RESCUE

December 21, 1995

LEONARDO:

I watched from the dark alley as fire trucks crowded the narrow street, desperately trying to quench the flames before they leaped to the next building. "You think there's still people in there?" I asked as we scanned the scene.

"If there is, I don't think there's a whole lot we can do about it," Donatello answered.

There was a moment of silence as we observed the scene. "Third fire this week," he observed quietly.

"No," I corrected. "That first one was a bombing. At a soup kitchen."

He sighed. "Help organizations."

"Mmm," I acknowledged. "I know. It's like he's calling us out."

He sighed deeply. "I really wish you wouldn't say things like that."

A scream jolted me out of my thoughts. It was close by, from a woman near the alley. A man was holding her arms but she was flailing wildly, trying to get toward the burning building.

"Somebody get him out!" the woman screamed. "He's still on the top...!"

The man clapped his hand over her mouth and leaned down to whisper something in her ear. She struggled wildly, but couldn't break free. I looked at the man who was trying to pull her back. His clean shaven face and dark hair looked strangely familiar, but I couldn't identify him. He wasn't talking to her anymore, only watching the flames as they destroyed the building. Someone was still in there. And from the looks of it, the firefighters didn't even know. They had a ladder, but they weren't making any attempt at a rescue.

"Anything about that seem strange to you?" I thought out loud.

Donny didn't look at me. It wasn't really a question. "Think we should get involved?"

"No. Not out in the open."

Another man appeared nearby and the two gestured to each other. The woman kicked and screamed as she was dragged away. I watched them for a moment, and felt Donny leave my side. When I turned, he was gone. He went after them. Good. He could take care of it.

I looked back up at the building. The flames hadn't reached the top few floors. A heat wave combined with the smoke to block any clear view I had. Still, I was pretty sure. And there was someone up there. I wasn't sure if there was anything I could do, but it was worth a shot.

The crowd's attention was locked on the building. I managed to get around them without being noticed. I slipped into the alley, two buildings down, and jumped up to catch the fire escape. I darted up the steps and climbed to the roof. I scanned the surface instinctively as a feeling of uneasiness washed over me. Someone had been here recently. I stopped and squinted through the wall of smoke. There was movement on top of the building across the street. They were leaving, from the looks of it. But I couldn't tell for sure through the smoke.

I vaulted across the narrow alleyway and sprinted across the roof toward the burning complex. This alley was wider. Running full speed, I dropped my hands to the ledge and pushed off as hard as I could. My built up momentum allowed me to clear the gap and to land on my feet.

I immediately felt like I was in a furnace. I tried to filter out the roaring flames and heard a voice yelling. Walking over to the side of the building, I saw a young boy leaning out the window and yelling at the top of his lungs. "Hey!" I called, trying to get his attention. He looked up, his red, burned face not more than eight years old.

"Help me, please," he begged, reaching up toward me.

I looked around. Even though he was on the top story, there was no way I was going to be able to reach him without a rope or something. But there was nothing on the roof. "Get a sheet from one of the beds," I called down to him.

He disappeared into the room and returned, holding a pink bed sheet. He immediately tried to throw it up to me but, needless to say, it was weightless and floated back down to him before I could reach it. "Get something heavy that you can tie to the end of it. Like a five pound weight."

He vanished again and I sat down on the ledge with my back to the street. Slowly and carefully, I fell back, hanging from my legs and reaching down toward the window. When he came back, he tossed the weighted sheet up to me and I just barely caught it. "Now wait!" I ordered.

I tossed the sheet and the coffee mug attached to it up to the roof top, then reached up and grabbed the ledge, pulling myself back up. I waved to the boy to hold on to the sheet as I slid to the rooftop. "Okay, grab on!" I called to him. "Use your feet on the wall!"

I held the sheet with one hand and helped him up easily. "Is there anyone else inside?" I yelled over the roaring flames.

He didn't have a chance to answer. The building trembled beneath my feet and the boy fell. It didn't matter if there was anyone else in there; we had to get off this building now. I grabbed the boy's shoulder and ran to the ledge. Below us, the fire escape was engulfed in flames. I had to get him over to the next alley before we could go down. I handed him the weighted sheet.

"Don't move," I commanded. I backed up and flipped to the next building. Then I turned and leaned out over the trench separating us. "Toss me the sheet!"

He threw it toward me and I reached to grab it, but missed. The cup swung back and shattered against the brick wall. At this point, I was truly amazed that the boy was not crying hysterically. I looked around the roof I was standing on but saw nothing that could be of any use to me now. Six feet of nothing but air separated us. I wasn't sure I could jump that with him on my back, and I didn't really want to take the risk.

I jumped back on to the burning building and took one end of the sheet from the silent boy. "I want you to hold onto this," I ordered, "and wrap it around your hand. I'm going to go across and hold on to it. If you jump from the ledge, right after I do, you'll land on the building I'll be on. Okay?"

He nodded quickly and the building shook again. I wrapped the other end of the sheet around my wrist. If he didn't jump, his weight would pull me back and we wouldn't make it to the other side. Damn it, I hated taking risks like this.

I stood him up on the ledge and took a few steps back. I wouldn't make it to the other ledge without a running start. But I could probably make it to the fire escape. At least I hoped I could. I forced the thought of failure out of my mind. It wasn't an option.

I broke into an immediate run for three steps, jumped up on the ledge, and pushed off with all of the strength I had in my legs. I felt my arm jerked back. Damn it! I didn't have time to think. I reached out and grabbed the railing of the fire escape, just barely catching it. The boy screamed as he fell past me; thank God he didn't let go of the sheet.

I held our weight over the scorching heat with one arm, and held the sheet with the other. My hand was slipping, and I knew I couldn't do this for much longer. The heat was unbearable, and the metal was hot. This was not a solution in any way, shape, or form. If I couldn't get him to hold on by himself so that I could pull my weight onto the platform, I had to let him go. God, I hated ultimatums like that. But I knew I had to accept it before I even made the attempt.

I pulled him up as quickly as I could, trying not to shift my weight at all. Each movement, each breath of smoke, each time I blinked made my grip slide even more. I raised him beside me and he grabbed the metal. He was on his own now. I brought my other hand to the railing and pulled myself up. I could barely breathe, and I couldn't see five feet in front of me. My eyes burned fiercely.

I reached down blindly and grabbed his arm, then pulled him up. We climbed to the roof and half-walked, half-crawled a few steps before he collapsed to his knees, gagging on the thick air. I forced the burning pain in my throat aside and knelt next to him, slipping my arms underneath him.

"Come on, kid, you're almost out," I coaxed him as I picked him up. "Don't let go now."

His head lolled to one side and I walked to the fire escape. I climbed down as quickly as I was able and took him to the mouth of the alleyway. A loud whistle attracted the attention of a nearby woman and I shrank back into the darkness as she and another spectator approached.

"Oh my god! Look over here!"

I watched from the fire escape. My mind was racing, my vision blurred by the tears the smoke from the building had formed, and my breathing hard and labored. Every few steps, I choked on the air. It seemed like forever before I reached the rooftop.

My communicator beeped as I climbed over the ledge and I reached for it blindly. "Yeah?" I coughed, trying to clear the smoke from my lungs. My brothers always picked the best times to call.

"Could use a little...!" Donatello's words were cut off by a cry and the sound of a blow. "...help here, Leo!"

I coughed and wiped the tears from my eyes. "Where are you?"

"Go east. You won't... miss it!"

He cut out and I doubled over, coughing deeply. Standing up again, I looked around. East. That was away from the burning building and the crowd. I watched the street as I headed east.

DONATELLO:

I looked over my opponents as I backed into the middle of the street. Some of them held guns, some of them held chains, and a few of them just clenched their fists at their sides. I paid close attention to those who looked like they were unarmed and saw that their weapon was their gloves. They had sharp knives, razor sharp claws, from the looks of it, sticking out of them at their knuckles. The claws ran past their fingertips. Ouch. I'd have to watch out for that.

They appeared to form ranks. The ones with the chains formed the first line, then the gloves, then the guns. Behind them all, Nightshade watched contentedly. I was surprised to see that they were leaving the car alone. Suddenly, the chains attacked. I was glad that they weren't smart enough to pace themselves so that they all got to me at the same time. The first one who approached,

I raised my bo and the chain swinging toward my head got wrapped around it. Another one was coming toward me from the other side and I spun my weapon to catch it with the other side. I swept the weapon around, catching one of my opponents in the head and the other at the knees. They both fell and the chains slid off of the edges of the bo.

A dark figure with a set of nunchakus lashed out at me. I jabbed the tip of my weapon into the soft flesh of his stomach before he had a chance to make contact. Two more approached from the other side. I spun to face them and felt an approach behind me. I didn't have a chance to react. My weapon, held up at the level of my shoulders in preparation of an attack, was jerked back against my neck. I gagged for a second, slightly surprised. He was holding the weapon right on the outside of my hands, where he had a good grip. Letting go would be suicide, since he could easily choke off my air supply. Staying put wasn't much of an option either, since the two in front of me were just about ready to attack.

I jumped in the air, throwing my weight back against my opponent, then forward. The foot soldier flipped over me and into the two who were advancing. They stumbled over each other, giving me a second to catch my breath. Damn. Only five of them were actually down. The other two dozen were willing and able to attack. But that wasn't what concerned me. I was more worried about the fact that I'd lost sight of the woman they had taken away from the crowd.

Behind me, empty-handed opponents raced toward me. I dropped down and swept my leg across the ground, knocking them both off their feet. Then I immediately somersaulted away as another attack came. As one of them stood up, I pushed her and she fell backwards into another two who were fast approaching. That knocked them off balance enough to allow me to sweep them off their feet.

I stepped back. My breath was starting to come harder. I scanned the area and saw that only four of them were still on the pavement. The others were on their feet, or getting up. I grabbed an attacking hand and spun the man around easily, twisting his arm behind him. I felt a danger behind me, but didn't have a chance to turn around. I didn't need to. I felt the rush of air as he was taken out from the side. Leo. Thank God.

I didn't need to look to know it was him. I concentrated my attention on another swinging chain. I kicked forward and he stumbled back, then somersaulted away from a slashing blade. It hissed through the air next to me. As I stood back to my feet, I took one of the fallen chains with me. I used it to wrap around the wrists of the foot soldier with the katana. He dropped the weapon as he fell to the ground. But I didn't retract the chain in time and I didn't have time to pull it back before the next two were on me.

I darted away from their claws as they slashed through the air. Fortunately, these two didn't look like they knew what they were doing. Or who they were dealing with. They appeared to be enjoying themselves, shadow boxing with their toys attached to their hands. I hooked my bo around their legs and pulled them to the ground.

I was on my feet again just in time to turn my face away from another set of claws. I felt them scrape across my chest, but it didn't really hurt. As I turned my attention to the attackers, I caught sight of Leo. He was close by. I made an effort to move to him.

The confusion turned to chaos as I heard gunshot. My eyes darted around instinctively, looking for where the bullets were coming from. The shooters were on the roof. The next sound was sirens. Someone must've called the police. It was about damn time.

I flipped backward to dodge more slashing fists. Bullets ricocheted off the pavement and I tried to stay moving at all times to avoid them. The sirens turned to flashing red and blue lights and the crowd full of ninjas scattered. Leo expected me to follow him into the sewers, but I had another agenda.

He caught up with me as I reached for the door with the busted padlock. "What're you doing?" he choked. His voice was raspy, and I couldn't help but glance at him. He looked like hell.

"They still got the woman," I told him. He let go and I threw the door open.

This was a parking garage. The only way to go was up. The staircase leading up was dark, but I could still see the thin trail of blood on the ground. I hit Leo's arm and pointed to it. He nodded once and raised his weapons as he pressed to the wall, going up the side of the staircase. I followed, my eyes looking upward.

The blood led through a door, and we opened it slowly and carefully. Back outside in the cool night air, I expected to be surrounded by cars. But it was the middle of the night, and apparently there wasn't much around here that was open at one in the morning. I scanned the area for danger. A few cement pillars held the structure up, stationed all over in no particular order, and a single car rested in the far corner.

Suddenly, the lights flashed on. Leo and I spun around. A single man came out from behind one of the pillars and I prepared myself to fight.

It wasn't Shredder, but he wasn't dressed like a foot soldier, either. In fact, he was in street clothes. I eyed him carefully, distrusting of his apparent solitude. He kept his distance, walking slowly with his hands behind his back. "You can relax, freaks," the man smiled. "You won't attack me."

"What makes you so sure?" I returned.

He pulled his arms in front of him and I nearly sprinted out of reflex. He laughed as I saw that he wasn't holding a gun like I had expected him to be. "A little jumpy, are we?" he asked.

I noticed a device in his hands that looked similar to the control pad for a remote controlled car. "Where is she?" Leo demanded, studying his face carefully. "And who the hell are you?"

He was the same man that had held the woman at the building. I recognized him easily. He bowed politely. "My name is Kentaro," he greeted. "And you are in search of the woman, no?"

I didn't move. There was something all too familiar about his eyes. Something I didn't like in the least. "Well, let's play a little game, shall we?" he asked, mocking us. "How about hide and go seek? The woman is hiding. If you find her, she might live. Otherwise..." He pushed a button on the controller. "You've got ten minutes before this complex goes up in fire and smoke."

He bowed and backed toward the door. I lunged toward him and he turned and fled. I threw my bo and it got tangled in his legs. "What is that thing?" I demanded as he crashed to the cement floor.

He pushed himself up and I ducked out of the way of a handful of shurieken. "You don't have much time," he warned. "Are you more interested in saving her or killing me?"

I felt Leo back off. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to. I knew he was serious about the bomb, and about the amount of time we had. It would take both of us to sweep this building in ten minutes, and I knew he wasn't the brains behind this offensive anyhow. He wouldn't be of any real use to us. Shredder wasn't here, and he was the one we needed.

LEONARDO:

I watched him go and didn't try to stop him. Instead, I turned and scanned the room. Ten minutes wasn't that long. We'd have to split up. But something didn't feel right. I froze and concentrated on my surroundings. The silence in the room was deafening. Suddenly, my ears tuned in to a quiet, muffled cry.

"Leo, I'll..."

"Wait!" I silenced him.

He paused and listened to the silence. "You hear that?" I whispered.

"Mmm hmm."

"The car," I pointed.

"Go on," Don urged. "I'm gonna see if I can catch that jerkoff."

We split up and I ran as fast to the car. I saw the woman, a Japanese girl no older than twenty, bound and gagged in the back seat. "Turn your head!" I yelled.

I smashed the window out and opened the door. She continued to try to speak to me through the duct tape over her mouth. I pulled my katana from its sheath and sliced through the roped that bound her feet. Then I pulled her up and tried to lead her away from the car. She dug her heels into the ground.

I turned to face her. What was she doing? Did she know something I didn't? "What are you...?"

Suddenly, a tremor shook the structure. I knew what was happening before it happened. I hit the floor, pulling the woman under me, and covered my head with my arms. I felt pain pierce through my body, but didn't have a chance to figure out where it was coming from before I slipped out of consciousness.