Radical Transformation
~
"No dude . . . he's dead . . ." Mikey murmured, staring unblinkingly at the sight above him. "It can't be the Shredder . . ."
"It is," Donny said, swallowing.
The Shredder seemed to glow with anew power and strength, and the light seemed to give him a visible aura.
"No . . ." Leo said, squinting up at the figure.
"Silence!" The Shredder bellowed, looking down at them. They could just make out a jagged scar running across his cheek just below his left eye. The Foot seemed to stop breathing and become statues as if the word had been a spell.
"Many things have changed in my absence," He growled. "Your appearance may have changed, but human form or not, you are the enemy. I face you again, and this time, I will defeat you."
"Don't count on it, Tin face!" Donny shouted. "We could have taken you down any day - you were too coward to face us at full strength!"
"A Ninja strikes at the strength of the enemy, stripping their defenses!" Shredder growled. He half turned his head over his shoulder. A second later someone was pushed forward into the light, and gripped by the arm, tightly, by Shredder.
"Prida!" Mikey and Donny yelled.
Prida looked down at them frightfully, eyes wide. Her hands were bound with filthy rope, and she had a nasty looking scar running across her cheek. Blood had made tear-like streams down her cheek.
"Guys," she cried softly.
"You are loyal to your friends," Shredder spoke. "But friendship causes nothing but pain and suffering. Only a fool has friendship. It slows down a true ninja, and that is why YOU are weak."
"You're wrong Shredder!" Leo said, taking his arms from around Mikey's shoulders and standing himself. "Friendships BRING strength. The more friends, the more power, the stronger our hearts will become to fight for those friends; and the bigger the determination to bring down those who harm them."
"The more friends the bigger chance you get brought down in the many battles for them!" Shredder growled.
"Why don't you just let her go!?" Mikey shouted. "You've got us, what else do you want?"
"The four of you, and the old man who is responsible for your appearance," Shredder announced.
"Our brother is immobilized thanks to your goons!" Donny yelled. "He cannot come!"
Shredder glowered down at them, still gripping Prida's arm. "Then I will send my Foot soldiers to him!"
As soon as he said this, Tatsu appeared from the darkness of the corner and grunted. Four black shadows broke away from the line of the Foot clan and disappeared the way Leo, Donny and Mikey had been brought in.
Leo made an attempt to move after them, but sharp objects were thrust to his neck to keep him back.
Prida's arm was now in pain because this dude was gripping it too hard, but hearing that Raph couldn't even get out of bed made her realize how serious he had been hurt. She felt rage towards this Shred dude like nothing she had felt even to Tooks. And now she had just seen Leo nearly get his neck sliced, she snapped. She gave a sudden jerk out of Shredder's grip, and his grip was broken, leaving scratches where his nails had scraped her skin. He turned to her, surprised, and she kicked his shin as hard as she could. She knew it must have hurt him, but it now felt like she had broken her toe. She tripped in her hurry to back away from him, and banged her elbow on the hard floor.
"Ahh," she cried as he grabbed her again and lifted her off the floor and clean off her feet. He was growling in anger.
"You stupid -!" He snarled as he dropped her and brought his hand across her face with enough force for her to fall back on the floor next to the edge of the platform, nearly making her fall off it. She clung to it, gritting her teeth in pain and fright.
"Prida!" Mikey called.
"Take them and chain them up," Shredder ordered Tatsu. "I will kill them myself when the old man arrives." Giving a final glare at Prida, Shredder disappeared back into the darkness he had entered through.
"No, we have to get out and save Raph!" Leo said, trying his best to push against the Foot soldiers that were forcing them forward. He and his brothers weren't going any where without a fight, and soon Mikey and Donny were kicking, punching and spinning away from the oncoming Foot. They were trying their best to hold their own, but Donny realized it did no good, and he and his brothers were soon overpowered.
//
"They're gone - where have they gone?" Dr. Hera burst into Room 113, startling April and Casey who had been enjoying a peaceful moment sat in the chair, April on Casey's knee while Raph had collapsed on the bed, his tiredness had overwhelmed him at last.
"Who?" April asked, knowing anyway.
"The three brothers - they're not in their room," the doctor said. "Did they come in here?"
"No, we ain't seen 'em," Casey said, pretending to look concerned for their whereabouts.
"Oh no, they've taken off somewhere," Hera groaned. "Leo won't make it very far - he can't just go walking around with a concussion. Let's just hope he hasn't gotten into any more fights!"
She turned and ran out the door, calling for Bruine. They could hear her telling him what had happened, and they heard her say they should check around the hospital and outside in case they hadn't go very far. Hera didn't believe Leo could have got far at least.
April looked at Casey, a strong expression of worry on her tired features again.
"They'll be okay," Casey said gently, rubbing her back. "Listen, you look exhausted, why don't you go take a rest somewhere?"
"I don't want to," She replied. "I have to stay here with Raph." She laid her head on his chest again, and closed her eyes. "I'm not that tired."
Casey smiled, and rested his cheek on her head. He closed his eyes as well.
The room was silent. April's sigh of tiredness was the only sound. The corridors outside were empty, and the only sound in them was the faint humming of a life support machine in the next room.
The door inside the room, to the left, opened without a sound. Two figures dressed in black stood in the doorway, two more were inside the room behind them. The first two glanced at the sleeping April and Casey, and then at the sleeping teenager on the bed. One of the black clothes figures held in his hand a long, silver object: Something that wouldn't be permitted in a hospital. The figures froze when April stirred. She wasn't fully asleep, so they'd have to make this quick and quiet.
The Foot soldier with the dagger crept towards the bed while the other secured the door to the corridors. The armed soldier reached the bed where Raph was laying asleep on his back, and raised the dagger above his head, lining it up with the teenager's heart.
The silence seemed to be an alarm, as Raph's eyes opened and as soon as they saw the black-clothed figure towing over him with a dagger raised he instinctively rolled to his side as quick as a flash - at the same time the Foot soldier brought down the dagger, striking the mattress where Raph had been laying, so close that the dagger caught the teenager's shirt, pinning it to the bed mere centimeters from his side.
"Whoa!" Raph gasped, as the Foot dude ripped the knife out of the mattress, leaped on the bed and pounced at him.
Casey and April snapped their eyes open and only had time to see the Foot soldier pinning Raph down with the dagger inches from his face with Raph trying to hold it off, before April was suddenly thrown to the floor and Casey was punched in the face. He fell back while still in the chair, and the Foot dude jumped on him.
April let out a frightened gasp, and then turned to look at Raph and the other soldier. She grabbed the second chair and brought it round in the air, ramming it into the Foot soldier's side. He fell off Raph and onto the floor, tangled with the chair.
Raph was still holding the dagger and April was breathing heavy as Casey was rolling around on the floor with the other guy. April and Raph looked at the door the Foot had come from to see two more run into the room, one pounced on Raph while the other went for the wide-eyed April. She shrieked as she fell but her cry was cut off as she impacted with the floor, and then the Foot soldier landed on her, trying to wrap his hands around her neck. But she was thrashing around, batting his hands away. He spotted the dagger that Raph had dropped on the floor, and groped for it before grabbing it and raising it above her. She was just about to scream but then a fist rammed into the Foot's face and he fell off her. She was hauled to her feet by Casey, who was then jumped on by the guy who got it by the chair. April was knocked down as the two men fought, and she rolled into the wall, banging her head. Her vision flashed with bright colors, then it cleared and she scrambled over to help Raph, who was dealing with two of the Foot. But before she could reach him, the third dude grabbed her hair, and held her back. Pain shot through her head, but she gritted her teeth in anger and brought her balled fist around to meet his face. He went down and April stepped over him and delivered a solid kick to the groin of another who was fighting Raph. But the dude who she had just punched in the face jumped to his feet and came at her again.
"Ape behi -" Raph shouted, but was thumped in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. His injuries were slowing down his reaction speeds, and he admitted this to himself when he was thrown into the wall, whacking his head and throwing him into semi-consciousness. The Foot dude now had the chance to kill Raph, and it so happened that the dagger was kicked across the room from April's attacker to him. He picked it up, but before he could even raise it Casey came to the rescue, lashing out his foot to the opponent's face. The man's arm swung uncontrollably as he was knocked out, and the dagger sliced over Casey's arm, creating a thin, deep wound.
Meanwhile April had managed to head-butt her attacker, (something she had picked up from Casey) and crawled away.
The Foot had all now been knocked out except the one April had just dealt with, who was moaning weakly and gripping his head on the floor.
"Raph?" April managed to get to her feet, rushed a few steps forward and dropped back down to her knees again next to her friend. Casey crouched next to her.
"I'm okay," Raph grunted, holding his head as Casey and April helped him to his feet, setting him down on the bed.
Casey stormed over to the conscious Foot member and picked him up by the front of his clothes.
"Who sent you?!" He growled.
"I will tell you nothing!" The Foot spat. As soon as he said that, the other three soldiers suddenly jumped back to life and ran through the door they had entered. April, Raph and Casey turned to look, and as they did the man who Casey was gripping lashed his knee out into Casey's stomach and then ran after his comrades as Casey dropped in, clutching his stomach and growling.
"Great, now they'll probably come back with more," April threw up her hands and sat down next to Raph, massaging her head.
"Yeah, and we won't know who sent 'em," Casey growled. He removed his hand from his stomach.
"Casey your arm," April pointed out worriedly, her heat still racing from the attack.
Casey held his arm up and looked at it. The thin scar had disappeared under the streams of blood that rolled down his arm and dripped to the floor.
The sound of running feet grew louder and Hera and another female doctor ran into the room, eyes widening and confused frowns as they saw the blood on Casey's arm; April who looked as though she had been dragged through a hedge because her hair was a mess and her face was flushed; Raph who was sat on the bed with a disorientated expression, his own tousled hair looking more wild than normal; the chairs on their sides, and the messy bed sheets with a jagged rip in the mattress.
"What the hell just happened?" Hera asked, eyebrows now raised.
"Dudes in black attacked," Raph said, one of his eyes half closed.
"What?" Hera frowned, asking for a better explanation.
Casey looked at April before turning back to the doctor.
"He meant dudes in white, er doctors," Casey said. "Got the wrong patient, he got a little, er, freaked out," he waved his hands, a half grimace half smile on his face.
"What did you do to your arm?" Her asked.
"Oh, this?" Casey indicated his seeping wound. "Oh I er," he noticed she was now looking at the blood tinted dagger on the floor, a very suspicious expression forming.
There was now a questionable silence in the room, very uncomfortable for the three guilty-faced people. Raph thought quickly.
"Hey is that - Leo just went past, hey LEO!" Raph called, looking past the two doctors to the corridor beyond them.
Hera and the other woman spun around and looked out the corridor. Hera glanced back at Raph with a frown.
"Leo?" She asked. "He can't walk he has a concussion."
"Hey - I think I know my own brothers," Raph said.
Hera gave them all another look and then dashed off out the room with the other doctor, hoping to catch up with the Leo that wasn't there. They could hear her calling his name as she went down the corridor.
Raph turned to April and Casey. "You know I have to go now, if I hurry maybe I can follow the Foot back -"
"It's Laid Street you want," April said. "An old factory there - but you can't go you're - well, look at you, you look -"
"I'd hurry up if I were you," Casey said. April frowned at him.
Raph nodded. "I'll be back," he promised. Before he could move April threw her arms around him, and kissed his cheek.
"You better be," she said, and he took off out the room, about to go left in the corridor but stopped. Hera had just rounded the corner.
"Hey, what are you - ?" She began, but Raph turned and ran the other way. " - Hey stop!" She started to run after him.
Casey and April stepped out of the room, making the doctor skid to a halt before she bashed into them.
"Where's he going?" The doctor demanded.
"Dunno, he had another freak attack; damn it, got by us again," Casey said, pretending he was steamed. April hid her smile as Hera exhaled and put her hands on her hips.
//
"Leo, Leo you okay?"
Leo could hear Mikey's voice echo in the background of his mind. He felt himself lift from the depths of unconsciousness and could see the dark start to lighten as he opened his eyes.
"M . . . Mikey?" Leo breathed. He remembered what had happened; he and his brothers and resisted the Foot, but they had knocked Leo out.
"Yeah bro, it's me," Mikey said, grasping his brother's hand.
"Where's Donny?" Leo asked, his vision returning slowly. So far he could make out a stone, dark room. He felt cold metal around his wrist and knew they were in chains.
"Here Leo," Don's voice spoke. Leo heard the clink of chains.
"Hey Leo, welcome back to us," came another familiar, feminine voice.
"Prida?" Leo smiled. He was now awake enough to see that he had been laying on his side on the cold stone floor, his wrists bound in heavy, cold metal cuffs attached to a length of heavy chains that were fixed firmly onto the wall. He looked up to see Mikey chained next to him, and Donny on the other side of Mike, along the wall. They had been spaced out along the room. They must be underground, underneath the old factory because down here was stone not wood. Leo looked on his other side to where Prida was also chained. There were dry bloodstains down her face from the wound Shredder had obviously inflicted on her. Either him or his good for nothing Foot members when they had dragged her away on the street near April's apartment.
"Take it easy Leo, you still have concussion," Donny warned.
Leo held his head as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Why are we down here?" He asked. "Why . . . didn't they kill us already? That's what Shredder wants, right?"
"He said he'll kill us himself as soon as the old man arrives," Mikey said.
"Why DOES he want to kill you?" Prida asked, a hint of fear in her words. The fact that someone wanted her friends dead was pretty scary, especially when they kidnap anyone to get what they want.
"It's a long story," Donny said. "But to cut it short, he's just a really obsessed dude who has held a grudge against us ever since one of us attacked the Foot to save April."
"What happened?" Prida asked, bringing her knees up to her chest. She wanted to know the full story.
"Well, it started with Shred head Foot clan plaguing the city with a crime wave," Mikey started. "And April was doing a report on it. We didn't know her then; and Shredder obviously saw her reports and thought she was to close to finding them out, so he ordered his clan to go . . . get rid of her. It just happened that the night before this we saved her from some thugs who were stealing stuff from the News Van. She didn't see who saved her, but Raph dropped one of his Sais, and she picked it up. So then he went looking for her to get it back, and found her, but she had been knocked out by the Foot who would have finished her. Raph kicked their butts and brought April back to our Sewer. Man you should have heard her scream when she saw us," Mikey laughed.
"Yeah, we all started shouting," Donny smiled. "She scared us to death."
"Yeah, anyway, after she had stopped screaming," Mikey continued. "Master Splinter told her our origin, blah blah, and she became our friend, happy ending." Mikey finished.
"It wasn't really a happy ending," Donny said. "One of the Foot soldiers that was sent to get rid of April followed Raph back to our lair, and after we had taken April back to her apartment, we returned home to find it had been trashed and our Sensei gone. So then we all went back to April's place, distraught, and waited until we could find any sign of Splinter. We were all upset, so it lead to fights, and Raph stormed out onto the building's roof. A few minutes later he was thrown through the skylight by the Foot, unconscious. They'd been battling it out on the roof. Shredder had obviously sent his goons to April's, knowing that's where we'd be. Ya see, he wanted us out the way. He felt threaten because of us. So then the Foot started to trash April's place, and we were getting pretty beat up -"
"And that's where Casey came to the rescue," Mikey interrupted with a smile. "He'd seen the fight on the roof from another building and came over - coz he had had a fight with Raph two days earlier, so I guess he wanted to know what was going on."
"Yeah, well anyway we got our shells kicked," Donny took over, "and April's place was burnt down. After that we retreated to April's farm house, Raph woke up, and we went back. From there we Casey managed to get into the Foot clan club, and freed Master Splinter, while we were fighting the Foot on the streets, then we fought the big boss himself -"
"He kicked our shells, it hurt, but in the end, we won," Mikey grinned. "Well, it was Master Splinter who won. He kinda came to our rescue, and defeated Shred head, landing him in a dumpster truck. We thought he had been killed, but -" he sighed "- not long later, while we had been staying at April's new place, we eventually found out he was alive again! And then we finally defeated him, AGAIN, and hey, look, who's that guy upstairs in the metal helmet? The dude will not stay dead - I don't think Hell will accept him."
Prida blinked. "Whoa." She thought for a few seconds. "So . . . what's your origin?"
Mikey and Donny looked at each other, and then they both started to explain to Prida how they became mutant turtles, and how their Master taught them in Ninjitsu. Prida was pretty amazed, and after they had finished she couldn't help but stare open mouthed at them.
"We can't complain we've had a boring life," Donny said.
Leo, who had been listening to everything, smiled slightly, and leant against the stone wall. The room filled with silence. Mikey broke it:
"Why does he wanna wait for the dude to be here before he wastes us?" He asked.
Donny stared at the stone floor for a second. "Well this old man is looking for US, and a being that magical is bound to have some kind of power that enables him to find what he wants. Shredder wants this old man for his power, so if he kills us before the old man gets here, the dude is gonna know what's happened and, well, there'd be no reason for him to come here."
"We're bait," Mikey stated.
"Yeah," Donny said. "But if we're down here, and Shred head is up there, then the old man can, I dunno, just zap himself straight down here without Shredder knowing."
The metal door on the far side of the room clicked unlock and groaned open. Six Foot members walked in, one with a chain of keys.
"Er, I have a feeling Shredder's just realized that," Mikey said, as the Foot made they're way over to the chained teenagers.
~
Hope you liked, more comin soon. SFAM.
~
"No dude . . . he's dead . . ." Mikey murmured, staring unblinkingly at the sight above him. "It can't be the Shredder . . ."
"It is," Donny said, swallowing.
The Shredder seemed to glow with anew power and strength, and the light seemed to give him a visible aura.
"No . . ." Leo said, squinting up at the figure.
"Silence!" The Shredder bellowed, looking down at them. They could just make out a jagged scar running across his cheek just below his left eye. The Foot seemed to stop breathing and become statues as if the word had been a spell.
"Many things have changed in my absence," He growled. "Your appearance may have changed, but human form or not, you are the enemy. I face you again, and this time, I will defeat you."
"Don't count on it, Tin face!" Donny shouted. "We could have taken you down any day - you were too coward to face us at full strength!"
"A Ninja strikes at the strength of the enemy, stripping their defenses!" Shredder growled. He half turned his head over his shoulder. A second later someone was pushed forward into the light, and gripped by the arm, tightly, by Shredder.
"Prida!" Mikey and Donny yelled.
Prida looked down at them frightfully, eyes wide. Her hands were bound with filthy rope, and she had a nasty looking scar running across her cheek. Blood had made tear-like streams down her cheek.
"Guys," she cried softly.
"You are loyal to your friends," Shredder spoke. "But friendship causes nothing but pain and suffering. Only a fool has friendship. It slows down a true ninja, and that is why YOU are weak."
"You're wrong Shredder!" Leo said, taking his arms from around Mikey's shoulders and standing himself. "Friendships BRING strength. The more friends, the more power, the stronger our hearts will become to fight for those friends; and the bigger the determination to bring down those who harm them."
"The more friends the bigger chance you get brought down in the many battles for them!" Shredder growled.
"Why don't you just let her go!?" Mikey shouted. "You've got us, what else do you want?"
"The four of you, and the old man who is responsible for your appearance," Shredder announced.
"Our brother is immobilized thanks to your goons!" Donny yelled. "He cannot come!"
Shredder glowered down at them, still gripping Prida's arm. "Then I will send my Foot soldiers to him!"
As soon as he said this, Tatsu appeared from the darkness of the corner and grunted. Four black shadows broke away from the line of the Foot clan and disappeared the way Leo, Donny and Mikey had been brought in.
Leo made an attempt to move after them, but sharp objects were thrust to his neck to keep him back.
Prida's arm was now in pain because this dude was gripping it too hard, but hearing that Raph couldn't even get out of bed made her realize how serious he had been hurt. She felt rage towards this Shred dude like nothing she had felt even to Tooks. And now she had just seen Leo nearly get his neck sliced, she snapped. She gave a sudden jerk out of Shredder's grip, and his grip was broken, leaving scratches where his nails had scraped her skin. He turned to her, surprised, and she kicked his shin as hard as she could. She knew it must have hurt him, but it now felt like she had broken her toe. She tripped in her hurry to back away from him, and banged her elbow on the hard floor.
"Ahh," she cried as he grabbed her again and lifted her off the floor and clean off her feet. He was growling in anger.
"You stupid -!" He snarled as he dropped her and brought his hand across her face with enough force for her to fall back on the floor next to the edge of the platform, nearly making her fall off it. She clung to it, gritting her teeth in pain and fright.
"Prida!" Mikey called.
"Take them and chain them up," Shredder ordered Tatsu. "I will kill them myself when the old man arrives." Giving a final glare at Prida, Shredder disappeared back into the darkness he had entered through.
"No, we have to get out and save Raph!" Leo said, trying his best to push against the Foot soldiers that were forcing them forward. He and his brothers weren't going any where without a fight, and soon Mikey and Donny were kicking, punching and spinning away from the oncoming Foot. They were trying their best to hold their own, but Donny realized it did no good, and he and his brothers were soon overpowered.
//
"They're gone - where have they gone?" Dr. Hera burst into Room 113, startling April and Casey who had been enjoying a peaceful moment sat in the chair, April on Casey's knee while Raph had collapsed on the bed, his tiredness had overwhelmed him at last.
"Who?" April asked, knowing anyway.
"The three brothers - they're not in their room," the doctor said. "Did they come in here?"
"No, we ain't seen 'em," Casey said, pretending to look concerned for their whereabouts.
"Oh no, they've taken off somewhere," Hera groaned. "Leo won't make it very far - he can't just go walking around with a concussion. Let's just hope he hasn't gotten into any more fights!"
She turned and ran out the door, calling for Bruine. They could hear her telling him what had happened, and they heard her say they should check around the hospital and outside in case they hadn't go very far. Hera didn't believe Leo could have got far at least.
April looked at Casey, a strong expression of worry on her tired features again.
"They'll be okay," Casey said gently, rubbing her back. "Listen, you look exhausted, why don't you go take a rest somewhere?"
"I don't want to," She replied. "I have to stay here with Raph." She laid her head on his chest again, and closed her eyes. "I'm not that tired."
Casey smiled, and rested his cheek on her head. He closed his eyes as well.
The room was silent. April's sigh of tiredness was the only sound. The corridors outside were empty, and the only sound in them was the faint humming of a life support machine in the next room.
The door inside the room, to the left, opened without a sound. Two figures dressed in black stood in the doorway, two more were inside the room behind them. The first two glanced at the sleeping April and Casey, and then at the sleeping teenager on the bed. One of the black clothes figures held in his hand a long, silver object: Something that wouldn't be permitted in a hospital. The figures froze when April stirred. She wasn't fully asleep, so they'd have to make this quick and quiet.
The Foot soldier with the dagger crept towards the bed while the other secured the door to the corridors. The armed soldier reached the bed where Raph was laying asleep on his back, and raised the dagger above his head, lining it up with the teenager's heart.
The silence seemed to be an alarm, as Raph's eyes opened and as soon as they saw the black-clothed figure towing over him with a dagger raised he instinctively rolled to his side as quick as a flash - at the same time the Foot soldier brought down the dagger, striking the mattress where Raph had been laying, so close that the dagger caught the teenager's shirt, pinning it to the bed mere centimeters from his side.
"Whoa!" Raph gasped, as the Foot dude ripped the knife out of the mattress, leaped on the bed and pounced at him.
Casey and April snapped their eyes open and only had time to see the Foot soldier pinning Raph down with the dagger inches from his face with Raph trying to hold it off, before April was suddenly thrown to the floor and Casey was punched in the face. He fell back while still in the chair, and the Foot dude jumped on him.
April let out a frightened gasp, and then turned to look at Raph and the other soldier. She grabbed the second chair and brought it round in the air, ramming it into the Foot soldier's side. He fell off Raph and onto the floor, tangled with the chair.
Raph was still holding the dagger and April was breathing heavy as Casey was rolling around on the floor with the other guy. April and Raph looked at the door the Foot had come from to see two more run into the room, one pounced on Raph while the other went for the wide-eyed April. She shrieked as she fell but her cry was cut off as she impacted with the floor, and then the Foot soldier landed on her, trying to wrap his hands around her neck. But she was thrashing around, batting his hands away. He spotted the dagger that Raph had dropped on the floor, and groped for it before grabbing it and raising it above her. She was just about to scream but then a fist rammed into the Foot's face and he fell off her. She was hauled to her feet by Casey, who was then jumped on by the guy who got it by the chair. April was knocked down as the two men fought, and she rolled into the wall, banging her head. Her vision flashed with bright colors, then it cleared and she scrambled over to help Raph, who was dealing with two of the Foot. But before she could reach him, the third dude grabbed her hair, and held her back. Pain shot through her head, but she gritted her teeth in anger and brought her balled fist around to meet his face. He went down and April stepped over him and delivered a solid kick to the groin of another who was fighting Raph. But the dude who she had just punched in the face jumped to his feet and came at her again.
"Ape behi -" Raph shouted, but was thumped in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. His injuries were slowing down his reaction speeds, and he admitted this to himself when he was thrown into the wall, whacking his head and throwing him into semi-consciousness. The Foot dude now had the chance to kill Raph, and it so happened that the dagger was kicked across the room from April's attacker to him. He picked it up, but before he could even raise it Casey came to the rescue, lashing out his foot to the opponent's face. The man's arm swung uncontrollably as he was knocked out, and the dagger sliced over Casey's arm, creating a thin, deep wound.
Meanwhile April had managed to head-butt her attacker, (something she had picked up from Casey) and crawled away.
The Foot had all now been knocked out except the one April had just dealt with, who was moaning weakly and gripping his head on the floor.
"Raph?" April managed to get to her feet, rushed a few steps forward and dropped back down to her knees again next to her friend. Casey crouched next to her.
"I'm okay," Raph grunted, holding his head as Casey and April helped him to his feet, setting him down on the bed.
Casey stormed over to the conscious Foot member and picked him up by the front of his clothes.
"Who sent you?!" He growled.
"I will tell you nothing!" The Foot spat. As soon as he said that, the other three soldiers suddenly jumped back to life and ran through the door they had entered. April, Raph and Casey turned to look, and as they did the man who Casey was gripping lashed his knee out into Casey's stomach and then ran after his comrades as Casey dropped in, clutching his stomach and growling.
"Great, now they'll probably come back with more," April threw up her hands and sat down next to Raph, massaging her head.
"Yeah, and we won't know who sent 'em," Casey growled. He removed his hand from his stomach.
"Casey your arm," April pointed out worriedly, her heat still racing from the attack.
Casey held his arm up and looked at it. The thin scar had disappeared under the streams of blood that rolled down his arm and dripped to the floor.
The sound of running feet grew louder and Hera and another female doctor ran into the room, eyes widening and confused frowns as they saw the blood on Casey's arm; April who looked as though she had been dragged through a hedge because her hair was a mess and her face was flushed; Raph who was sat on the bed with a disorientated expression, his own tousled hair looking more wild than normal; the chairs on their sides, and the messy bed sheets with a jagged rip in the mattress.
"What the hell just happened?" Hera asked, eyebrows now raised.
"Dudes in black attacked," Raph said, one of his eyes half closed.
"What?" Hera frowned, asking for a better explanation.
Casey looked at April before turning back to the doctor.
"He meant dudes in white, er doctors," Casey said. "Got the wrong patient, he got a little, er, freaked out," he waved his hands, a half grimace half smile on his face.
"What did you do to your arm?" Her asked.
"Oh, this?" Casey indicated his seeping wound. "Oh I er," he noticed she was now looking at the blood tinted dagger on the floor, a very suspicious expression forming.
There was now a questionable silence in the room, very uncomfortable for the three guilty-faced people. Raph thought quickly.
"Hey is that - Leo just went past, hey LEO!" Raph called, looking past the two doctors to the corridor beyond them.
Hera and the other woman spun around and looked out the corridor. Hera glanced back at Raph with a frown.
"Leo?" She asked. "He can't walk he has a concussion."
"Hey - I think I know my own brothers," Raph said.
Hera gave them all another look and then dashed off out the room with the other doctor, hoping to catch up with the Leo that wasn't there. They could hear her calling his name as she went down the corridor.
Raph turned to April and Casey. "You know I have to go now, if I hurry maybe I can follow the Foot back -"
"It's Laid Street you want," April said. "An old factory there - but you can't go you're - well, look at you, you look -"
"I'd hurry up if I were you," Casey said. April frowned at him.
Raph nodded. "I'll be back," he promised. Before he could move April threw her arms around him, and kissed his cheek.
"You better be," she said, and he took off out the room, about to go left in the corridor but stopped. Hera had just rounded the corner.
"Hey, what are you - ?" She began, but Raph turned and ran the other way. " - Hey stop!" She started to run after him.
Casey and April stepped out of the room, making the doctor skid to a halt before she bashed into them.
"Where's he going?" The doctor demanded.
"Dunno, he had another freak attack; damn it, got by us again," Casey said, pretending he was steamed. April hid her smile as Hera exhaled and put her hands on her hips.
//
"Leo, Leo you okay?"
Leo could hear Mikey's voice echo in the background of his mind. He felt himself lift from the depths of unconsciousness and could see the dark start to lighten as he opened his eyes.
"M . . . Mikey?" Leo breathed. He remembered what had happened; he and his brothers and resisted the Foot, but they had knocked Leo out.
"Yeah bro, it's me," Mikey said, grasping his brother's hand.
"Where's Donny?" Leo asked, his vision returning slowly. So far he could make out a stone, dark room. He felt cold metal around his wrist and knew they were in chains.
"Here Leo," Don's voice spoke. Leo heard the clink of chains.
"Hey Leo, welcome back to us," came another familiar, feminine voice.
"Prida?" Leo smiled. He was now awake enough to see that he had been laying on his side on the cold stone floor, his wrists bound in heavy, cold metal cuffs attached to a length of heavy chains that were fixed firmly onto the wall. He looked up to see Mikey chained next to him, and Donny on the other side of Mike, along the wall. They had been spaced out along the room. They must be underground, underneath the old factory because down here was stone not wood. Leo looked on his other side to where Prida was also chained. There were dry bloodstains down her face from the wound Shredder had obviously inflicted on her. Either him or his good for nothing Foot members when they had dragged her away on the street near April's apartment.
"Take it easy Leo, you still have concussion," Donny warned.
Leo held his head as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Why are we down here?" He asked. "Why . . . didn't they kill us already? That's what Shredder wants, right?"
"He said he'll kill us himself as soon as the old man arrives," Mikey said.
"Why DOES he want to kill you?" Prida asked, a hint of fear in her words. The fact that someone wanted her friends dead was pretty scary, especially when they kidnap anyone to get what they want.
"It's a long story," Donny said. "But to cut it short, he's just a really obsessed dude who has held a grudge against us ever since one of us attacked the Foot to save April."
"What happened?" Prida asked, bringing her knees up to her chest. She wanted to know the full story.
"Well, it started with Shred head Foot clan plaguing the city with a crime wave," Mikey started. "And April was doing a report on it. We didn't know her then; and Shredder obviously saw her reports and thought she was to close to finding them out, so he ordered his clan to go . . . get rid of her. It just happened that the night before this we saved her from some thugs who were stealing stuff from the News Van. She didn't see who saved her, but Raph dropped one of his Sais, and she picked it up. So then he went looking for her to get it back, and found her, but she had been knocked out by the Foot who would have finished her. Raph kicked their butts and brought April back to our Sewer. Man you should have heard her scream when she saw us," Mikey laughed.
"Yeah, we all started shouting," Donny smiled. "She scared us to death."
"Yeah, anyway, after she had stopped screaming," Mikey continued. "Master Splinter told her our origin, blah blah, and she became our friend, happy ending." Mikey finished.
"It wasn't really a happy ending," Donny said. "One of the Foot soldiers that was sent to get rid of April followed Raph back to our lair, and after we had taken April back to her apartment, we returned home to find it had been trashed and our Sensei gone. So then we all went back to April's place, distraught, and waited until we could find any sign of Splinter. We were all upset, so it lead to fights, and Raph stormed out onto the building's roof. A few minutes later he was thrown through the skylight by the Foot, unconscious. They'd been battling it out on the roof. Shredder had obviously sent his goons to April's, knowing that's where we'd be. Ya see, he wanted us out the way. He felt threaten because of us. So then the Foot started to trash April's place, and we were getting pretty beat up -"
"And that's where Casey came to the rescue," Mikey interrupted with a smile. "He'd seen the fight on the roof from another building and came over - coz he had had a fight with Raph two days earlier, so I guess he wanted to know what was going on."
"Yeah, well anyway we got our shells kicked," Donny took over, "and April's place was burnt down. After that we retreated to April's farm house, Raph woke up, and we went back. From there we Casey managed to get into the Foot clan club, and freed Master Splinter, while we were fighting the Foot on the streets, then we fought the big boss himself -"
"He kicked our shells, it hurt, but in the end, we won," Mikey grinned. "Well, it was Master Splinter who won. He kinda came to our rescue, and defeated Shred head, landing him in a dumpster truck. We thought he had been killed, but -" he sighed "- not long later, while we had been staying at April's new place, we eventually found out he was alive again! And then we finally defeated him, AGAIN, and hey, look, who's that guy upstairs in the metal helmet? The dude will not stay dead - I don't think Hell will accept him."
Prida blinked. "Whoa." She thought for a few seconds. "So . . . what's your origin?"
Mikey and Donny looked at each other, and then they both started to explain to Prida how they became mutant turtles, and how their Master taught them in Ninjitsu. Prida was pretty amazed, and after they had finished she couldn't help but stare open mouthed at them.
"We can't complain we've had a boring life," Donny said.
Leo, who had been listening to everything, smiled slightly, and leant against the stone wall. The room filled with silence. Mikey broke it:
"Why does he wanna wait for the dude to be here before he wastes us?" He asked.
Donny stared at the stone floor for a second. "Well this old man is looking for US, and a being that magical is bound to have some kind of power that enables him to find what he wants. Shredder wants this old man for his power, so if he kills us before the old man gets here, the dude is gonna know what's happened and, well, there'd be no reason for him to come here."
"We're bait," Mikey stated.
"Yeah," Donny said. "But if we're down here, and Shred head is up there, then the old man can, I dunno, just zap himself straight down here without Shredder knowing."
The metal door on the far side of the room clicked unlock and groaned open. Six Foot members walked in, one with a chain of keys.
"Er, I have a feeling Shredder's just realized that," Mikey said, as the Foot made they're way over to the chained teenagers.
~
Hope you liked, more comin soon. SFAM.