Thank you to the two whole people that favorited this story. You mean the world to me and I hope your days are filled with goodness and clear skin. Anyways, just want to give y'all a heads up that the next couple chapters are gonna be longer than usual. I'm really excited cuz I feel like we're finally getting to some good action now. Enjoy! :)
Cori sat cross-legged on the hard bedroom floor. It had been nearly an hour since her chase with April, but she was still short of breath. Her heart pounded louder and louder with each minute. She drew in a sharp breath and pulled out a cardboard box from underneath her bed. Inside the crinkled box were four glowing blue-green canisters labeled "TCRI."
Four. There should have been five.
Cori rubbed her face, the stitching on her gloves lightly scratching her skin. She huffed a sigh and grabbed a black backpack sitting at the end of the bed. Gently, she placed the remaining canisters into the bag and zipped it closed. Cori pushed herself off the floor and hung her backpack over one shoulder. She stood still for a moment after hearing the canisters clank. She slowly stepped over to her dresser, leaning over to reach the bottom drawer. As she reached for her mask, she noticed it was no longer wrapped in her silk scarf.
Had April gone through her things as well? Even if she recognized those canisters, there was no way she could recognize the mask. Right? Her hands lingered above the mask. She hesitantly grabbed it along with the scarf. With her free hand, she lazily wrapped the scarf around her neck.
With her things collected, she walked out of her room, closing the door behind her. She stopped and looked across the hall to the door of her mother's room. She typically kept it closed while away at work. Cori was glad Ren was not home this afternoon. Otherwise, she would have to come up with a pretty good explanation for her classmate running out the door for her life with some kind of alien ooze.
Cori walked down to the first floor, skipping the last step. She walked over to the coat rack and put on her black leather jacket. She struggled to put on the damp coat as its sleeves stuck to her arms uncomfortably. She readjusted the backpack, carrying it fully on her back. She stuffed her mask into her coat pocket and reached for her bicycle. The silver metal had rusted in a few spots but otherwise it shined like new. Cori opened the front door to find it still pouring. The smell of rain mingled with the city's smog. The sun was already setting behind dark storm clouds. Her heart beat faster and faster as she stood in the doorway.
Am I really going to do this? she thought to herself. She shifted her back, feeling the weight in her backpack. She shook her head and took a step outside, guiding the bike alongside her. She turned around and locked the door.
There was no going back.
Cori flipped her hood over and jumped onto her bike. She pedaled off, the rain crashing down on her. Fat drops of water would drip into her face, making her vision blurry. It took her longer than it should to reach her destination. Not just because of the weather, but every other moment Cori would pause to check her back. Her paranoia that April was following her ate at her thoughts as she biked. She weaved through thick lines of cars, occasionally moving over to the sidewalk to skip a light or two.
Finally, she arrived at an alleyway. There was nothing special about it compared to the thousands more like it in the city. But to Cori, she had never felt more dread in her stomach. She braked hard, the water splashing around her wheels. Her breath became short again as she saw a figure casually lean against a brick wall. The figure was mostly in darkness, but she could tell it was a younger man. Only a little older than her.
"Coriii…You made it after all."
The man pushed himself off the wall and took a couple steps towards her. Light from the street leaked into the alley, revealing some of his features. A sly smile hung crookedly on his long face. The incandescent light revealed an elaborate dragon tattoo that crawled up his bare arm. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and continued to saunter forward. As he drew closer, Cori could see the large dark scar across his chest.
She took a cautious step back. The man noticed her wariness and stopped moving. He tilted his head and said, "Relaaax… I'm not gonna hurt you. So long as you have what I asked for." He flipped his vest back a bit to reveal a large butcher knife. He tapped it repeatedly with his index finger. Cori slowly slid her hand into her pocket and felt for her knife. She wrapped her hand around it but did not draw it.
"Well? Show me." His bearded grin remained the same, but there was a violent intensity to his dark eyes. Cori pulled the backpack off and held it out to him. He greedily grabbed it and immediately rummaged through it. Cori gripped her pocket knife tighter. The man eyed the insides excitedly but slowly his smile dropped. With his head still tilted down, he looked up at Cori.
"Cori, there's only four in here." He held up the backpack and asked, "Why are there only four?"
"That's all I could find," Cori lied. April may have known more than she wanted, but Cori was not going to get her involved with the Purple Dragons.
The thug stared at her for a while, deadfaced. Cori gulped nervously before saying, "Are you going to give me what I want, or are we just gonna have a staring contest?" It took every ounce of her control to stop her voice from trembling. She stared straight into his eyes, ignoring the urge to hide her gaze. His black eyes stared back at her for a moment more before he started to laugh. "I'll be honest, I didn't think you'd find anything." He slung the backpack over his shoulder and continued. "Shredder's gonna be real pleased with us."
He stood there quietly and motioned for Cori to come over. She did not move.
"C'mon, girl. I got what I wanted. Don't you want to know what I know?"
Cori hesitantly walked closer to him, stopping a foot in front of him. The man quickly leaned over and grabbed Cori's arm, pulling her closer. He tilted his face towards her ear. He was close enough for Cori to smell the cigarettes off his breath as he whispered, "Shredder's got this deal with the Kraang. They make bots for him. I never really liked them, but we got orders one day to drop some shipments off at one of their robot factories. Some place called Dynamic Science Labs in Upper West Side. It's some sort of front...pretending to be some sort of pharmaceutical lab or something." He let go of Cori's arm and looked at her, waiting for her response. Cori immediately took a step away from him before asking, "You sure it's the Kraang?"
"Would I lie?"
"Yeah, because criminals are always so honest."
The Purple Dragon snickered and said, "You know, that smart mouth of yours is gonna kill you one day." He smiled but there was no warmth in his eyes. Cori pretended to shrug off his threat, keeping her composure as cool as possible.
"Listen," he continued, "all I know is we dropped some high-tech gadgets to a bunch of creepy guys. Men-in-black kinda deal. I don't really like to cozy up with those weirdos. But if they're working with the Shredder, they gotta be Kraang."
Cori broke her gaze from the man and looked to the ground. The rain had lightened, but she could still see the drops splashing into the puddles below. Her reflection was a blurry haze as the puddles constantly rippled. She was hoping for more information, but it was at least a start.
She nodded and turned to walk away. Cori felt a tight grip on her shoulder and froze. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the man's hand. His fingers dug into her shoulder.
"Aren't you going to say thanks?"
Cori looked back slightly and mumbled a small "Thanks." It was enough to appease the man as she felt his grip leave. She hurried over to her bike, refusing to look back at him. "You know where to find me when you need more information," he yelled as she climbed onto her bicycle. "And bring five next time!" Cori ignored his heckling and sped off. Cori had not initially planned to find the Kraang tonight. But after her encounter with April, she was not sure if she would get the chance again.
Cori biked to her next destination, this time staying mostly on the sidewalk. It was easier in the rain, as the usual crowd had dispersed from the poor weather. By the time she reached Upper West Side, the sky had turned dark. But, it's never really "dark" in the city. Street lamps and car headlights flooded the night with light. Neon signs reflected bright colors on the sidewalks and streets, shiny from recent rainfall. Cori slowed her bike down and pulled out her phone. She tried searching for the lab's name, but it had no online presence. Or maybe it did. But dodging pedestrians took more of her concentration than reading small text on her phone.
She eventually ditched the phone and slowly biked around the area. She received strange looks as she passed through the same areas repeatedly. It took her nearly an hour of circling around to finally find it. It was a large single story industrial building. Its walls were dilapidated and covered with weeds and ivy. The only indication of the building's name was a faded "Dynamic Science Labs" sign but most of the letters were rubbed off. While the windows were intact, there was no light coming from inside. Yet, Cori knew somebody was home.
She parked her bike next to a tree and tied it to its trunk. She stood next to it, staring at the lab. The loneliness of the street unsettled her. Not a single soul occupied the area. She felt completely alone. Cori continued to stare at the building.
"What am I doing," she muttered to herself. Was she really going to sneak in there? A base filled with dangerous aliens? With nothing but a small pocket knife she bought from a bodega? She turned around and rested against the tree. The nervous teen pulled out her mask and studied it. She might never get this chance again.
She had to do this.
Cori flipped over the mask and slipped it onto her face. She pulled her scarf over her mouth and flipped up her hood. She took one last breath of the night air before turning around to face the building. It's now or never.
o-o-o-o-o
It took Cori much longer than expected to actually break into the base. She needed a code to unlock the door and all of the windows were bolted closed. She had nearly given up when the door slid open suddenly. Walking out was a man dressed in all black. His suit was perfect with no stains, no dust, and no wrinkles. The man himself seemed perfect, too. His chiseled face was long and symmetrical. His eyes held no emotion in them, just a seemingly black void. A strange gun rested in his hands. He walked forward, looking straight ahead. Somehow, he did not notice Cori immediately who had taken a step to the side. Cori's legs trembled as she took out her knife. The handle's edge dug into her gloved hand from her tight grip. As the man turned, Cori yelled and thrusted her knife towards his stomach. With no time to react, the knife ran deep into his abdomen. There was a loud painful screech, but the man's lips did not move. His limbs erratically twitched about before he fell to the ground. Cori looked down and kicked the body. It did not move.
She crouched down and grabbed her knife. There was a disgusting wet sound as she slowly pulled it out of the robot's abdomen. The small blade was covered in a thick green substance. Cori grimaced as she wiped off the knife on her pant leg. She folded the knife and placed it back into her pocket. The girl glanced at the laser gun and decided to grab it too. She wrapped her hands around it and pulled. The robot's hand was locked around the gun. Cori let go of the gun and attempted to pry the hand off of it. She grunted as, finger by finger, the bot slowly released its grip.
Cori finally picked up the gun. It was much lighter than she thought, almost like a toy gun. With one hand, she pointed the weapon at the tree where she tied her bike. She pulled the trigger and a pink laser instantly flew out the gun. It hit the tree, scorching the bark. Cori jumped back from the gun's recoil. It may have felt like a toy initially, but it was definitely deadly. She lowered it and turned back to the door. It was still open. She rushed into the building before the door would decide to slide closed.
It was very dark inside, with tiny slivers of light shining through the windows. When Cori's eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, she realized there was...nothing. Boxes were placed around the room and there were a few tables, but no secret lab tech. No test tubes or experimentation pods. It was just an empty building filled with junk. "No," she grumbled. There had to be more.
She started to rifle through the boxes. Many were empty, and the ones that were filled held nothing interesting inside. Just a bunch of trash. She knocked a box over angrily with her foot and sat against a wall. She clutched her head and rested her elbows on her knees. "No," she said to herself again.
Cori realized she was back at the start. No leads, being forced to find more mutagen for information. Could she even still do that? It seemed every time she went out to find more, those turtle mutants would find her. What else could she do? Suddenly, Cori heard a low rumble as the floor beneath her vibrated.
On the other side of the room, a hidden trapdoor emerged on the floor. She crawled behind two large boxes and hid. She heard clanging footsteps grow louder and louder. Cori rested on one arm and peeped out from behind the box. She watched as two more "men" ascended from the trapdoor.
"Kraang did not report the security of the secret Kraang base known as Dynamic Science Labs after Kraang left. Find Kraang and report back to Kraang."
The two bots walked forward in unison towards the door. Behind them, the trap door was rumbling to a close. Without thinking, Cori dashed out and ran past the droids. Despite carrying guns, they did not fire. They seemed too surprised to stop her. As Cori continued to run, she heard one of them order, "Stop what is known as an intruder from discovering the secret base of the Kraang." She slid onto the ground as she heard them begin to fire. She barely managed to sneak into the base as the trapdoor slammed closed above her. Even through the thick door, she could hear their lasers going off.
Cori rushed down the steps, making as much distance as possible from her pursuers. As she descended, the mundane facade of the base began to fade. The concrete steps were replaced with a shiny metal. The lights turned bright white and glowed brighter than any lightbulb. Hexagonal patterns decorated the base, glowing pink. The same pink lights reflected off the shiny white walls.
She darted off as she reached the last step, weaving throughout the different hallways. There was a strange lack of Kraang. Whenever there was one, Cori easily ran the other way without their notice. She eventually stopped running and took cover in a short passageway. She leaned against the wall to catch her breath. The pain in her chest was sharp from running, and the scarf she wore made her breaths hot and suffocating. She hunched over and pulled down her red scarf. Each breath brought both great relief and pain.
Suddenly, a loud siren rang throughout the base. The lights in the passageway blinked continuously. "Great," she said shakily. To her left, a squad of Kraang bots ran past her. Instead of turning to grab her, they continued down the hallway. Cori stood still for a moment, holding her breath. Noises from laser guns echoed down the halls, but Cori saw no Kraang retreat. They were not looking for her. She covered her face up with the scarf and ran in the direction the Kraang were coming from. She had no intention in finding out what they were fighting.
She continued creeping throughout the base. The repetitive designs confused her; it did not take long for her to become lost. None of the doors she passed were open. They were locked, most likely from the other intruders that set off the alarm. Cori pressed her back against a wall and peeked around the corner. To her luck, a Kraang bot was leaving through a door not too far from her. Quickly and quietly, she snuck behind the robot into the room it exited from.
As the door closed behind her, Cori was submerged into darkness. She blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her eyes. While the rest of the base was illuminated by bright sterile lights, this room was lit a dim blue. It was a small room, with screens all around except for where the doors were. In the middle of the circular room stood two Kraang around some sort of console. The two bots were not dressed in their human disguises. Cori's amber eyes fixated on the pink fleshy masses inside their stomachs. She was suddenly very aware of the fast thumping in her chest.
One of the Kraang turned to look at Cori. The robotic pink eyes glowed in the dark. Cori swiftly raised the laser gun and fired at both of the aliens. She shot them repeatedly, knocking them into the wall. They fell over with a thud, one of them laying limply on the console. Cori panted, still aiming the gun at their bodies. Her hands trembled, shaking the gun slightly. There was a harmony of shrieks as two pink aliens leapt out of the bodies. Without hesitation, Cori shot them down. The scent of singed flesh filled the room, burning her lungs. Finally, she rested her gun, but she was still trembling.
She walked closer to the console and touched one of its glowing buttons. A holographic screen flickered on, hovering just slightly above it. There were words but not in any language the teenager could understand. Cori pressed several buttons, trying to find some way to translate the cryptic symbols. She formed a fist and slammed it against the console in frustration. "Why can't the stupid aliens speak English," she grumbled to herself.
She looked up to the screens on the walls. Cori did not realize it before, but the screens were playing camera footage of the base. Different screens changed to different angles, while others stayed the same. Cori stared at one display, watching the Kraang running through the base. At another screen, stray lasters were hitting the walls. While Cori watched, the picture changed, revealing what the Kraang were fighting.
"You've got to be kidding me."
On the screen were four familiar silhouettes. It was the turtles.
