"Curt!" Spider-Man yelled again. When there was no movement from the depths of the green ooze, he pulled himself and me back up to the catwalk.
I wanted to say thanks but I also didn't think it was an appropriate time right now. Curt was gone, drowned in unknown substance. None of us could touch it so there was nothing we could do. Spider-Mans best friend whom he'd just learned was still alive, was gone again just like that.
There was movement in the corner of my eye. I pushed Spider-Man down, "Woah!"
A laser shot from a final standing Kraang bot. I popped it in the head with a shuriken, feeling a little satisfied as it fell to the ground.
"You guys okay?" I heard Leo yell from down below.
I nodded, still heaving a little from my near fall. Spider-Man didn't answer.
"I'm sorry. About your friend," I said, rubbing my wrist where he had held on to me, where he had saved my life. I wasn't sure what else to say.
Spider-Man didn't say anything. If he acknowledged my apology, it wasn't apparent. He turned away and headed back down to ground floor. I peered over the edge again before following.
"How much longer, Don?" I asked. My brother was still in front of the computer system.
"86 seconds."
"I doubt more won't show up in that time," Leo glances at the doors, "Stay on your guard."
There was a short silence. I could see that my brothers were glancing around, a bit confused. None of them saw what had happened. Mikey was the one who spoke up and asked, "Hey, where's that Curt guy?"
Spider-Man didn't answer. I wasn't even sure he heard my brother. I turned, frowning sadly, "He fell," I pointed to the ooze container.
All eyes followed my finger and a heavy silence followed. Realization hit.
"Don?" Leo asked.
Don shook his head, frowning, "I don't know enough about it. It's too dangerous to try getting him out by hand."
Leo glanced at me. I doubled Donnies head shake, "My powers don't work like that, I don't think."
Leo jerked, as if to say it was time to head out of here but couldn't bring himself to say it. Leaving meant that leaving Curt behind. He was already gone but walking away sealed the deal. None of us knew Curt but we knew we didn't have many people in our lives. Losing a friend would be devastating. We didn't know much of Spider-Man's personal life but it was apparent that he didn't reveal too much of his identity to anyone. Partly for their safety but also because he probably didn't have that many people to share such an intimate detail of his life to. I wondered who knew his identity? If anyone? What if Curt had been the only one who'd known?
Finally, it was Spider-Man that spoke, "Let's get out of here."
The floors suddenly began to shudder. It felt like there was an earthquake shaking the building.
"Uh, what's that?" Raph asked in a rising tone.
Mikeys shook his head, "Well, don't look at me! I swear I didn't touch anything!"
I almost felt off balance. Behind me, I heard a bubbling. It was the ooze. The green liquid in the container was moving, swirling, "Is it supposed to do that, Donnie?" I asked.
"You guys keep expecting me to know these things and yet, the answer is always the same," Don flared at me, annoyed, "I don't know how the ooze works!"
"Well, maybe you should start takin' some notes science boy!" Raph pointed to the container where the surface of the liquid ooze splashed out, falling down toward us like acidic raindrops.
"Watch out!" Donnie yelled, "Don't let it touch your skin!"
I ducked away behind another smaller container with a… pig? I second glanced at it floating unconsciously but shrunk behind the container more when a larger drop of ooze splashed a little too close to comfort.
"What is that?" I heard Mikey ask in a shrill voice.
At the top of the container was a hand, grizzled and scaled. The fingers gripped over the side of the glass and they were nearly as big as me. The nails were as sharp as daggers. What followed was atrocious. A body pulled itself out. It was green and hunched, spiked along its spine and had a tail that could topple a building.
It was a giant lizard.
And yet, it's eyes were a recognizable feature. They weren't slits. They didn't look evil, only confused. Deep brown that had a familiarity.
"That can't be," I said, jaw dropped.
"What?" Leo asked.
"I think that's Curt!"
Spider-Man stared. He hung from underneath the catwalk, "Curt?"
"That… that can't be!" In a shocked movement, Donnie almost seemed to hyperventilate within his own disorientation, "How could he become a lizard?"
"The same way it turned you guys into turtles?" Spider-Man tried but it felt more like he was asking.
"We didn't turn from human to turtle!"
Spider-Man hopped down to the floor, his hands up in a non-threatening gesture, "Curt?"
Curts' expression changed immediately. No longer confused at his appearance, only angry at the individuals standing in front of him. His dark brown eyes burned, glaring at all of us. Spider-Man especially, "You did this to me," Not even his voice was the same.
"Curt, we're going to fix this!" Spider-Man pleaded, "We can figure this out!"
"Figure this out?" Curt roared, "You left me here in this alien-infested hell and now I'm a fucking animal! You did this to me!"
The attack was immediate. Claws slashed through air in every direction. Curt was unstable on his new legs and unbalanced within his own skin. In some ways, it made him more dangerous than a trained opponent. Curt was unpredictable, his only motive was to get back at us. Leo ordered for weapons to be put away but that mostly meant that he, Raph, and myself couldn't use our blades. No harm would come to Curt but what about ourselves?
"What should we do?" Mikey called out, shrieking as he ducked from the swing of Curts spiked tail.
"The download is almost done!" Donnie yelled over his shoulder. He was staying by the computer system.
"We just need to hold Curt off until it's done then!" Leo huffed, shoulders heaving a bit. Behind is, the doors to the lab busted open. More fucking Kraang robots. My brothers irritated expression wasn't hard to miss, "All while fighting alien robots."
"With brains!" Mikey added.
Raph groaned, "Let it go, man."
"Kraang, the ones in this place should not be in this place," One of the robots said.
Another robot replied. "The ones are called the turtles and the one is called Spider-Man, and the one is called Human Seven and the one is called One Zero Zero Three Aubrey."
One Zero Zero Three Aubrey?
"Kraang is knowledged of this. They are dangerous to what we are doing in this place and other places. The turtles and Spider-Man must be eliminated from all places. The one that is One Zero Zero Three Aubrey and the one that is Human Seven must be detained for Kraang."
So kill my brothers. Kill Spider-Man. Keep myself and Curt alive. I didn't need to think about this, "Mmm, no thanks," I could use my wakizashi on these guys at least.
"Can you guys just talk normal?" Mikey kicked one Kraang down, stomping on the brain that hissed at him, "I know you're robots and all but it's getting kind of annoying."
Behind me, Curt was still trying to get through to Curt. The roads of the giant lizard were really indicating that no words were getting through. The anger was too much. I decapitated two more Kraang but couldn't stop as more came through the doors. Lasers were shot throughout the room and it was getting more difficult to deflect and fight. Whether intentional or not, some lasers hit the giant lizard. Screaming pain curdled in my ears, listening to Curts yells. What made it worse was the Curt was beginning to blindly rage around the room. It was positive to see Kraang thrown about but my brothers, Spider-Man, and I were not spared. I managed to stay away but Raph was launched back and so was Leo. Spider-Man was hit square in the chest with Curts tail.
"The download is done!" Donnie yelled out, knocking a Kraang away from him, "Spider-Man! What do you want to do with Curt!"
"I'd love it if he could calm down so we could get him out of here!"
Curt raged, slashing at a nearby Kraang. His claws sliced right through metal, leaving the robot in four separate pieces.
"Ya… I don't know if that's gonna happen," I said. The giant lizard made me nervous. Those claws can cut through metal like that and I could only imagined how easily I could be in pieces too.
"If we can't calm him down… then we have to take him out," Spider-Man exhaled heavily. There was defeat in his voice, "I… I don't want him to suffer."
There was silence among us, even between the Kraang and Curt. I knew Spider-Man wasn't ready to kill off his friend but what else could we do?
"The power conduits!" Leo yelled suddenly.
"Are we really going to start talking about that again?" Raph yelled with a sharp glare.
"No! Do it!" Donnie said, "Lead him over here. We can short wire the generator and take this place out!"
"With us in it?" Mikey freaked, making a horrified face.
"No!" Donnie rolled his eyes. "Just this room! Slow down whatever their research is!"
Leo turned to Spider-Man, who was hesitant but eventually nodded, "Do it."
The Kraangs laser helped indefinitely. Instead of trying to deflect, we let them take free aim toward Curt. Holes were burned through the thick scaled skin of the giant lizard. No doubt that the pain was overwhelming, especially as Curt wildly swung his arms. But the plan was working as he was stepping back toward the generator. Donnie was beside. Messing with the wiring or whatever, I couldn't quite tell.
As I took down one last Kraang, Donnie yelled for us to take cover. I did so, as far away from the generator as I could behind a pillar with Raph. He still hugged me close, facing his shell toward the blast. The rumble sent shards of metal and flying. When the noise settled and Raph let me go, I could see that the generator was diminished as was the large system. I noted the large crack in the giant ooze canister. We didn't even consider that it could shatter which would have given us far more problems than before. The decision was made so quickly, unless perhaps Donnie was sure it would bust.
Curt was a heap on the ground. Steaming and battered from the small explosion. Spider-Man was kneeled next to his former friend. I could hear a single sniff from behind the mask before he stood, making it clear he wanted to leave.
And we did, leaving the facility before any more trouble could find us.