A/N: It seems I can't do my little asterick thing to denote a change in scene any more, because it's not saving properly onto ff.net since this new edit preview feature has been added. So just take extra note when there's a sentence written in italics.
Rene – Yeah, school's been busy. It's my last year and I have to do the Higher School Certificate (HSC) which is basically an exam which determines the rest of your life (well, the next few years at any rate ). It's a stupid system which I've tried to explain to other people before, but I've only succeeded in making them horribly confused! Glad you're liking the story I'm hoping to have finished by chapter 30, since 30 is such a nice even number, but knowing my luck it'll be 31!
Chapter 25: Release.
Hours later. Los Angeles Airport, LAX.
It was late at night. At this hour, there were very few people waiting at the gates to board their plane. One man in particular though, was hoping to arrive on the other side of country by the next morning for a very important job interview. He sat in his seat nervously, knowing that he was cutting time short. When the constant waiting became too much, he decided to take a stroll around the terminal to calm his nerves. The man grumbled and fidgeted with his tie when he realised that McDonalds was the only store that was open and relatively busy. Giving into the temptation, he sighed and waited in line in hopes that it was early enough to receive a hot coffee.
After being served proficiently, the man took his coffee and walked over to the window overlooking the docked planes. He sighed as he couldn't see much outside; only the faint outlines of the nearby planes and the personnel working below. The man turned his head and watched the television screen that was on for entertainment purposes. A news update was currently being aired. Bored, the man sighed and stared out the window again. His eyes opened wide in shock and surprise when he saw several turtles and a silver ape run across the concrete landscape outside, totally unseen by the personnel working near the planes. The man raised an eyebrow and looked into his coffee, half expecting to see something unusual to explain what he had seen.
His ears suddenly tuned into the noise coming from the television. The man turned to look at the screen again and watch the news story about the recently escaped zoo animals. A phone number appeared at the bottom while the news reporter stared straight down the barrel of the camera, telling anyone to ring that number if anything unusual was spotted. The man suddenly sprung into action, pulling out his cell phone to record the phone number displayed on the television screen. When ready, he dialed it and told the lady on the other end what he had just seen.
Five hours later, LAX.
Simon Bonesteel yawned and rubbed his tired eyes with his sleeve while he waited for the lady working at the airport information desk to get off the phone. For him, the last couple of hours had been hectic. When he first heard the news of the mutant's escape, Bonetseel spent a good deal of his time trying to track them down in New York. He knew that they were no longer in the city, and his suspicions were correct when he received word that the turtles and the ape were spotted at Los Angeles airport. Bonesteel immediately booked a flight even though he knew they would be long gone by the time he arrived on the other side of the country. His only hope in catching them was if they were caught when they had to get off the plane, wherever that may be.
Bonesteel looked anxiously at the female airport staff member when she put down the phone. "Well?" Bonesteel prompted her rudely.
"Well, every plane that has left this airport during the time the animals were seen, has already landed and has been checked… all except for one," the woman informed the hunter.
"Where's that one heading to?" Bonesteel prompted once again.
"Sydney, Australia," she said simply.
"Can the plane be checked for the animals before it has landed?" Bonesteel questioned.
"It can," she said simply. "I'll try and inform the pilot of that flight about the problem. We'll get back to you as soon as we can," the woman said before picking up the phone once again.
Flight 148, Los Angeles to Sydney.
Michelangelo twiddled his thumbs as the time slowly ticked by. They were already hours into the flight, yet it seemed a lot longer considering they had to stay quiet for most of the trip. Mike watched as Diana fiddled with the numerous figurines he'd collected for her while at the zoo's gift shop. The turtle sighed out of boredom and observed Raphael inspecting the scar on his arm, before looking at Leo and Venus who were just huddled together doing absolutely nothing. Mike then stared at Silver, who was currently staring thoughtfully straight back. "What?" Mike asked, wondering if he had done something wrong.
"Nothing. I'm just trying to remember the nick name I used to call you by," Silver said simply. Mike crossed his arms and tried to remember also. "Kid!" Silver exclaimed after a period of ten minutes.
"Huh?" Mike answered.
"Kid, that's what I used to call you," Silver explained further. Mike pouted and thought about it.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"I know that someone called me 'kid', but I didn't think it was you," Mike said, still pondering.
"I'm sure I called you that…" Silver trailed off into his memories.
"Does it really matter?" Leonardo questioned.
"Of course it does," Silver answered simply.
"Why?" Leo wondered.
"Because you always make up nick names for your enemies," Silver said arrogantly.
"That's true. Like, Dragon Lord used to call us 'The Turtles', while we called him Puff the Magic Dragon. Just like how Silver calls you Greenie and we call him King Kong," Michelangelo analysed. Silver gave the turtle a hardened glare.
"You mean my nick name's King Kong?!" Silver said, offended.
"Hey, you're the one who brought this topic up!" Mike shrugged innocently.
Venus hissed in pain and her hands immediately went to her stomach. Everyone looked at her worriedly. "Are you okay?" Leonardo calmly asked Venus. The female turtle bit her lip as she nodded, not wanting everyone to worry as of yet. She slowed her breathing when the contraction finished, however it wasn't long until she experienced the pain again.
"I… I think this is it. I think I'm going to have it," Venus said to Leo worriedly as she clutched her sensitive lower plastron for added comfort.
"Oh no, not now," Silver demanded, knowing that this was a really bad time to lay her egg.
"Can't you hold it in?" Mike asked expectantly, wanting to complete the escape plan first before anything drastic happened. Venus scrunched up her face in pain as another contraction started; unknowingly answering Mike's selfish question. She breathed in deeply, trying to let the pain subside though she knew that the contractions were going to become more frequent later on.
Venus squeezed Leo's hand, feeling guilty that the egg was going to come soon. "I'm sorry," she said while looking him straight in the eye. Leonardo sighed and pulled her into a gentle hug.
"It's okay. You can't help it. We'll work something out," Leo whispered into her ear before giving her a light kiss on the cheek. She suddenly pulled away from his comforting embrace and recoiled in agony, this time verbally letting out a groan. Venus didn't need to tell Leo that she was experiencing more pain this time when compared to her previous experiences. Both Michelangelo and Leonardo had noticed that her stomach had stretched to be twice as big as usual, as this time she had two large eggs inside her, not just one. Leo could only imagine how cramped and squashed everything inside Venus' body must be in order to house them. "Okay, we need to do something," Leo suggested, not knowing what else to do or say.
Mike walked over to the turtle couple and helped Venus to fight her turtle instincts and lie on her back, ready to deliver the eggs. Diana ran over worriedly to her father, wanting reassurance and comprehension of what was going on. "Is mummy, mummy alright?" Diana asked timidly. Leo bent down to her eye level.
"Mummy's in a lot of pain right now. So, to make her feel better, you need to be a good little girl and stay near Raphael. It's going to be a very long night," Leonardo told his daughter calmly, glancing at Raph in the mean time. The boy nodded, understanding the underlying context of what Leo had said. The boy had a job to do, and that was to stay calm and keep Diana out of trouble. Silver paced the length of the plane's baggage compartment, not liking the situation one bit. His strides made all of the turtle's nervous, though that feeling was quickly replaced with panic when Venus experienced another agonising contraction.
The sound of a hatch opening made all of the mutants look up. A flight attendant descended part way down the stairs into the luggage holding area. No one had any time to move or hide. She saw them all with frozen and shocked faces, and she quickly climbed back up and locked the hatch, making it impossible for any of them to vacate the area and move to another part of the plane. In that instant, they knew their escape plan had failed.
Hours passed. Although the flight attendant didn't visit them again, they all knew that it was going to be extremely difficult to leave when the plane finally landed. Venus, meanwhile, still hadn't laid either of her eggs. For her, the night had been tiring and drawn out. Everyone was worried about her health considering that this was the longest time she had been in labour, and there was no sign that she was going to finish soon.
Leonardo looked to where he was holding Venus' hand. The female had been gripping his fingers so tight, that they were now turning white and were receiving that pins and needles feeling. He slowly pulled his hand out of her grasp and shook it, hoping to get the blood flow to return. Leonardo watched on as Mike continued to endlessly coax her to keep pushing and not to give up.
Leo sighed and looked over towards the two children. Raphael was doing his best to keep Diana occupied. Leonardo hated giving jobs like this to Raphael. He was only eight years old, yet he was at times more responsible and reliable than a teenager. In a weird kind of way, Leo felt sorry for the boy as Raph reminded him of himself. Yet, unlike Leo where he had to act more mature than others his age because he had to take care of younger siblings, Raphael had been raised in a stressed and fearful environment all of his life where at times he wasn't even allowed to make a sound. Although that level of discipline would later make him into a respectable ninja, Raphael lost a part of his childhood that could never be returned. Leonardo often regretted not treasuring his younger years, and he hoped with all his heart that Raphael wouldn't grow to regret his as well, or worse still, want to rebel against the rules that came with being a mutant, like his father had. When Leonardo felt the change in inertia, he knew that he had to ask Raphael one more favour for the night.
"It's coming! I can see it!" Mike said, breaking Leo out of his long train of thought. Leo and Venus smiled with relief, though they both knew the plane was starting to descend in preparation for landing. Time was quickly running out and the chances of Venus being well rested enough to be able to escape were slim.
"I'm not going to leave you behind," Leo said to Venus as he held her hand once again. She nodded wordlessly as she started another painful push. A jolt was felt through the aircraft as the plane made contact with the runway.
"C'mon, you're almost done," Mike urged positively, starting to panic from the lack of time.
"Mike… I can take over from here," Leonardo offered. Mike stared at him with firmness.
"With all do respect Leo, this could be my child. I'm not going to leave Venus, not when she's in this position because of me," Mike said strongly, ignoring Leo's decision.
"Well I'm not staying here!" Silver interrupted angrily, disliking every aspect of the situation they were in. Leonardo frowned at the ape and sighed when he looked over towards the two worried children. Considering they both had their own individual tranquilizer dosage and they were smaller in size, they had the best chance of escaping. Leo really didn't want to give Raphael another important order, but it had to be done.
"Raphael, when the cargo door opens, I want you to take your sister and get out of here. Run to the nearest manhole or storm drain grate and get below ground. Try to find Donatello," Leonardo commanded.
"But Dad… What if Don's not here, or I can't find him?" Raphael protested.
"You're just going to have to hope that you can…" Leo said sorrowfully.
"And what about me!?" Silver demanded. Leonardo looked at his old enemy long and hard.
"Take care of them," Leo murmured. He knew that Silver wasn't going to stick around and fight, yet although he didn't trust him fully, he preferred Raphael to be accompanied by an adult through the new and unknown sewers of Australia. Silver was too shocked to reply to Leo's rash decision, and instead of arguing he just simply nodded.
A half-hour passed since the plane had landed. 'The cargo hold should have been opened by now', Leo thought as the time agonisingly ticked by. Deep down he knew the humans outside were planning and coordinating an attack as soon as the door opened. Silver, Raphael and Diana nervously stood near the entrance, ready to make a run for it at any second. All of a sudden, Venus let out another painful groan.
"C'mon Venus. Just one more push," Mike urged.
"I can't," Venus whispered tiredly. Leo held her hand even tighter and stared at her tear drenched face.
"You can, come on," Leo said softly, trying to stay calm despite the fact they could all be knocked unconscious in any minute. Venus took a deep breath, squeezed and pushed until Mike finally pulled the rest of the massive egg out.
"Congratulations!" Mike said with an energetic smile. Instantly Venus relaxed and sighed tiredly.
"What about the other egg?" Leo questioned Mike worriedly. Mike simply shrugged.
"Maybe it's like batches or clutches or whatever. You know, like how female sea turtles won't lay all their eggs at once, but instead they do it over a few nights? Maybe it's like that," Mike suggested. Venus groaned.
"You mean I have to go through all that again tomorrow night?" Venus exasperated.
Mike just gave her a small smile. "Well… hopefully it'll be easier 'cause you don't have to push one egg in front of the other," Mike tried to think positively.
"Can you stand up?" Leo wondered. Venus tried, but quickly realised she was still to exhausted.
"I'm sorry," Venus whispered as a new set of tears rolled down her cheeks in defeat.
"It's okay," Leo whispered back as he compassionately wiped some sweat off her forehead with his hand. Mike gently leaned forward and handed Venus her egg.
"Who's is it?" Mike wondered the paternity. Venus was about to answer, but the cargo door finally opened.
"Run!" Leo yelled to the three mutants that were waiting by the entrance. As soon as they heard his plea, Silver, Raph and Diana made a run for it. A line of trained professionals were waiting on the other side, each armed with a tranquilizer gun and a firearm for emergency purposes. They fired a couple of shots at the escaping mutants out of shock, yet stopped when they realised they were using the wrong dosage. A select few people were ordered to chase after them while the rest aimed for Leonardo and Michelangelo who were still on board the plane. Not having anything to lose, the two male turtles rushed forward to attack, but they were hit before they got even close. Even if they were armed with their weapons, they still would have failed. When the humans were sure that Leo and Mike were unconscious, they cautiously entered the cargo hold and found Venus still on the floor, clutching her egg protectively in fear and panic. She tried to desperately stand up, but she still didn't have enough energy to hold her ground.
"Think this one's sick?" one man asked his leader.
"Just shoot her anyway," the guy replied indifferently. With that said, a single shot was fired, and Venus slowly slipped away into a deep sleep.
Silver, Raphael and Diana were meanwhile still on the run. From what Raph could tell, four people were chasing them. They weren't gaining that much ground on the humans, especially when Diana's little legs slowed them down. Wanting to escape, Silver quickly snatched up the turtle girl and continued to run while holding her in his arms. None of them knew exactly where they were running. It was dark, so it was hard to observe their surroundings. They might have been in another city or country and they still wouldn't have known. They all just kept running solely in the hopes of losing the people behind them.
It didn't take long till the three reached the perimeter fence of the airport. Silver instantly climbed over, which partly shocked Raphael as he didn't expect the ape to know how to do that so quickly. But he swiftly shook the confused thoughts out of his head and decided that it was a monkey thing before climbing over himself. Not wanting to lose any time, they ran along the edge of the nearby highway, looking for any way to get below ground. A few minutes later, they found a storm drain. Using his natural strength, Silver placed Diana down and lifted the heavy iron grate high enough so that they could all slip down.
They landed underneath in a large puddle of brown, murky water. Silver grimaced at the dirty splash marks on his new pair of pants. "It stinks down here… It always stinks down here," Silver complained and muttered.
"Shhh…" Raphael shushed the ape. With a slowed and quiet pace, they walked down the tunnel. After numerous twists and turns, they stopped moving altogether so they were certain that they had lost their pursuers. "We have to go back," Raphael said quietly. Silver gave the boy a crazy and tired look.
"We're not going back," Silver stated simply.
"Well we can't just leave them there!" Raphael protested.
"We can, and we will," Silver rebutted.
"We can't! We have to save them!" Raph argued stubbornly. Silver groaned in annoyance.
"No! Greenie won't like it, and you're supposed to find Donatello or whatever," Silver argued back, even though he didn't really want to meet the purple wearing turtle himself.
"Stop calling my dad Greenie!" Raph yelled angrily.
"I'll call him whatever I want to call him!" Silver snapped irritably.
"Whatever, I'm going back for my parents. Come Diana," Raphael commanded, grabbing onto his sister's hand.
"Fine! Leave! Do whatever you want! But I'm not coming after you!" Silver yelled after them. Raphael didn't look back and continued to pull his sister along. Aggravated, Silver turned in the opposite direction and started to walk away as well. "Little brat," he muttered under his breath.
"But, but Raaaph… Daddy said that, that we had to find Don, Don, Donitetello, and we have to find him 'cause, 'cause Daddy said so," Diana tried to defy her older brother. Raph stopped walking so that he could look her in the eyes.
"Diana, listen to me. Donatello hasn't ever helped us out, or stuck by us in the past. What makes you think he's going to help us now?" Raphael reasoned with her. When Diana couldn't think of anything to say in return, Raphael continued to drag her along back down the tunnel. It wasn't long till they reached the heavy grate again. Slightly nervous, Raphael reached upwards with all his might, yet he could only lift the metal slate up an inch. It was high enough though to catch onto the edge of the concrete surface so he could slide and push the grate far enough so they could both slip through the gap.
Nervously, Raphael and Diana cautiously crept back along the highway, hoping to find an easier way to get back over the wire fence. With a sigh of defeat, Raphael decided to climb it anyway. "Copy what I do and follow me," he told his sister quietly. Diana watched silently as Raphael swiftly gripped, lifted and climbed over the fence, being very careful at the top to avoid grabbing the barbed wire knowing how much it hurts. "C'mon," Raphael urged Diana quickly.
The little girl stepped forward and linked her fingers through the wire mesh. With a little heave, she started to climb slowly. Raphael nervously looked around, hoping that they didn't run into trouble in the meantime. "Be careful of the spikes!" Raph warned her when she was nearing the top. Diana nodded with a scared look in her eyes. When she reached as high as she could go, she timidly lifted one foot and placed it on the other side. Diana stared that the shiny metal spikes in between her legs with fright. "Keep going," Raph urged her again.
"Raph… I'm scared," Diana complained while her voice wavered with fright.
"You're okay. Keep going. You can do it!" Raph said to her. "Just lift up you're other leg and place it on the other side and you'll be fine," he instructed. With a bit of a wobble, Diana nervously did what she was told, being careful to avoid the barbed wire. "See! You did it!" Raph praised.
Raphael's heart jumped in fright when a gunshot was heard. A tranquilizer dart appeared in Diana's arm. Feeling lightheaded, Diana fell the rest of the way, but Raphael ran forward in time to catch and break her fall. "Diana!" Raph screamed at the limp yet breathing body in his arms. Another shot was fired, yet it missed Raph by only a few inches. Raphael immediately tried to climb the fence again in an attempt to escape, yet he couldn't do it while holding Diana's body. With tears coming to his eyes, he gently placed her on the ground. "I'll come back for you," he whispered to her in the hopes that she'll hear him.
Scared and running for his life, Raphael scrambled up the fence. He hissed in pain as he scratched the inside of his right leg while climbing back over, but it wasn't deep enough to really bother him. While jumping back down on the highway side of the fence, another shot was fired, but luckily it hit the wire mesh instead. Without a moment to lose, Raphael bolted down along the edge of the highway; frantically searching for the grate he moved aside just minutes ago. With a few people chasing after him, Raph jumped down and made a massive splash in the murky brown water below. He tried to slide the grate across again to cover his tracks better, but he didn't have the time nor strength to do so.
Raphael frantically sloshed back through the tunnel and made a few random turns here and there. Suddenly, he stood still. Nothing was heard. He started to run again, making a couple of other compulsive twists and turns until he found himself utterly and completely lost. Raphael stood still once again and tried to hear if anyone was approaching. Nothing. No sound but his own furious breathing.
Hopelessly confused and worried about what he was going to do next, he sat down and leaned against the tunnel's cold wall. Hot, bitter, stinging tears threatened his eyes. Raph's heart thumped loudly while his lungs tried to catch up to the beat. His mind traveled a mile a minute, trying to come to grips with everything that had passed. It all came down to one thing; he had failed.
The tears of anguish were finally released, and they rolled down his cheeks with extreme ease. Because of his stubbornness, he was now completely alone. He had lost his parents, Mikey, his sister and even Silver. And worse still… he had lost himself. As Raphael stared down the dark tunnel, his bitter and raw emotions slowly took over his body and mind. 'It's all my fault,' Raphael blamed himself. But it didn't seem enough; he needed freedom and release. "It's all my fault!" he screamed down the tunnel, wanting to satisfy the anger he was experiencing. The tears continued to stream down his face.
Suddenly, like in a temper tantrum, Raphael stood up and furiously kicked the surrounding leaves on the floor. When that wasn't enough, he stared to pick up the sticks and snapped them over his knee in anger and frustration, throwing the broken pieces down the tunnel when he was finished. Raph then focused his rage on the wall; kicking and punching the concrete. He didn't stop when his knuckles began to bleed, instead it just simply fueled his anger. He hated this place. He hated the situation. He hated everything around him but most importantly, he hated himself.
Raphael stopped when that thought passed through his brain. He stopped because he knew it was true. Throughout his life he tried to think positively about his origins and his genetic makeup, but in the end it all became too much. Raphael wished his life was different, but he didn't know how it could come true. 'Maybe if we never went to England?' Raph thought of the possibilities that might have changed the outcomes of the present. 'Maybe if Bonesteel was killed when I was four? Maybe if Donatello rescued us? Maybe if my father was still alive?'
That last one sparked his anger deep inside again, though he kept it under control by clenching his fists tighter. 'Why did he have to die? Why don't humans like us!?' Raphael wondered furiously. The anger dissipated once again as the pain from his injured hands distracted him. Raph studied the blood dripping effortlessly down his fingers from his knuckles, and in a weird light, he admired the sleekness of the deep, red liquid.
The sound of footsteps snapped Raphael out of his solitary madness. He listened in fear as they came closer and closer. Silently, he slid and tried to hide by hugging the tunnel's wall, though he knew it was a poor hiding spot. Raphael didn't want to move though; too afraid that he'd make a noise and alert the men to his presence. He knew they were human. He could tell as he could hear the clicks their leather shoes made against the concrete floor. Raphael's heart pumped faster when he realised that he didn't know what to do. Hide? Fight unarmed? Run? Instead of doing any of those options, he stood still; frozen. His eyes fixed in the direction the noise was coming from. Raphael let out a sharp yelp in panic when a man suddenly grabbed him from behind.