-lost daughter and doesn't know about her true origins yet, I'll need to figure out anyway I can to help her see through the lies Shredder has poisoned her with."
As FluteQueen, I wanna thank you again for your patience with this and I'm really glad that you, my beloved readers, are enjoying this story. Also, just to let you know, while on break, I had been doing some studying about the assets of Ninjutsu: moves, weapons, strikes, katas, the whole shebang. So, you remember from the beginning when I said 'I'm not very good with details? Well, I wanna be able to make this series as detailed, explicit, and fun for you all to read. So I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! I'll be working on the next one real soon.
Stay tuned, thanks for reading, and I know it's a little late to say this, but…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!