Zoe and Raph sprint across rooftops toward Shelter 3, well what remained of it. "Pushing my lung capacity here, Big Guy," she huffed, slowing to a stop two rooftops back. She couldn't push that physical limit, it would put her out of the fight.
Raph frowned but nodded. "We're only a few rooftops away. We can make it. Take a second while I scout around, check out the scene."
Panting, Zoe waved him off, opting to walk around the rooftop they'd stopped on to see what was going on right where they were. Raph ran ahead, leaping over the next two rooftops, until he was a shell-shaped dot disappearing behind an access closet.
All around them screams and smoke filled the air, sirens wailing, flashing lights and a blanket of heat from a smoldering fire in the distance. How had everything gone to shit so fast? What did Battle stand to gain from this? What was his big play, his win? Zoe's fingernails extended into claws curling into her palms. She'd sure like to sink them right into his neck.
Familiar movements, bodies slinking along in shadow three rooftops to her left, caught her attention. It couldn't be. She backed out of view, putting herself close to the utility closet, slinking closer to get a better view of what was going on. Black military garb, guns with scopes… and someone had a tail. Her blood chilled then rushed hot. EDF and not just any team, but the hybrid team. They were going to attack, but EDF hybrid teams had specific targets… who was theirs?
Raph's energy re-entered her space, silent thankfully. She took a step back, intending to wave him to her, but as she peered around the corner he was already there. "Hey, I got some yuck-vibes from you." He practically yelled. "I hate those, especially in times like this. What's goin' on?"
"Shhh. Look." She pointed to the EDF team forming a line up along the outline of the rooftop facing the alley.
"EDF hybrids?" He growled. "What're they up to?"
"Raph, they only come out on target specific missions. They aren't here to play. They're about to assassinate or retrieve someone or someones." She knelt down, tightening her shoelaces. "We aren't armed for this. I mean a bunch of humans we can take out no problem. But EDF hybrids. Shit's going to get real." She stood up stretching her arms and rolling her shoulders. It was what it was. One way or another they'd stop them. She sighed. They'd just have to give some of them a ride over the edge. "I hate killing hybrids."
To her surprise Raph chuckled then tossed a bag at her feet. "Then arm up. Look what I found on my trip across the rooftops. Leo's already been here."
Zoe's heart leapt as she rifled through the bags finding her tessen on top. Shuriken, smoke bombs, kunai. They were in business. There were even utility belts and two black hoodies as if Leo knew they might've been caught in street clothes. She and April were the only ones who wore head coverings when they needed to be super stealth. Of course putting a black hood over your head wouldn't help you blend in if you weren't human-passing like they were. "Thank you, Leonardo."
She and Raph loaded up right as the team took aim. With a silent nod, they stealthed across the rooftops moving in on their target from behind. Creeping up on a hybrid wasn't like catching a human off guard. But the EDF team was focused, their guns cocking as they took aim. They'd formed an L shape, having pinned down whoever they were after into a dead end alley. An assassination then, not a retrieval. In her periphery she saw Raph light a smoke pellet at the very same second the team opened fire into the alley. They had to move quick.
Her hands moved silent over the body of her first victim, opting to disable not destroy them if she didn't have to. She hoped Raph knew her internal conflict over killing hybrids, but they'd both do what had to be done. Their cover provided them a shield to work within but the smoke also caught the attention of the EDF.
"What's going on?" One soldier yelled.
Coughing and shouting filled the air, while some kept shooting into the alley. Zoe moved silently among them, glad her clothes matched the color of their uniforms. She avoided looking at their faces, focusing on their bodies as she dropped one after another with nothing but pressure point attacks. They saw Raph, pinpointing him for their attacker, half the team forming a circle around him.
"Take him out! The rest of you don't stop until the mission is complete." The team lead was tucked in the corner, his best men on either side of him exactly as they were trained. He was what she needed to remove from the equation.
Trusting Raph to hold his own, she kept her head down, moving through the bodies of coughing, sputtering hybrids, dropping any that bumped into her or stepped in her path. Reaching into her pocket she moved toward her target to her left. Wrapping her fingers around five shrunken, she took aim for the stragglers still shooting into the alley on her right. This one move would give her up, but hopefully they weren't too late for whoever was below. She leapt into the air, foot aimed for the leaders back while simultaneously releasing the shuriken into the gun-holding arms of the last five shooters.
Her full attention was drawn to her lion-hybrid target when he twisted around, abandoning his gun to the alley below in time to catch her foot and yank her off balance. She hissed as he roared, her claws extending as she allowed her body to follow the new rotation. He had to release her to stop himself from falling over the edge, allowing her to land on her feet. He was quick, pounced on her, knocking her down before she could rebound for her next move. Damn.
His claws ripped down her arms, the sleeves of her hoodie peeling away like paper. She let out a howl as her skin opened. Her eyes flickered as the animal part of her came to the forefront, her mouth opening in distress to pant over the pain. Not now. No. Now was not the time for an animal instinct takeover. But she was changed, pregnant, and her body in distress. He had her pinned at the shoulders. She wasn't sure what kind of fighting he engaged in, but it seemed purely primal as his bare-clawed feet suddenly came toward her gut. Oh no. No. No! She brought her feet up, trying to curl and twist her torso away. His mouth opened over her shoulder, teeth sinking in while she struggled to get a hand free. Her knees took the blow of his feet, claws ripping down her shins as she screamed. He was the bigger cat and she was trapped beneath him.
Then a pair of serpentine eyes emerged through the smoky air and Karai's fangs bit deep into the lion hybrid's shoulder, instantly causing him to slump unconscious and pin Zoe beneath his weight.
Karai's smug smile wavered and she swayed unsteadily, getting caught, in that moment of weakness, by the guards that Zoe had disarmed earlier. She coiled her elastic arms around theirs, but didn't have enough left in the tank to do much with her grip, leaving her even more bound.
As one slid a combat knife from its sheath, Zoe struggled for all she was worth to squirm out from under the lion, but she wasn't going to make it in time.
And now a third former gunman stood over her, brandishing his own knife.
A glint of metal and blur of motion.
The heads of the men preparing to kill her and Karai toppled free of their necks as Leo flicked their blood off of his blade.
"Is that all of them?" He asked, jaw set in a grim line, as he stepped next to Karai, allowing her to subtly sag her weight against him.
"Yeah." Raph answered, momentary surprise turning to comprehension as he surveyed the scene in the clearing air. He removed the lion hybrid with a single swift kick and reached a hand out to Zoe.
Zoe staggered to her feet. "Y'okay?" Raph frowned, looking her over.
She wiped her face to hide her efforts to keep herself from continuing the wounded cat pant. It was a struggle as her body threatened shock over what she considered minor wounds. She glanced at the rivulets of blood flowing down her arms and legs. Her heart was pounding a little too hard. "Where?" She looked at Leo and Karai. "When?" Her brain struggled to catch up while teetering on animal instincts she was determined to keep in check. Then it clicked. "Wait. Were you the ones that were trapped in the alley?"
Leo nodded. "Aries is still down there."
"No. No, no, no we've got to go. Now. No one leave anyone. That was a hybrid team on an assassination mission." Zoe began pacing on wobbly legs. "If they don't call in and confirm the kill then more will come, and if you guys were the target then I guarantee our whole family is. Is everyone else accounted for?" She could hear Leo's voice but couldn't make sense of the words as she eyed the headless hybrid body. Bending down she searched his gear until she found his radio. Her fingers were trembling as she passed it to Raph, "Hold this." Then continued searching his wallet for ID. Nothing. Of course. Damnit. She didn't even know what unit this was.
The radio crackled to life and she yanked it back. "Hey! What're you doing, Z?" Raph protested.
She closed her eyes, summoning her training. Her stomach was churning and her muscles jerky. What was that about? She depressed the button. "Hi Mom, It's too bad I got your voicemail. I was just checking in with great news. We aced the test! Be home soon. Bye." She released the button and tossed the radio over the roof, but as she turned for Raph her vision blurred. She blinked, looking down at herself. "Leo, what did you say abowww everyonesss wheressab-" She slurred, trying to focus through the blooming cloud in her head, while picking at a big dark spot on her thigh. "S, weird..." she poked a finger through the hole in her pant leg and blood spurt up. She swayed. "Think I'm hurttt."
Raph, caught her as she went down, clamping a hand over her wound. "No, no, no, no, no. Leo, do something." But when he looked up to find his brother, Leo was already rummaging through the bag Raph had brought from the battle site. "What are you doing? The fight's over and Z needs help."
Leo triumphantly pulled out a first aid kit and Karai snorted. "Of courssse. You've probably got a checklissst for throwing together a bag of gear in an emergency."
"It pays to be prepared." He replied, pulling out a package of hemostatic bandages. "This is probably going to hurt."
Raph nodded and wrapped his free hand firmly around Zoe's shoulders.
Drowsy as she seemed, she jerked out of it with an angry hiss when Leo started packing the bandages into her wound. It was all Raph could do to keep her from slashing Leo to ribbons while he worked.
"Are you planning to come back down here? If I climb up there with a fucking bullet in my leg when I don't have to, I'm going to be pissed." Aries yelled from the alley below.
"You're already pissssssed." Karai called back.
"More pissed. What's going on?" He demanded.
Karai tossed him down his own packet of bandages, but Leo, still working on Zoe's leg, cut in before she could give Aries a run down of the events he'd missed.
"Get the manhole open. We'll be down shortly."
"Before or after I bleed out?" Aries snapped.
"You're choice,"Leo answered. Knowing Aries had the supplies to see to his own injuries, he turned his attention to Karai. "Battle's hunting us. We need to fall back to the lair and regroup. Let the family know we're fortifying ourselves there until we have a plan to counterstrike."
Karai nodded. "What about the kids? We have to get them. They can't fall into Battle's hands." Before Leo could reply she was speed dialing the warehouse.
"Activate emergency protocols." Leo replied, finishing up with Zoe.
The phone rang once before Ana's screeching voice answered. "Help! Send help! There's too many of them. I can't do this. I can't!"
Fear coursed through Karai, an unwelcome sensation since becoming a parent. "What? Are you under attack?"
Leo, Raph and Zoe craned toward her, eyes wide.
"By these little brats, yes! When are you coming home? I can't do this- I can'tttttt." Ana wailed, her voice dominant even over screaming infants.
In the background she could hear Yuuta's disapproving squeaks. But what was Antonello saying? She craned to hear. "You gotta take the dirty diaper off first."
Ana gagged. "Can't. Can't do this. Come- oh God- come home now."
Karai rolled her eyes. "Where's Phoenix?"
"She left me here with all of them and I can't- I cannnnnn't it's-" She gagged. "It's so gro-grosssss."
"Listen up," Karai growled. "We've got serious trouble and you've got to pull it together. Do what Anton and Yuuta say. Put Anton on the phone."
A retching sound was Ana's reply. "Smells. B-b-b I'm going to be sick."
This woman was trying Karai's last nerve. And where the hell was Mom? She glanced at the blank expressions on Leo, Raph and Zoe's faces. "Put Anton on the phone!" She yelled.
There were sounds of a handoff. "Aunt Karai? I heard your voice. Is Mom and Dad okay? Are you coming home?"
"Yes. We're okay. Antonello, I need you to listen. Grab the emergency bag. You know-"
"I know where it is," he replied, with seriousness beyond any typical child then again, he was anything but.
"Good." She had more confidence in him than their childcare. "Do you remember the emergency plan? The one we practic-"
"I remember. But we ain't never walked it alone." He sounded uncertain. "With babies and a crying grown up."
Karai grimaced. How in the hell was Anton going to convince Ana to go down in the sewer with him, Yuuta and the babies? "You let me and Uncle Aries worry about the crying grown up. I mean Ana. You get the bag and the flashlights. Put the twins in those carriers your Uncle Mikey wears them in. Yuuta knows where we keep Shen's. Let him wear her and you wear the twins. You can do this Antonello. We'll be on our way to you as you are on your way to us. Send an SOS if there's any sign of trouble. Now put the crybaby - I mean Ana, back on."
"Yes, Mam." Anton shuffled about, Ana's weeping and retching growing louder.
"What? What now?" Ana snapped.
"Cool it." Karai hissed, she'd had enough of this whiny blondes shit. There was no time for it. "There are professional assassins-"
"Karai!" Leo protested.
She held up a hand to silence him. "There's serious trouble coming your way. You've got to get the kids to safety. Anton and Yuuta know what to do. Go with them and do it now."
"Assassins!" Ana's shriek made Karai hold the phone away from her head. "You can't be serious. That's not a real thing. I can't do this baby stuff. I'm not made for this. I want to talk to Aries. You put him on the phone right now. I'm not changing diapers. What kind of people live like this?" She blubbered. "What is this kid talking about the nasty sewer for?"
Karai's teeth ground together. "Because you're going into one."
"I most certainly am not. Put Aries on the phone! You put him on right now. Right this second. I'm not talking to anyone else and I'm not going anywhere until-"
Karai stood up, walked to the roof's edge. "Hey, Aries!"
He looked up from bandaging his leg, a deep scowl on his face. "What?"
"Emergency protocols in effect. Evacuating the warehouse for fall back location. Not all parties agree to comply." She held out her phone. "It's for you."
In his peripheral vision, Leo could see that Karai looked a little too smug as she transferred the call. "Send the alert yet?"
Hissing a curse, she quickly scrolled through her phone while Leo finished up with Zoe.
"Because we care when innocent people are being mass murdered!" Aries voice boomed up from the alley.
"Very stealthy. Good thing no one is hunting us down or anything." Raph commented dryly.
Leo just sighed.
"Done." Karai lowered her phone. "I'll meet them on the way. Even with Anton and Yuuta's help, I don't trust her with the kids."
Leo frowned. "You're about at your limit. Maybe you should help Raph get Zoe and Aries to the lair. I can go."
Aries voice pierced the air once more, "Maybe you should've thought'a that before you decided to fuck me."
"Because we're going to be totally safe and hidden." She replied, brow ridge raised.
"We could just tell him to catch up on his own, when he's done screaming his location to the world." Raph suggested as he lifted Zoe into his arms.
Leo opened his mouth to reply when his phone rang. "Mikey, are you ok? Shot? How did you and Denim end up shot? Are you ok? Donnie's doing what?" He ended the call looking visibly shaken.
"Go help Donnie. I've got the kids."
He gave Karai a nod and took off running.
TSOTCTSOTC
Anton was tired. Tired of the babies crying. Tired of Ana's fits. Just plain tired. But after talking to his Aunt Karai, his night was nowhere near over. He watched as Ana screamed at Uncle Aries through the phone. When the babies got even louder, to the point little Shen was gasping, Anton couldn't take it anymore.
He grabbed the diaper bag and pointed to Yuuta. "Help me change'm so they stop screamin', kay?"
Yuuta chirped an affirmative and the boys lined the infants up to start the process. Shen and Scout were just wet, thank gosh. But Jem was poopy. He looked at Yuuta. "Paper, Rock, scissors?"
Yuuta nodded.
"One. Two. Three." Yes! Scissors beat paper. He got to his feet, the babies still crying. They'd probably stop once they picked them up, but he wasn't at that part yet. "Change him while I get the get away bag. We got to go soon."
Yuuta's ears flattened as he squeaked his complaints.
"Well she ain't gonna do it. We might have ta leave her here if she won't go." He frowned at Ana. "If Uncle Aries cain't get her to."
Yuuta opened Jems diaper and curled his lip. He squeaked what Jem knew well to be a 'hurry up!' Anton nodded, leaving his cousin to do what a grown up should be. Ana was a bad babysitter.
He climbed the steps, stopping at the storage closet at the end of the hall. Pushing back the curtain, he eyed the red hiking backpack and two pocket flashlights. It'd been so exciting when Uncle Leo went over emergency stuff. He didn't think they'd ever use them, but at the time the idea was exciting. He looped his hand through the flashlight bands. Now he was just scared. Anything was possible, including getting caught by bad guys. He knew that now.
The bag was heavy as he put it on his shoulder. He couldn't wear it because he was going to wear the twins. Maybe Yuuta could carry it on his back and wear Shen on his front. He shrugged. "We'll figure it out."
After grabbing the twins carrier thingys he ran back downstairs to find Yuuta already strapping Shen to his front. He pointed to the backpack as if reading Anton's mind.
Antonello passed it off then reached for Scout, working the screaming baby into her carrier.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ana shrieked.
Anton kept working, there was no time to waste. "We have to go. We have to leave."
Ana's frenetic pacing stopped when she noticed the kids. "Go? You mean in the sewer? Eww. Absolutely not. Put those brats back down this instant."
They ignored her, Yuuta helping Anton get Jem into the double carrier.
"I am the adult here. You have to listen to me." She demanded, punctuating the statement with an angry, little footstomp.
"Come on, Alli. Stay close." Anton said, payin Ana no mind, while Yuuta opened the trap door to the tunnels below.
"No, Alli. Come over here. We aren't going anywhere until somebody comes to help us."
Alli looked back and forth between Ana and Anton, then grabbed Anton's hand to follow him and Yuuta.
"Fine. Go get lost and die in some smelly sewer. But don't expect me to do it with you. You aren't my brats." Ana screeched as they climbed down.
Then she looked out the window and saw the glow of the riot fires spreading into the warehouse district.
Letting out a Yuuta-like squeak of dismay, she hurried over to the trap door. "I'm coming. I'm coming. Wait for me."
TSOTCTSOTC
Denim ran up the fire escape as fast as she could, Mikey keeping pace with her despite his injury. Dropping her bag on the top landing, she assessed the scene beneath her. She'd picked a great vantage point, but it didn't look good. A building collapsing, the shelter. A trend this horrible night. She pulled her weapon, assembling it with precision as she spied her first targets. Arcos emerging from the flames, Sappho in his arms, Medusa behind him with April in hers. All of them singed and smoky. Denim's heart clenched as she picked off each cop blocking their escape. She was going to run out of bullets and have to reload before they'd have a chance. "Mikey, I need ammo ready. It's-"
A fresh handful of rubber bullets appeared in her periphery. "I love you," she cooed. Emptying her last round, she cleared her chamber, reloading as quick as a strike of lightning. "How are we going to get them out of there?"
Mikey's eyes darted across the scene. It looked like Arcos was gesturing Casey to get the shelter people safely away, so cool that. Rescued refugees, check.
The EDF-pocketed police were down, courtesy of his Blue Jeans, double check.
But it now looked like some fully equipped, EDF baddies were moving in on them. Bogus.
Only Arcos looked fit to fight and April and Sappho were down for the count. Uncool EDF. Uncool.
Spreading out before them, the only way out was back through all those angry peeps.
Arcos had the same idea cuz he was handing Sappho off to 'Dus to cover her escape.
"Uh, I think you gotta make sure the baddies don't shoot him." He handed her the last of the bullets. "I'll clear a path. Chucks rock for that."
"Mikey..." she hissed in dismay, but, injury and all, he was already over the side of the building.
Terrific. Two handfuls of rubber bullets, well one after those she just loaded, against thirty or more armed EDF. Shit. And there were more of her family down than still in the fight. Mikey was in no condition. She picked off as many as she could to keep them back as Mikey barreled through, chucks flying. "Not enough bullets. Not enough bullets." She complained as she took aim. Fired. Biggest threats first. Unfortunately those were not game changing shots, they were just enough to keep her family alive.
Arcos charged toward Mikey, with Dusa slithering along behind him, her tail lashing anyone moving in from behind. Nope. Nope. So much nope. The EDF were outnumbering them, moving in despite Mikey's attempt to peel through.
Denim couldn't knock them down fast enough for trying to make every shot count. Her heart clenched as she counted down the bullets in her chamber. Five. They'd be retreating into the nearest manhole that was their only chance. Four. Everyone knew that with nowhere to go, the lair was fallback. Three. So where was the nearest cover? She moved to the edge of her building, looked down. Her stomach plummeted. Nothing.
She checked on her family again, fired her second to last shot. Things would be lethal after the next one. That's all she could do and she only had five live rounds left. She ran to the opposite side of the building. "Thank the Gods," She breathed at sight of an escape. She raced back just in time to see two EDF agents taking aim at Mikey and Arcos faces. One rubber bullet and two assholes. There was no other choice to be made.
She dropped the gun, grabbing her only other weapon with one clip and five live rounds. She aimed for the side of one EDF agents head, knowing full well what would happen, then she squeezed the trigger. One bullet went through two skulls dropping both threats at once. The gore was enough to make the EDF realize it was real, not rubber bullets flying off a rooftop anymore. Half of them scattered, people screaming and running in all directions, but one, peering through the scope of a rifle pointed right at her. Time to go.
Shots pierced the air pelting the bricks and gravel beneath her feet. Move it Denim. She tried to keep low as she made for the fire escape. She peered over as Arcos, Mikey and Dusa raced by. "Front side right!" Denim shouted instructions to the manhole cover, as she clambered over the side. She made it down five flights when a shot rang out, brick flying off the wall as it hit right by her head.
Another shot rang out, pinging off the metal beneath her feet. Shit! She stole a glance to see where the other shooter was. A closer shot whizzed by her arm and she pressed flat to the wall and behind the ladder, retreating to the other side. She was exposed, in an open cage. If she tried to go down she'd be done. She had four bullets left but couldn't see her target. Damn. She didn't want to waste them. Think Denim, think.
She peered through the holes beneath her feet to see Michelangelo just below it, at least five floors down. Oh, hell. She shook her head no and he nodded yes. What kind of cover could he possibly have to keep them from killing her as she stood to make the jump? Shit. He held up his good hand, two fingers then one as if to signal a countdown. Another shot rang off the fire escape. Then another immediately after. Oh, hell they were going to open full fire on her. Okay, then no choice.
She leapt forward, clambered onto the railing to throw herself over, gun ready and facing her threats as she fell. It was harder than she thought it'd be to aim while falling, but she picked them off. One. Two. Three. There he was. The main shooter in the back atop a van. They fired at the same time. Her last shot. Four. It was a mutual hit. Her shot to his face. His to her somewhere on her torso that forced her body to seize, the empty gun falling from her hands. Everything grew fuzzy as she fell. How was Mikey going to catch her with one arm? She closed her eyes. This was a bad plan.
Mikey's heart clenched as Denim's torso jerked with the impact of the shot, his fault for missing the last gunman. The ghost of every lecture Leo had ever given him about paying attention to his surroundings came back to haunt him.
Grabbing the railing with his good arm, he launched himself upside down, balancing on one hand and wrapping his legs around Denim to catch her as she fell past, tipping over the side to fall with her.
He cradled her to him, whispering "Don't worry, mom can fix us. Just gotta get back to the warehouse and it'll be all good. Hey, maybe we'll have matching scars. That's romantic, right, like couple's tattoos? It'll be like our Michealim, ugh no, Deniangelo, yeah much better, trademark. We're totes gonna be cool. Just gotta get back to mom."
His hushed babbling paused as he hit the ground, absorbing the impact in coiled leg muscles and redirected it into a roll. Motion never slowing, he flowed back to his feet and sprinted.
Everything would be ok if only he got them back to the warehouse.
Denim couldn't believe he caught her. She was useless now of course. She wasn't sure where the wound was, but her entire chest hurt. She let her head fall against his plastron, enjoying the sweet promises he made on their fall. As she wondered if they'd land safely she realized they had and he was sprinting. "Manhole... front... building." She moaned, hoping her words were coherent. She'd found them an escape route but had she been heard? "Front... building..." she tried again. Her lips felt tingly, her tongue thick. Odd. "Front," she tried again.
Donnie slowed to a halt as he took in the disaster that was shelter 2. All that remained of the building was a smoldering wreckage surrounded by angry, confused and mostly exhausted rioters. He could find no sign of the refugees, no sign of his family, no sign of April.
"Hey D, ya made it."
His head snapped in the direction of Mikey's voice to see his brother make one of those physics-defying, hairpin turns to swap direction and head towards him. As his brother approached, he took in the blood soaked bandages covering Mikey's chest and shoulder, partially obscured by his unconscious and bleeding sister-in-law in Mikey's arms. And yet, there was only one concern at the forefront of his mind. "Where's April?"
Mikey, slowed to a stop in front of him, panting from the exertion of continuing to push his body after losing what must've been a substantial quantity of blood. "Hmm. Pretty sure she was with 'Dus, Sappho and Arcos. They must be around here somewhere."
Denim murmured something incoherent, perhaps not unconscious as first assumed, but rapidly on her way there.
Donnie joined Mikey in scanning the area, noticing an askew manhole lid nearby. "There?"
"Ah, yeah, they must've hit the tunnels while I was getting my Blue Jeans. Here that? D found a way out." Mikey cheered to Denim who managed a small sound of irritation. "Now we just gotta..." he trailed off, wobbling unsteadily and Donnie caught him before he toppled.
"You're both losing too much blood. You can't keep ignoring wounds like this." An old complaint to all his brothers, typically unheeded.
"Mmm good," Mikey murmured into his shoulder, "but Denim might need a Band-Aid."
Donnie sighed. "Both of your wounds need dressing and my first aid kit was blown up in my lab." He dug through his bag with his free hand as he spoke, hoping something useful might have been forgotten in there. A pouch of hemostatic granules, not his first choice, but they'd do the trick.
"Aww, D, I thought you were gonna stop doing that." Mikey drawled, loopier than usual.
Tearing strips out of the side of his messenger bag, he poured the granules into Denim's wound and bound it in place, trying very hard not to think about the risk of infection. "Keep the pressure on. And I did not blow up my own lab, Battle did." He jammed some granules in the wound under Mikey's bandages eliciting a grunt of pain.
"Can't that guy leave us alone?" Mikey whined.
"No, we represent the greatest threat to his organization and its goals. There's no way he's going to...oh." At the edges of the milling crowd, a handful of very well trained and equipped soldiers appeared. Donnie pushed Mikey upright. "Get Denim out of here and...protect April, in case I..."
"Don't worry, we'll get out of this. We always do, don't we?" Mikey cut him off, though his trademark smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Go."Donnie gave him a shove as he threw down the only smoke pellet he'd managed to find in his bag. "I'll buy you as much time as I can."