Smoke bombs and fireworks had been enough to buy Karai the precious seconds she needed to improve her situation. Grabbing the nearest swat guy with tear gas, she'd fired the gun into his ranks causing them to flee in all directions. Not ideal, but it kept them busy with their own distress. A distraction that bought her refugees enough time to cross the street, bleeding into an open-ended alley. "Keep going that way! Jussssst keep going until you reach the docksssss!" She had no plan but they needed a direction, she just hoped there weren't rioters at the docks.
She slithered diagonal across the crowd, rioters, refugees, swat, cops, a mess like no other. She hadn't seen a crapshoot like this since the war. Then again this was a war, just by another name. Still the same damn fight. Peering through the clearing smoke, she spied Aries and Leo, guns aimed at them. Hell no.
Unsure if she'd close the gap in time, she coiled in on herself, sprung tight and released. Launching into the air she opened her arms, launching hundreds of snakes. It would near drain her, holding form, using so much energy, but it was all she could do to increase their numbers. Her serpent arms snapped at the throats of two of the gun wielding men, her tail lashing the third. All three fired their weapons haphazard as they tumbled back. Fresh screams filled the streets, a new level of stampede in four different directions. Not ideal, but it saved Leo and Aries' ass.
"You're welcome," she hissed, slithering toward them. Not waiting for a response from their gaping stupid faces, she grabbed the nearest refugee, a badger mutant. "Tell everyone you see to head for the docks."
Slithering into the crowd, she grabbed another fleeing citizen, a fox mutant. "Get everyone you can find and head for the docks. Spread the word."
The mutant nodded. Good. They had to help themselves. But what were they going to do when they got there? What if the roads were blocked? What if they couldn't get through? The last of the school collapsed in on itself a sodden, smoldering mess. As the last shift of crumbling lumber and concrete shook the street beneath her belly, Leo's hand came down on her shoulder.
Had she not seen his green fingers in her periphery, she might've bitten him. Sparing him a glance she shook her head. "We can't win this, Leo. All we can do is get as many out as we can."
Aries caught the fox mutant while the badger wrangled the few remaining stragglers who'd gotten seperated from the herd. "They're that way," he pointed in the direction that he'd come from, "look for Officers Rookie and In Charge somewhere at the front of the column."
Karai glanced his way and he shrugged. "Most of them were escaping over where the sky caught fire a while back. Leo's trying to save the fucking rioters."
Karai's gazed snapped over to Leo. "Ssseriousssly?"
"It's not about who they are, it's about who we are." Leo answered evenly while shielding the retreat of the last few refugees as a new wave of angry people broke on the three of them.
"Well we are going to be dead if we don't get out of here. Karai's tapped, they've got us outnumbered and you're a fucking pacifist now." Aries growled as he knocked two heads together.
Leo opened his mouth to reply but dozens of chiming phone notifications interrupted him. Frowning, he pulled out his phone. Scanning the screen, his expression went rigid. "Donnie, what have you done?"
"If you were waiting on a good distraction to escape by, this is probably it." Aries pointed out impatiently.
Mentally prioritizing, Leo shook off his dismay and nodded. "Break for that alley. We can disappear underground through the storm drain the next street over."
"Fucking fantastic" Aries muttered, following Leo who navigated through the crowd as a new, more directionless mood of violent anger took over.
The effort to avoid engaging with anyone made it one of the slowest and most tedious strategic retreats in their long history, but they finally cleared the crowd and breathed a sigh of relief before disappearing into the shadows.
Moving unseen through the city night came right back to Aries, like riding a bicycle as humans liked to say, though actual bike usage seemed restricted to children and a select few adult personality types.
They made it to the drain without incident and Aries began to hope that the last crappy part of the night would be the smell home.
As Leo ghosted over to the grate, Karai stiffened beside him. He followed her gaze to where EDF soldiers perched on the rooftops above, armed with rifles and infrared scanners. Fucking cheaters.
"Leo." She hissed as the bullets flew and they all threw themselves out of the way.
Leo made good use of his shell and Karai, like Medusa, was deceptively fast, but he was a damn big target and there was precious little cover that could stop firearms.
Aries swore as a bullet bit into his calf as he dove behind a dumpster. Several more tore right through the sheet metal and garbage hitting the brick wall around him more by luck than anything else.
They couldn't keep dodging. Trapped in this alley, they were fish in a fucking barrel. How the hell were they supposed to get out of this?
TSOTCTSOTC
Maim but do not kill. Maim but do not kill. Zoe repeated over and over in her head the mantra as she worked to take out the most violent of the protestors while Raph, tossed bodies like salad on his way to Slash. They needed a plan to get those who wanted out a way. As it was, the people fleeing were being forced into the fray. Right hook then grab asshole by shirt, shove asshole into crowd. Yeah, that's good. No one was permanently damaged. At least not by her. Not yet anyway.
What happened to their cover and where was Michelangelo? What about the rest of the mutanimals? Rotate left, tap two the collar and temple, kick side of right calf, next, please. Joining the protestors fed her hope that they would claim mutant rights. There were human ally's fighting among them. Awesome. However, they were not warriors, and many were getting their asses completely handed to them. But they were there. Still, their screaming grated at her nerves. These people were hysterical.
They were not at all organized once they were forced into the space of their opponents. Unprepared. Everyone was completely unprepared. Apparently, including their team. Where the hell was everyone?
They needed an exit. Fist to cheek, smash one assholes head into another, toss body. Next.
Planning exit strategies was Leo's thing. Slash could get it done, hopefully. She glanced toward Raph, he and Slash fighting together. Bodies flying up in the air like popcorn. Maybe they should get a snack after this. Or dinner. When was the last time she ate? And why was she of all people thinking about food at a time like this? Oh, right. Baby. Of course. What was her goal here? Maim not kill. Get dinner. Wait, exit first. Yes, her focus needed a little more work. An exit.
Fishing in her pocket with one hand, she simultaneously tapped pressure points on anyone in her way with her other. "Call Denim," she commanded. After it rang a few times she was about to give up.
"Zoe? You guys okay down there? I'm almost done patching up Mikey. I'll have you guys some cover and an exit in two. Get close to Slash and listen for directions."
Denim hung up before Zoe could reply. Slash had agreed to the need for retreat, but Phoenix hadn't answered and neither had Donnie when she tried him. That left her to do as she'd been trained. Reaching for the syringes and vial she looked up to her massive friend. "LH, I'm going to dose each of them, direct them back to the warehouse. They're not fit for battle."
Leatherhead nodded and waited.
She injected Rockwell, Pete, Mondo then Mikey in that order. The chances of Mikey listening to her were slim to nil, especially pumped up on adrenaline. He had to be last because she had work to do and no time to debate. "You'll be right as I make it rain, Babe." She kissed his cheek, plunged the needle into his thigh then withdrew it, grabbed two canisters from one of the cops belts, and made for the roof ledge.
First, to scope out the situation. Ignoring the sudden chattering behind her, she scanned the crowd, located the blockages, Raph, Zoe, and Slash's locations, then determined their best route for getting those who wanted it, a way out.
"Whoa."Mikey shot upright, looking around wide eyed. "Ok, I'm totes back now. I mean my arm still hurts, but who cares, right? I've got another."
"Michelangelo, we should go." Leatherhead rumbled, easily carrying Rockwell, Pete and Mondo, none yet ready to move under their own power, but at least two out of the three were conscious. Mondo hadn't roused.
Leatherhead held out a hand expectantly.
"Nah, I gots this. Bein' down an arm's not gonna stop the Mikster." He rebuffed Leatherhead's offer with a confident wink.
"Mikey," Denim said softly at first, not looking at him as she worked.
"In fact, I'm feelin' great, like that time I mixed RedBull, espresso and Mountain Dew in the blender and chugged it. And to think D thought it was a bad idea." Mikey barreled on jittery excitement.
"Mikey," she repeated as he rambled.
"You should've seen the look on his face. Totally worth it." Mikey continued with a laugh as though he hadn't heard her.
"Michelangelo, stop." She pulled the pin, tossing the canister off the roof, watching as it landed among the riot police and rioters themselves, the protestors farther off to her right. "Hon, you have to go with LH. But if you wouldn't mind, please bring me my phone."
Her phone appeared in her hand but it wasn't Mikey who gave it to her. She flashed a confused glance up at LH then over to Michelangelo. What the shell was he doing in her bag? "Uh, whatcha doin'? I know you don't think you're going to shoot with that arm."
Grinning wide he pulled out her tripod. "Told ya, I'm all kinds of on top of this. No sidelining for yours truly."
She rolled her eyes. "It's going to suck for you when the adrenaline wears off and you're gonna wish you went home." She picked up the shotgun, refilled the chamber, took aim along the outside line of their future exit and ordered her phone, "Call Slash."
Thanks to Raph covering for him as they fought shell to shell, Slash was able to answer his phone. "With all the watchin' overhead, I know you know that I'm kinda busy right now."
"I see you're busy, and I raise you an exit." Denim aimed for her first targets. "I'm taking out the riot police blocking the side the protestors came 've left the barricade unguarded in order to push the crowds into each other. I'm going to pick off the officers in the middle. The leader and the arresting officers are in there. The guys in the front and the back are just the intimidators. Go for them to get them out of the way. Have Zoe protect the people as they move through the path when we open it. You and Raph will have to move the barricades to let people through. They won't be light." She glanced at Mikey, "See if any of those cops behind us have any more tear gas. The distraction will help keep the rioters busy on our end."
As Slash used his superior height to scan the edges of the mob, he could hear Mikey on the phone in the background.
"They each have two. Score."
He spied the barricade and the riot police. To their credit, they weren't cutting the anti-mutant rioters any slack, but forcing the two groups together would only cause more violence. Denim was right. They couldn't stick around.
"On it. Cover us." He hung up and shoved his phone away.
"Time to get these people out of here." He called out while shoving off the people bold or crazy enough to try swarming him. "Raph, we're punching a path through the center and losing those barricades behind 'em. Zoe, guard the flanks as we lead 'em out."
Orders given, he cleared the space in front of him of rioters, sweeping a wide arc with an aluminum baseball bat he'd lifted off one of them. Using the momentary pause he'd created, he called back, "everyone follow us. We're leaving."
Nodding to Raph, together they charged through the crowd towards the center line of riot police. Time to make an exit.
Even city lights didn't seem so bright to the backdrop of a smoldering blaze and smoke. Heat flowed up to Denim's perch in breath-stealing waves. She didn't want to imagine what it was like at street level, but hot air did rise. Mikey tossed the tear gas right where she'd want. One to the blurred line of rioter and police, and another into the mosh pit of rioter-on-protestor violence.
"Nice job, Babe," she cooed. "If our kids aren't ambidextrous I'll be shocked."
"Uh, but turtles are reptiles, Blue Jeans. I was sure you knew that." Mikey's puzzled expression brought a grin to her face.
"It means you can use both hands equally, Mikey. Like I can shoot just as well with my left hand as I can my right." She shrugged as she peered into her scope, her voice lowering as she took aim. "But we already knew you were great with both hands by weapon choice alone. I guess I'm just extra proud since you've got a hole in your shoulder and all."
"Yeah, go amphibious power." Mikey air pumped as he cheered, immediately cringing and clutching his arm as he gave Denim a sheepish look.
The tear gas worked perfectly, forcing everyone to scatter and withdraw. The police were forced to rotate out when the first can dropped, then again when Mikey threw the second. This was exactly what Denim wanted, because now they'd exhausted their reserve and they'd need reinforcements. A small window of time, but enough to get the evacuees out.
Denim pegged anyone who dare reach for one of the escaping mutants. Raph and Slash barreled through, shoving back the barricades with a defiant unison roar. Even Zoe seemed on her game. Everyone poured out beyond the open road, when a new problem became apparent. Slash seemed to realize it too as Denim's phone rang. "Where do we go with them? They still ain't safe."
No they weren't and the shelter was destroyed. "Any word from Leo?" she asked.
"Denim, we don't got a lot of time ta get them outta here. Any ideas?" Slash, unlike Mikey, looked right up toward her rooftop as people clamored around him for guidance. They'd have to talk later about not giving away her location, although from the three bodies behind her that ship had sailed. "Denim?" he pressed.
Denim almost didn't know what to say. It was likely the other shelters were equally under attack. They couldn't use any Hamato building to hide this many people, especially with them all traveling in a massive crowd. A long, loud blaring sound drilled through her head. She wasn't sure it was pounding from stress or- wait, she knew that sound. "Slash, lead them through Liberty Park. Load them on the biggest ferry at dock. Then hijack that sucker."
Slash chuckled. "Quick thinking."
He shouted away from the phone receiver, "Raph, you get that," then, after a pause, "good. You and Zoe lead and get that boat. Denim and I will cover you."
His voice returned to normal volume as he spoke back into the receiver. "We've got our work cut out for us if we're gonna buy them time to go play pirates."
"I'm up for it," Denim replied, already sighting her next target.
Slash hung up and returned his barrier to its original position. That done, he wasted no time putting Raph's back in place.
By the time he finished, placing himself between the barriers and the mob, he turned around and found them all stopped, leaving a sizable distance between him and themselves. They looked at each other warily, each waiting to see if someone else would go first.
One of the swat team, further back, cautiously raised his rifle and immediately took a rubber bullet for it. The lack of surprise from his comrades suggested Denim had been guarding his shell for a while now. He couldn't help but smile.
As the pause dragged on, the energy seeped out of the crowd. Everyone taking stock of their exhaustion and injuries wanted to be done but didn't know how to end this.
To be fair, neither did Slash. They were all trapped in a helluva stand off.
And then devices everywhere chimed notifications, filling the silence. At first, most ignored them, Slash certainly did, but there were always that handful of people incapable of ignoring their phones.
Awareness spread slowly at first as people began demanding the attention of those in their immediate vicinity, but picked up pace, making its way as far as the swat team and riot police with gasps of shock and dismay.
Slash could feel the mob's smoldering anger catching fire again. What the shell was going on?
Against his better judgement, he pulled out his phone and his jaw fell open.
What looked like a security video feed had forced his way to the homescreen of his phone and autoplayed the moment it detected his eyes on it.
Battle. At EDF headquarters. Ordering his people to instigate the night's violence. Very specific orders, up to and including the media and police forces he held influence over. The moment the video ended all social media and web applications, of which Slash had few, opened, overflowing with links pictures and videos of everything the EDF was currently up to and had done leading up to this point.
Damn.
Donnie'd really done it.
Slash didn't know what the fallout would be, but it wasn't looking good for Battle.
Amazingly, the mob had lost interest in him. Instead, angry and done, they either left or began arguing with the police who were also arguing amongst themselves as even Battle's influence extended only so far. And just like that, it was over.
Here anyway.
Swinging his bulk over the barrier with more agility than one his size had a right to, he called Denim back. "You and Mikey better check on the others."
"We're clear here." Denim checked her chamber and put the safety on her weapon. "Where to next?"
"Hmm. Why don't you back up April? I'll catch up with Raph and Zoe and take over care of the refugees so they can head over to Karai. Good luck and be careful."
Denim eyed Michelangelo's shoulder, wishing he'd head home but knew he'd never leave her. She wasn't superstitious, relying more on intuition and skill than well-wishing, but the sentiment never hurt anybody. "Be safe, Friend. See you soon."
She hung up and turned toward Mikey. "We're supposed to go help April. You sure you're up for this?"
Mikey responded with a strained grin and a thumbs up. "No probs. Let's do this."
TSOTCTSOTC
Medusa felt the structure around her grow with the heat of the fire as people rushed passed her. Fur, feathers, skin, and clothes brushed against her scales as mutants and humans alike evacuated the collapsed shelter, the temperature rising as April's hold on the shield on holding the building up weakened. Medusa could feel the weight of the cinder blocks increasing, her great bulk shaking under the pressure, but she held the opening. As the heat increased, she closed her inner eyelid, protected her eyes from the searing that seemed to chase those that had evacuated to the shelter.
Then, she saw Sappho, with April in her arms, leap toward her. But in a blink, they disappeared, engulfed in the backdraft of flames from the sudden influx of oxygen as April's barrier fully gave out. Medusa felt at the same time both the full weight of the building and the great wave of fire as exploded outwards like a great, dragony wind, surrounding her entire body in a rush so loud she could hear nothing else. As if she were in an oven, in a heat so unbearable, that she was sure that she could not live through it. Her scales began to feel as if they were too tight for her body, similar to when she needed to shed her skin, but in a much deeper and more painful way. But she had to hold the opening. She couldn't let the gale budge her. She couldn't let the heat move her. She couldn't let the weight of the building strike her down. She had to wait for Sappho and April to get out. That was her last thought before the sound and the heat and the weight overtook her and blessed darkness replaced them.