Bishop raced through the halls of HQ, heart pounding. He knew the second attack would come, but how did they find Cocytus? That was under the highest level of security!

Compartmentalize. No matter. They were there. The cell room's automatic defenses were holding, but slowly being taken out.

Should he bring the recruits in? That question gnawed in his mind. On the one hand, their numbers would wrap up the situation much faster than just the four of them. On the other, they would all be introduced to Cocytus, and he wasn't keen on that at all. If they were to have any hope salvaging the projects down there after this crisis, secrecy was paramount.

He growled as he turned the corner to the elevator.

It was only one breach. Just one. They should be able to handle it themselves. They had it under control. Chaplin needed to hurry up with those bots!

A sensor alert popped up as he entered the elevator, but for a totally different location. His eyes widened. "No."

So that was their plan. Hun and O'Neil would have to handle the big fight for now. He couldn't let the attackers take away the biggest card in their favor. Bishop punched the elevator's control panel, which fractured in his haste. The lift responded with a jolt before it began moving. Anxiously, he reached for the Glock… but no, that might risk damaging the equipment down there. He would have to see. Evaluate the situation when he arrived.

The lift took him down even further, to the lowest level in the entire complex, towards the intruder who had just entered the power room.

Donnie cautiously stepped out of the stairwell. It took his eyes a moment to adjust from the brightness of the halls above. Only three overhead ceiling lights lit up the power room and cast shadows everywhere else. The rumble from the generators (diesel, judging by the noise) echoed and rebounded off the walls. The constant clanging made it difficult to pinpoint any one sound's origin. Between the dim lighting and grinding generators, Donnie's shell prickled. I won't be able to see or hear someone sneak up on me.

Anxious goosebumps rippled across his arms. His feet scuffed against the cold floor. He felt along the wall until he encountered a thin pipe. Tap, tap. Hollow. Might be for ventilation. Nothing super critical, then. He found the seam and wrenched it from the wall.

It was a bit lighter than his bo, and thicker in diameter, but it would do. He took a moment to lean on it, blinking away another wave of dark spots. His reserves were still critically low. The water and protein bar had helped to take the edge off, but already his body was telling him it needed more. Stolen blood and no food would do that.

All the more reason to hurry this up and head home with his brothers.

A quick examination in the dim light revealed that most of the building was actually connected to the grid. All three generators here were purely for sustaining the anti-mystic transmission throughout the complex. That simplified some things. Targeting the diesel tanks was an option, but Donnie didn't feel like getting blown sky high alongside this place. He also didn't have a safe way to cut wires without getting electrocuted. He could blow fuses or trip circuit breakers, but he wanted to make sure there was no way to restore the power after he was done. He needed to sabotage something permanent.

Voltage regulators it was, then.

He found the panel to the first generator and flipped the main breaker. No sense electrocuting himself trying to mess around while the thing was running. No sense being delicate with his sabotage, either. He used his pipe/bo to break the regulator off without even bothering with the screws.

The room was certainly quieter with one generator off. After considering for a moment, Donnie flipped the breaker back on. The generator started back up, and he grinned maliciously.

It wouldn't be as obvious that something was wrong.

He tossed the voltage regulator into the machinery with a satisfying crunch and moved on to the next one. Rinse and repeat.

Donnie had just pulled the panel off of the next generator when his shell prickled. A rush of air. Movement in reflective machinery.

CLANG!

His pipe bo swatted away the machete coming for his back. Donnie kept up the attack, relentlessly striking out and blocking until Bishop slid backwards a ways, sword raised between them. The agent looked at him.

"You are a real thorn in my side."

"Yeah, well you're a pain in my shell, too," Donnie panted. He hoped that between the dim light and his pipe bo steadying him, Bishop couldn't see him swaying. He glanced over his shoulder. Trying to complete his sabotage now would mean turning his back to Bishop. He resisted the urge to groan. As much as he didn't want to get in another fight in his state, it looked like he wouldn't have a choice. Donnie readied his bo.

At this point, sheer adrenaline was going to have to see him through.

Bishop hung back, though, eyes flicking between him and the machine as he considered his options. "This doesn't need to be difficult." The man slowly stepped forward. "Step away from the generator and I won't have to kill you."

Donnie laughed. "Yeah, right. I know your plans. If you're okay with genocide, nothing's going to stop you from killing little old me." He instead stepped closer to the generator, feeling the heat from the exposed engine wash down his right side. The cylinders churned at a furious pace.

Bishop was quiet for a long moment. Yeah, turn that info over in your pea-brained mind. I know everything: your move. He felt his body start to sway again and shifted his grip on his bo. But maybe make your move a little faster so we can get this over with.

At last, the agent spoke. "I told you I would do whatever it took to keep humanity safe." His voice was soft, hushed. A thin smile toyed at his lips. "So thank you for helping me do that."

"What is it with you and thanking people?" Donnie growled. "Stop that!"

"Why? I do have you to thank." He took another step forward. "You are the reason we finally cracked the problem with Jericho, your destruction of Maria will only allow us to remake it stronger, and even now your cell samples processing upstairs should provide the breakthrough Achilles needed." He reached into his pocket. "Your knowledge, your tech, your very blood has been useful. It would be rude not to thank you."

JAB!

Clatter.

Bishop held his hand to his chest, rubbing it. The cube-cage he'd been pulling out rolled away underneath another generator. Donnie switched hands on his bo, ready to strike again.

"You think I don't see what you're trying to do?" He rolled his eyes. "If you're going to try to get inside my head, then at least tell me something I don't already know."

The agent flexed his hand and cocked his head. He smirked. "There's that sarcasm again. You're afraid."

"Of what, exactly?" Donnie said, and suddenly he was done. Done with the horror, done with the hurt, done with the display. "A big, scary, government agent bent on killing people?" He stepped forward.

"Maybe intimidation and mind games are your coping mechanisms."

Bishop stepped back, eyes widening in surprise. He cried out as the pipe suddenly smashed into his bad leg. Donnie's hand plunged into his coat in the distraction, then retracted with its prize just as the machete sliced upwards in defense.

Donnie pushed his goggles onto his head. "You've already hurt me in every way you could," he continued. "So maybe I'm not afraid, maybe I'm just pissed-off."

He snapped the bo against his side with a metallic ring.

Bishop rubbed his calf, eyeing him, then raised his machete. "Perhaps you think you can no longer be hurt," he said slowly. "But what about your brothers?"

Donnie narrowed his eyes.

"Cocytus has stronger defenses than HQ. The situation should be wrapping up as we speak." The agent tilted his head, watching him. "They should prove to be fascinating studies."

He shook his head. "Frankly, Bishop, you're already on my 'To Bring to Utter Ruin' list." His voice turned low and menacing. "But hurt one of my brothers and I'll ensure that day comes sooner than you think."

Bishop smirked, but Donnie was already shifting his feet, already winding up his pipe bo. Adrenaline made all his senses feel alive, and he moved with the desire of nothing more than to knock his dum-dum glasses off his dum-dum face.

Blade met bo.

Round.

White.

Room.

Scared.

Run.

Alone.

Roar!

Scared.

Savage.

Run.

Doors.

White.

Room.

Rectangle?

Raph!

Run.

Get it together!

Alone.

For your BROTHERS!

Raph gasped and halted, panting heavily.

He didn't recognize where he was. It was a white hallway, with a couple doors here and there, and very bright. Where were his brothers? Were they okay? Did, did he leave them?

No. No, Leo said to duck out.

That's right. He shook his head. He must have… not reacted well. Plan B. What was he supposed to do? Free the mutants upstairs?

Ah, okay. He looked around. How to get upstairs?

Tentatively, he began trying doors.

The place felt weirdly empty to him, which didn't help his nerves. A part of his mind was still shrieking alone! white! but he clamped down on it.

"Keep it together, Raph, for your brothers." He opened another door. "Everything's still going according to – WEAPONS!"

There they were in pristine, glowy glory: his tonfas, Leo's sword, Donnie's staff, and Mikey's 'fundo. He happily scooped them up in his arms and paused as something else clattered to the floor.

Donnie's wristband.

Donnie!

Raph took a few deep breaths. "It's okay, he's probably with the others. Which means Mikey and Pops are breaking him out. You should give this back to him, he'll be so happy to see it." He picked it up, then frowned.

Leo's team was supposed to find their weapons and April's mom. He needed to let them know he already found them, somehow. Looking around the small lab, he located all their cell phones and panic buttons, too. He shot a quick text to April, then fit what he could in his belt and just carried the rest. The weapons clanked against his shield.

He needed to circle back to the group, then. To… to the Turtle Tank. Yeah, it's in the scary room, but… his family was there. Deep breaths. He could do this.

Except, where was the round room?

Raph turned a full circle in the hall, unsure of which way he had come from. "Uh-oh." His heartrate picked up. "Calm down, Raph, you are not lost. You're just a little turned around is all. Pick a direction and we'll see if we come across a sign, or a directory."

He made two turns, then two more. Anxiety began rising. All these halls looked the same! Was he going in circles? Squares? Heartrate pounding, he charged a random door and yelled as he found himself falling down a stairwell.

"Oof!"

He landed in a heap at the bottom, weapons tumbling out before him. Frantically, he started scooping everything up.

A noise made him pause.

To be clear, it was very noisy. The room he was in was darker, but large machines grinding away could be made out in the dim lighting. It wasn't a machine-noise that stopped him, though. Raph could recognize his brothers' voices in a rock concert during a hurricane. And he swore he just heard one of them.

He focused, listening again. There! Some clanging, different from the machines, also reverberated throughout the room. He shot to his feet. There was a fight going on!

Raph stepped carefully around the machines, trying to hurry but also not give himself away with everything jostling in his arms. His eyes widened as he rounded another machine.

Donnie was fighting Bishop. Sparks flew behind them from the last machine as they traded blows. Bishop's machete was out and whatever pole Donnie was using as a weapon was moving too fast for Raph's eyes to track. He watched for a moment, transfixed and unsure how to enter the fight.

For one, Donnie was clearly on the offensive. He always fought super aggressively whenever he didn't have his battle shell: strike fast, strike hard, strike first. Bishop had to jump and dodge the attacks.

Which begged the other, more dangerous question: where was Bishop's gun? Just because it wasn't pulled out in a close-quarters fight didn't mean the agent wasn't strapped. Raph wanted to rush in and use his tonfas to block any bullets trying to drop him, except, no, mystic energy didn't work here.

What to do?

Donnie was rapidly flagging, though. Bishop struck and the machete screeched down the edge of the makeshift bo. His brother released one hand and stepped back, twirling it around the blade and putting some space between them. Raph dropped everything in his arms and raised his shield. "Bishop!"

"Raph?"

The agent turned. "Ah, how nice of you to join us, Raphael." He took a moment to wipe the sweat off his brow.

Raph didn't miss how Donnie also took the reprieve to lean heavily on his bo. His brother looked pale and a little shaky. He growled and stepped around the discarded weapons.

"I know you've got more than a machete on you," he said, slowly advancing. "So how about you put your piece on the floor and kick it away from everyone."

Bishop looked at him dubiously. "And how exactly do you plan on making me comply?"

Well, he actually hadn't gotten that far. He kept his shield up. "By… because it's over." His voice strengthened with the line of thought. "We've stormed the round room and are freeing Yokai at this very moment! All your plans: in smoke! So be a good little creepy agent and throw down your gun so we can take you into police custody."

Donnie, who had been absorbing the info with wide eyes, now rolled them heavenward and dropped his forehead onto his hand. Bishop crossed his arms and looked at Raph, nonplussed. "Seriously?"

"Yeah!"

Bishop huffed. Twirled his machete. "I suppose it was too much to hope you would forget about that little incident." He shifted his stance towards Raph and smirked. "If it's any consolation, I wasn't aiming at anyone in particular."

"It's not a consolation," Raph rumbled, edging closer. "You're lucky Mikey can bounce back from just about anything, otherwise we wouldn't just be talking right now."

"Oh, so it was dear Michelangelo that I hit?" Bishop tilted his head. "Then I guess next time I'll have to-"

"I'm sorry," Donnie interrupted. He had a weird, incredulous smile on his face. "You shot my little brother?"

"It was just a-" Bishop lurched backwards from a blow that nearly brained him. The pipe caught the edge of his glasses and launched them into the machine churning beside them, instantly crushed.

"I WARNED YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN!"

Bishop raised his machete to deflect Donnie's next blow, but instead Donnie plunged the pole deep into the cylinders. The machine screamed, Bishop recovered, and Raph charged at him as Donnie dove past them both. Blade bit into wood, and his shield reverberated from the force of the blow. Raph glared into Bishop's eyes. Bishop snarled back. The lights flickered as they separated, sparks cascading all around. He blocked a swipe and charged again.

Bishop swept to the side and tripped him. He tumbled head over heels, but the ground suddenly felt different. Tingly. Raph raised his head.

Donnie stood by the pile of weapons. Leo's sword was clutched in his hands. His arms shook but his eyes blazed. The blue light from the portal forming beneath them all lit him up in an otherworldly glow.

He spoke as they began to sink. "That was the last one."