KIA
Part III
Donatello stood in the middle of the lair chamber with his bandana tied around
his eyes, blocking his view. His world was silent and dark. His bo-staff
creaked in his hands as he tested its strength and he grinned in grim
concentration.
Suddenly the attack came from both sides. Don could hear them coming and he
swiped out with controlled blows, aiming for the footfalls around him. In his
blindness he must have connected with someone's shell.
"Oof!" Mike yelped and spun his nun-chucks around the bo. Don felt the
vibration. He was going to lose his bo to Mike if he didn't move fast. Yanking
his bo he braced it against his thigh and drew back.
There was a swish through the air above him and then the flying body of Mike
collided with Raph.
Don grinned as he heard Raph growl and lifted his bandana. His two brothers
were de-tangling themselves. Raph was recovering his sais and glared at Mike.
"You wanna watch where you're falling?"
"You wanna watch where I'm falling?" Mike retorted, "Two birds with one…"
"Turtle." Don chuckled, "You almost had me there Mike. So close but no cigar."
"Good. I don't like to smoke."
Don lowered his bo.
"Anyone for limbo?"
"A new ninjitsu skill?" Splinter asked, emerging from his quarters, tapping his
walking stick ahead of him.
Mike shrugged.
"How low can you go?"
Splinter glanced around the lair.
"Where is Leonardo?" He asked.
Immediately Don, Mike and Raph looked guilty. They were conflicted. Tell on Leo
or shield him?
"He went topside Sensei." Raph spoke up, knowing that Don and Mike were furious
with him for blurting, but also relieved he'd spoke up. They were as worried
about Leonardo as their master was.
Splinter sighed.
"Not again."
"That's six times this week." Mike counted on his fingers, "Good thing it
wasn't any more. I'd have to use my toes!"
"It's usually the kind of stunt I'd pull." Raph remarked as Splinter walked
away toward the kitchen, "But Leo's been acting real strange ever since…"
"We lost Kia." Splinter nodded, "His grief is great. But his disobedience,
going to the surface without accountability may leave him vulnerable to the
enemy's attacks."
It was strange to hear of Master Splinter talking about Leonardo and
disobedience in one sentence. But it certainly fit the picture.
"What else can we do?" Mike shrugged, "We've tried looking for records of her
and where she used to live. Nothing."
"It's as though she didn't exist before she met you master Splinter." Donatello
added, "Even I hit a wall. How do you find someone who doesn't exist?"
"We wait." Splinter nodded, "I suspect that we will have more to do with Kia in
the future than we have guessed. Until then, Leonardo must be called back
down."
Raph sheathed his sais.
"I'll go get him."
"Do you want help?" Don offered.
"Nah." Raph shrugged, "I may just hit him and drag him back."
"Then maybe Don could make up some shell shackles to hold him here."
Michelangelo mused, "Hey…shell shackles…Oh Donatello!"
Raph chuckled and tucked his shell cell into his belt. He saw his master
looking at him pointedly.
"I'll be tactful." He said, getting the hint, "I'm good with tact."
The warehouse was silent except for the dripping of water from a leak in the broad ceiling.
Kneeling on the ground, highlighted in a spotlight was a single figure dressed entirely in black except for a red flame mark on the mask of its face. It bore no weapons, nothing to save it from the impending attack coming from all sides.
Abruptly the attack began, assailants flying from all corners.
The single warrior stood up, swinging its fist and spinning on one leg at the same time. From this position it went into a single arm backflip, split kicking upside down and then landing to let fly three blows and then kicking backwards.
Moving faster than the eye could keep up it ripped into its foes, sending each of them flying. Liquid in form, fluidic and perfect, it operated seamlessly to damn all of its enemies to the floor.
Landing in its former position it lowered its head, not even breathing heavily.
Footsteps walked up to it, metal sounding on concrete.
The figure opened its eyes and spun around, slicing through the air to come millimetres from the neck of this latest opponent.
And then stopped.
Shredder viewed the warrior with pride, standing before him with no fear yet respect. If ordered to, it would attack. If ordered to it would step down.
He activated a small panel on his wrist. High pitched sounds flew through the air and the warrior let its hand drop and then stood up straight.
"Well done." He murmured, "My prize." Reaching out he drew the mask off her face, revealing brilliant blue eyes and slicked back black hair, "My KIA."
Mike opened a bag of cheese puffs and they exploded over him in a hail of cheesy goodness. Snapping up many of the chip flakes he flopped into the couch and flicked on the television.
Bored he ran through the channels quickly, musing over what program would be best to watch.
He happened upon a news broadcast and paused to hear what was going down topside…perhaps it was up topside…anyway, it would be interesting to hear what the humans were doing…at least until he discovered what he'd done with the television guide.
'…the professor was last seen at his laboratory on Monday night. After leaving his office he disappeared and didn't make the twenty minute drive home.'
"Where's the t.v. guide?" Mike growled and stood up to rip the cushions aside.
'Professor Greyson was involved in the genetics laboratory that has been commissioned to combine both man and machine in ground breaking technology to solve mental disabilities and even overcome physical defects.'
"Donatello?"
"I don't have the guide Mike. Are you sitting on it?"
'Here is a clip from his latest interview with the press…so professor Greyson, the skeptics are calling your idea to combine both technology and the human mind a step too fanatical. What is your response?
Miss Rasp. The irony of these comments is that they are made by people who have never suffered a disability. The technology I speak of is to give people the opportunity to communicate with the world again, to cause limbs and mental functions to work properly. It is the culmination of the human wonder called the brain and the precision of technology that will give these people a chance for a normal life.
What of those reports that claim that technology could be used incorrectly, to create some kind of super human?
Of course there are always downsides to any advance. Look hard enough and you will see faults in the most perfect of prisms. Press hard enough and you can turn anything that was once good, evil. Moderation and wisdom must be used in combining humans with technology. But are you prepared to tell paraplegics they can never walk because of human weakness?
"I found it! It was under my butt all this time!"
"Well…I can stop searching now, can't I?"
Leonardo was on top of the largest cathedral in New York. He was squatting like some kind of amphibian gargoyle, balancing on the edge of one of the ramparts. He gazed out at the city which never slept, blinking on and off with thousands of people simply going about their lives without questioning why or what for.
He normally liked this perch above the city, so far above he couldn't be seen yet close enough to feel like a small part of the world.
But tonight it held no comfort. He just felt distant from it all.
And far too close to his anger.
There was a soft thud beside him and Leo knew that one of his brothers had arrived, no doubt with some message from master Splinter ordering him back down below or perhaps to spiel off some kind of advice that he didn't have the heart to hear.
Raphael said nothing.
The last thing you wanted to hear when you were angry was to calm down. That just made it worse. He should know. It was usually Leo's job to drag him back down and wake up to reality.
It was strange being on this side of the sibling ladder.
"I know how you feel." Raph started, trying to frame his opening line tactfully, "Believe me I know. If you wanna talk, here I am."
And that was it.
Leo was surprised at how deeply he was touched at Raph's simple yet effective one liner. Where had he learnt to be so…diplomatic?
Leo sighed and felt the wind whip his bandana around his face. He wished the wind would wipe away his guilt and anger. Even his sorrow.
"I miss her Raph." He said, expressing the entirety of his pain in that one line, "I miss her a lot."
"Yeah." Raph really wanted to say more but for once he was gonna just keep his beak shut.
"It's been over a month with no sign. She's just vanished."
"Leo. We'll find her."
Leo nodded at the view.
"Look at that world Raph and tell me that finding Kia in New York metropolis isn't like trying to find a needle in a haystack, even if she is still on the island." Leo rubbed his head, "And if she's some where else, a needle in a thousand haystacks."
"We've had worse odds." Raph remarked.
Leo looked at him.
"Name one?"
"Oh sure I can't name any…" Raph grimaced and then stood up on the rampart, "You're the optimist Leo. I'm not. You should be able to think of one thing."
"I can't." Leo stood up, "This one's just so…personal."
"And losing Splinter for all those weeks wasn't? Having our home wrecked by mechanical mousers wasn't?" Raphael folded his arms.
"This one's different."
Raph let his arms drop.
"I know. That's why we're gonna try harder than ever." He punched Leo's arm, "I promise."
Leonardo sighed and raised his head up. Raph was right. He had to break this self pity cycle if they were to ever find Kia or at least find out what happened to her.
"You're right Raph." He looked at his brother, "When did you get so good at counseling?"
"I've had a good example." Raph chuckled and jumped onto the sloping roof, "After all, how many times did you have to come after me and whack some sense into my thick skull."
"Hundreds…hundreds upon hundreds." Leo chuckled.
Raph glared.
"Name one."
"Oh sure I can't name any…" Leo shrugged and ducked down after Raph.
They slipped and slid their way down the cathedral rooftops, dropping from one to another, quickly easing their way back into the metropolis.
Halfway down Raph's shell cell beeped and he stopped to answer it.
"Raph. Did you find Leo?"
"Yeah Donny, I found him." Raph looked over at Leo who raised an eyebrow, "Wassup?"
"We need to make tracks for the New York City Zoo. My computer's tied in to the city to the police station radio. Alarms are going crazy down there."
"We'll meet you there." Raph snapped up the shell cell, "Feel like a little exercise?"
"Are you kidding?" Leo somersaulted down a drainpipe, "Bring it on!"
Raph chuckled.
"Nice to have the old Leo back…I'm gonna regret saying that."
Donatello peered over the top of the manmade mountain of rocks that served to send a little waterfall spilling down it, creating a forest atmosphere.
Mike jumped up beside him and looked around.
"Seems quiet enough." He whispered.
"Yeah." Donatello ducked down and dragged Mike with him.
Some guards ran past, their radios crackling with static and voices. They swung their lights around the artificial forest setting and then kept running.
After a second the two turtles looked back up.
"They were in a rush."
"Let's follow them."
They leapt down silently and jogged after the humans who ran up ahead, unaware they were being followed.
Suddenly, from out behind an outcropping, someone stepped.
Mike swung out his nun-chucks and Raphael caught the blow in his sai.
"Settle little bro." He chuckled, "Anyone would think you've never seen a turtle before."
"Ha ha." Mike peered over his shoulder, "You find Leo?"
"He found me." Leo stepped up, "Don, did the station say anything about where the alarms were coming from? All seems pretty quiet."
"Give me a second." Don fiddled with his shell cell, tuning it in to the frequency. He listened carefully, "Sounds like there's a problem with the anaconda exhibit."
"Anacondas?" Mike gulped.
"I saw that sign back that way." Raph pointed.
"Double time." Leo whispered and they faded into the shadows and ran towards the building that held the creepiest of creatures, the snakes.
The door was slightly ajar and Raph nudged it with his sai. It swung open.
"Whoever busted this did a good job." He studied it, "Not a scratch. A pro."
"Let's take a look."
Inside the room was quiet, the corridors filled with softly glowing chambers set into the walls that let a little light into the gloomy atmosphere. The computer monitors were all off and the displays were stored away in the storeroom. It was relatively empty.
"Don…are you sure?" Leo walked forward, unsheathing a sword, peering into the darkness, "It looks deserted."
"Except for the bust lock." Raph shrugged.
"I was positive the radio said the anaconda exhibit." Don murmured and crept after his two brothers.
Mike was distracted, trying to read a plaque in the dark. Frustrated he turned on his pen light and jumped out of his skin. Glaring at him were two red eyes in a leathery face, its tongue out in a sinister flicker.
Mike clapped a hand over his mouth and then looked closer.
He relaxed. It was just a picture. Curious he read the snake's attributes.
"Lives mostly on small rodents and mammals. Hmmm…am I a mammal? I don't think so. So I'm safe…likes to strangle its prey." Mike pulled a face at the snake head picture and moved along the row.
Leo, Don and Raph were well ahead by now, checking out the rest of the facility.
"There ain't nobody here." Raph grumbled, sheathing his sais, "Nala. No one."
Mike got real close to the next plaque. It looked so lifelike! Even down to the strange glow in its eyes!
Leo shook his head and then froze.
"Exactly." He gulped.
"Ahhhhhh!" Mike yelled and leapt back from the glass as a snake's head whipped through, snapping just in front of his face, "They've got more brains than to be in here!"
The turtles spun around, flashing their pen lights at the cages. They were all smashed open. And they were all empty.
"Off the floor!" Leo yelled and jumped from a standing position to the railing of the second balcony, "Donatello!"
Don was already fishing in his bag of goodies and brought out a light bomb. He tossed it to the ground and it exploded in brilliant white light. Highlighted in the light were dozens of black slithery shapes that hissed, furious at the bright light.
"Oh shell!" Raph roared and then flung himself back from the railing as a snake had been curled up by his hand on the railing, "Wha…!"
He started to fall and Don stuck out his bo for Raph to grab. Unfortunately there was a snake curled around that and it hissed. Raph let go and dropped to the floor.
"Raph! Get off the floor!" Leo leapt aside as a snake snapped for his feet, "Let's get out of here!"
"Do tell how brother!" Mike tried leaping from rail to rail and screamed as a snake dropped from the ceiling onto him, "Anaconda!"
They dashed madly around, trying to keep back from the snakes that curled around them, slithering at speeds that their legless bodies defied.
"What did we do to tick these guys off?" Raph danced on the floor.
"Who knows? Who cares? We gotta close that door before they get out of here!" Leo ordered, "Donny…"
"Smoke bomb…might hurt them…pepper spray…on a snake?...pigeon puppet…how'd that get in there?"
"Donatello!" Raph jumped back and tripped over a snake to land on his shell. He looked up to see a big one advancing quickly. He grabbed the nearby extinguisher and sprayed at it.
The snake hissed and backed off, angrier than before but less likely to attack.
"Never mind!" Raph shook up the can, "Head for the door!"
His brothers leapt over the top of him as Raph backed towards the door, spraying as he went.
"Yeah, that's right. You just stay right there." He said, flung the extinguisher into the fray and leapt out the door. With a piece of pipe they wedged the doors shut and looked at each other.
"I hate snakes!" Mike growled.
"I don't get it." Donatello murmured, "Why smash the cages and let all the snakes out? What purpose was there in that?"
Leo shook his head and then heard the distant roar of a rather large cat. He felt a shiver go down his spine.
"To keep us from realizing the real prize." He realized, "To the lion cages!"
"Oh no." Mike moaned and ran after them. They paused in the shadows to hide from the legion of humans that were coming to solve the snake problem and then kept going.
The cages were getting larger around them. Larger and stronger. Mike reframed from reading any more plaques. They were just too creepy.
"Which one?" Raph muttered, "There are dozens of dangerous cats here!"
"Ah…guys…" Mike pointed, "Try the cage with the big section missing in the middle."
They stopped in front of the cage and looked through the bleak opening into the darkness of the lion's cage.
A deep throated growl emerged from the shadows and Don gripped his bo a little tighter.
Suddenly the lion leapt from the shadows and the turtles hit the deck, the lion soaring over the top of them.
Leonardo looked up and saw a black clad figure with a red face mask squatting on the top of the cage.
"Hey!" He yelled and then spun around, yanking out his sword at the same time. The lion's teeth clamped down on the blade and Leo strained to keep it back from his throat. It took all his strength to keep the lion off his throat as it chomped on the blade, "Guys!"
"We're on it!" The lion was dragged off by the others and it swiped, nearly catching Raph on the shell. He back flipped onto a park bench and looked up.
A flying kick struck him in the face and he hit the ground. Rubbing his jaw he got up. He saw the figure slide easily into the empty cage and disappear.
"The foot's here!" He growled.
"Only one." Don agreed as he tried to keep the lion back. Mike jumped beside him and spun his nun-chucks in the predator cat's face. It roared and swiped, the chuck smacking his paw hard.
"Lookiey, no touchie." Mike warned, "Someone wanna give me a hand?"
"I'm on it." Don called, "Just keep…"
"It busy?" Mike moaned, "Oh man. Woa!"
Leo felt a shadow pass over his head and he ducked instinctively, rolling and looking up. The lone soldier was clambering agilely over the bars of the cage, a small bundle in its arms. It looked down, glaring at him from behind its red flame mask.
Leonardo's eyes glowered. A foot soldier.
The last time he'd encountered them they had stolen something very precious to him. And he wanted to find out where she was. With a spring he gripped the bars and began clambering up. The soldier almost skipped along the bars with the balance of a cat and the touch of a butterfly.
Leo pulled himself up and aimed his katana at the soldier.
"Stop right there!" He roared.
The figure just stared at him and then dropped from view onto the path below. Leo went to go after him with Mike's terrified yell captured his attention.
"Leo!"
Leonardo tore his gaze away with difficulty and saw the lion take a swiping blow at Mike who turned, the force glancing off his shell.
Leo forced his attention back to the fight and jumped down, grabbing a top bar and swinging out, collecting the lion with his legs and thrusting him off of Mike.
"Drive it back into the cage!" Don yelled, yanking out his blow torch.
Raph tore a park bench off the bolts in the ground. He and Leo played lion tamer to drive the furious cat back into its cage. It roared and swiped but couldn't reach them from their position.
"Donny!"
"Got it. Mike!"
Mike held up the section of bars that had been cut free. Don began sealing the bars in. Torch lights started flashing from down the path.
"Did you hear that?"
"It came from the lion cages."
"Hurry Don." Mike yelped, "We've got company!"
"I can't leave this half done." Don argued, working as quickly as he could, "Just another…Woa!"
Leo grabbed his hand and dragged him around the corner as the security guards appeared, swinging their torches from side to side, trying to spot the trouble makers. In their haste they missed Don's rushed welding job and kept running.
"I swear I heard voices!"
"You're always hearing voices."
"Down by the pond!"
They jogged down to the low walled areas with large ponds and plenty of foliage. One man swung his torch around and shrugged.
"Nothing here."
His friend had to agree. Before they kept running he frowned.
"Did we always have that many giant turtles?"
"Who cares!"
The footfalls drifted away and shadows and silence returned to that part of the zoo. The giant turtles, all curled up on the ground of their habitation, barely moved. Except one who peeked out from behind his shell.
"That was close." Leo flipped his blue bandana off his face and looked around, "Guys?"
Raph got up on one knee and saw Donatello emerging from a pond. He flicked wet weed off his face.
"Mike?" Raph rapped on the shell of the nearest turtle, "That you buddy?"
"Hey dudes!" Mike jumped down from above them and they all sighed, "I think I found a distant relative!"
The cages were rigged up to electric wiring that was a luminous blue colour. Inside the first was a lion club lying on its side, drugged to the eyeballs. Tubes ran out of it to a canister sitting in the corner of its cage. The next cage held a vulture that drooped on its low perch, tubes hooked up to it as well.
Crystal green liquid seeped through the tubing into their limp bodies. It gave off a sickly sweet, rotting scent that permeated the room, causing the lab soldiers to baulk as they walked in.
They checked the first two cages, which was their responsibility, sparing little time for the figure in the third cage.
Kneeling on the ground, hunched over with a piece of chipped rock, the figure was drawing. Mindless, formless shapes that had no meaning except that which went on in her mind.
She was so close to the ground she could blow away the loose granules and smudge the lines together.
A shadow fell across her drawing. Instead of looking up she simply shuffled over to one side and kept drawing.
"This is a glitch in the program. It must be eradicated." The voice was deep and sinister, echoing through time's most evil moments.
"It's just an outlet." The other person by his side said, wringing his hands slightly in nervous anticipation, "A way of escaping the enormity of your abilities in its mind."
"It is a weakness." The order was left unsaid, "I want Kia to be ready for orders tonight David. I have an artifact that I want collected that requires Kia's…particular touch."
"Yes sir."
The footsteps echoed away. David remained. He knelt down in front of the cage, his sharp black hair around his face. He watched the woman for a few moments, in strange awe of the mindless drawings of her mind compared to the brilliant and power ability locked away within her.
"Kia." He said sharply.
She didn't look up.
David stood and opened the cage door. He stepped right up to her face and kicked at her hand, sending the piece of rock flying. Only then did she stop.
"Do I have your attention now?"
Slowly she tilted her head to look at him through one eye. It was bloodshot with dark circles underneath it. Her skin looked clammy and her hair was limp.
"Good. I want no more drawings. Do you hear me?"
She didn't say anything. David wondered if she had a mind left when the programming was taken out. She had been a lost child in a mall when he'd first found her years ago. Nameless, parentless and with no past, she was the perfect specimen.
"You did well last night. The creatures are exactly what he ordered. You keep this up, you'll be on the right side of honour." David paused, "With me as your keeper. Rest. You have work to do tonight."
Though his wounds had been severe, Splinter had finally recovered and was now ready to refine his sons ninjitsu skills. They were sloppy, having needed to sharpen themselves against his rock like correction. One after another they hit the deck, groaning.
Splinter stood over them, shaking his head.
"We know." Raph muttered, getting up and finding his sais lodged in the wall beside him, "We're not at our best."
"Iron sharpens iron." Splinter said, stepping away slightly and standing in a neutral position, "Again."
The four brothers all looked at each other, unsheathed their weapons and charged.
With lightning reflexes Splinter grabbed Michelangelo's nun-chucks, using the turtle's own force to throw him over his shoulder and go crashing into Donatello. The nun-chuck whipped around Don's bo, ripping it out of his hands before knocking back Raph's flying sais. Raph copped a blow to the shoulder that sent him reeling before Splinter grabbed the hefty stick in his hands and went against Leo's spinning katana.
Leo roared and slammed down on the bo, the wooden beam holding up against the metal blades. Splinter lowered the bo slightly so he could look Leonardo in the eyes.
"Focus Leonardo."
Leonardo growled, twisted a katana, grabbed the bo between them and flung it into the air. But he paused a split second too long and Splinter kicked him in the chest, Leo flying into the nearest column and landing on his face.
"Wow." A familiar voice said from a short distance, "Master Splinter, I wouldn't want to meet you in a dark alley."
They all looked up. April O'Neil stood there with a bag loped over one shoulder, shaking her head.
"Who would want to meet a five foot rat in a dark alley?" Michelangelo wanted to know, "It'd scare me!"
Raph collected his sais and Leonardo brushed the dust off his knees as they stood.
"What did you find?"
April shrugged and let the bag drop by the couch as she sat down.
"David, the man supposed to be Kia's brother, doesn't exist, just like Kia. I went to the radiology centre in person. They have never heard of David." April sighed, "I don't know where else to look."
Leo growled and sheathed his swords.
"How does someone just…vanish?" He demanded.
"Easily. If one does not exist in the first place." Splinter mused.
April nodded.
"There have been reports on the t.v. all day about the robbery at the zoo. A lion cub and a vulture."
"Why would Shredder want those?" Donatello wondered, sitting down next to April, "It's not like they're that dangerous. His foot soldiers could do a lot worse."
"If the Shredder wants them, then he's got plans for them." Raphael argued, "And for that reason, we should be hunting him down."
"Dudes." Michelangelo came out of the kitchen carrying a six pack of cola, "How do we even know the Shredder's behind the catnapping?"
"That lone soldier I saw." Leonardo explained, catching the can tossed to him. He tapped the top and opened it, "It had to be a foot soldier from the way it moved. Flawless."
"Possibly." Splinter nodded, "But only one? Michelangelo!"
Too late. Mike opened the can without pausing and it sprayed in his face. Sheepishly he rubbed the sticky cola off his face.
"It was a perfect opportunity to find Kia." Leo muttered, "If I'd only traced it back to its source."
"Sauce on cola?" Mike shuddered, "Not good."
Leo gave Mike a withering glance as April stood up.
"If you traced that soldier, it could've led you to the Shredder personally. What would you do then?"
Leo balled up his fist and struck a wall. His turtle brothers and April winced at the cracking sound. Splinter shook his head.
"Leonardo. Come with me." He stood up and walked to the archway.
"Master Splinter…" Leo muttered.
"Leonardo!"
Everyone winced, Splinter's tone provoking complete obedience.
Leonardo ground his teeth and stalked away his master. As the doors hissed behind them everyone relaxed.
"I've never seen Leonardo that…tense before." April murmured.
"Neither have we." Don admitted.
"He's gotta relax or we're gonna lose any trail of Kia." Raphael folded his arms, "We need our leader."
"That's rich coming from you Raph. You're always arguing with Leo." Mike poked and Raph frowned.
"Yeah well…I figure it's more fun arguing with him…than not having him at all."
Splinter walked Leo down the sewers to a blank spot, an area which didn't flow with sewage anymore. It was moldy and a tad smelly. Leo glared at the ground. Splinter looked around, sniffing the air.
"Give me one of your swords." He said calmly.
Leo did so, barely able to look him in the eye. Splinter took it in his claw of a hand. He stepped back and held it above his head.
"Now attack me. If you can."
"Master Splinter…" Leo murmured, hardly in the mood for a fight.
"I said attack me."
Leonardo folded his arms.
"Why? What point is there?"
Splinter reframed from smiling. There was more of Raphael's anger in Leonardo than the oldest brother of the turtles was letting on.
"Kia is not coming back Leonardo."
"How can you say that? She's out there somewhere at the mercy of the foot and your enemy!" Leo blurted, "She's in pain!"
"Are you sure she's the one in pain?" Splinter walked around Leonardo slowly, "For all we know, Kia is dead."
"No."
"How can you believe that she is alive?"
"I just do."
"Why?"
"I have to!" Leo felt the borrowed sword slide across his shell and in smooth, liquid motion he drew out his other katana and swiped at his master. Splinter responded quickly, countering Leonardo's moves. Now in the heat of battle, Leo put all his anger and frustration into his driving moves against his master.
Splinter only countered, never attacked, letting Leonardo's frustration expend itself.
Leo jumped back, raised it like a lance and sprinted at Splinter. The rat simply sidestepped, stuck out a foot and Leo tripped. Splinter spun, kicking Leo in the butt, sending him crashing into the wall.
Half upside down and wrong way up, Leo lay on the ground, panting. Hot tears were pouring down his face as he put his hands on the ground and pushed himself up. Splinter was simply looking at him.
Leo sighed, his rage evaporating.
"I suppose that was a lesson in letting my anger get the better of me?" He said.
"No."
"Emotions make you weak?"
"No."
"Then what was the point?"
Splinter now allowed a small smile.
"You needed a kick up the backside."
Leo sighed and rubbed his neck.
"I did need that." He admitted, "Master Splinter…"
Splinter held up his hand.
"I know what it is to have loved and lost." He said simply, "The risk is great."
"But so is the gain." Leo sheathed his swords.
"You will find her my son."
"You said she was dead."
"I am sorry." Splinter smiled, "I was reaching for reaction."
Suddenly the lighting in the corridor went out. Leo and Splinter were plunged into darkness. Footsteps came close and they looked up to see a figure approaching with a candle. Mike skidded to a halt in front of them.
"Power black out."
"Just like the time…?"
"Yep. When the foot went skitz over that magic sword." Mike nodded, "Das de one."
"This may be your opportunity." Splinter said seriously, "Quickly."
"Yes Master Splinter." Leo waited until Mike had run back down the tunnel and shadows were falling around him, "Thank you."
"What is it?"
"You've never seen a penthouse apartment before?"
"I live in a sewer."
"And watch more tv than the rest of us put together." Don leaned out a little from the shadows of the building across the street from the classy block of apartments.
"What makes you think the foot soldiers would be coming here?" Raph demanded. Leo pointed.
"Lone soldier at two o'clock."
Like a tightrope walker, a single soldier was balancing along a power cable. With the power out, it was perfect to get from one building to another without being seen…if it wasn't being watched by four keen sighted turtles.
Half way across the soldier paused and turned, glaring at their position. Instinctively they all cringed back, hugging the shadows on top of the building. Though the soldier couldn't possibly see them, he was looking directly at their position. Suddenly his steady balance walk on the tightrope became a death defying jog and then a sprint.
Abruptly he leapt, catching hold of another wire and slicing at it with a small blade from its boot. The wire swung him like Tarzan onto the penthouse balcony to land as quietly as a butterfly. Instantly it disappeared into the darkness of the rooms.
All four turtles let go of the breath they were holding.
"Anyone want a go at that?" Raph wondered.
"Anything he can do…" Mike stood up. Leo grabbed him and dragged him back down, "Aw come on Leo! I could pull that off."
"Why when you don't have to?" Leo pointed to Don who was lining up a crossbow with thick wire attached. It flew through the air, sinking deep into the wall by the balcony and releasing spikes to hold it in place. Don clipped it onto the building they were on and pulled out the flying foxes.
"Don't look down." He grinned, jumped, hooked the pulley over the wire and slid down to the balcony. Raph followed then Leo. Mike tossed the pulley aside and used his nun-chucks.
All four stood up on the balcony, Donatello already inspecting the lock.
"Perfect. Just like the zoo." He shook his head and nudged the door open.
The room was someone's own personal museum. The entire level was made up of a human's collection of medieval fighting instruments. Suits of armour, crossbows, blades, axes, daggers, clubs, spiked clubs, whips and the intimidating form of a cannon sitting in the middle at the base of a statue, probably a Greek god of some kind.
"Woa…" Mike looked around, "Human's have some weird hobbies sometimes."
"Shhh." Leo hissed as they crept through.
Raph eyed off the clubs on the wall, imagining that one blow could crush his skull. Donatello flicked on his night vision goggles and looked around.
"See anyone?"
He signaled for silence.
All four stopped. They waited.
Don pointed.
At the far end of the room, a glass case was sent on an iron ore black pillar. Inside was a strange set of silver hand bracelet clasps with a blue stone in the middle. Suspended from the ceiling was the lone warrior. And he was reaching into the case.
Only Donatello could see the laser beams crisscrossing the case, protecting its valuable goods.
Apparently the person who owned this collection had a back up generator just to protect this single piece of equipment.
The soldier reached in, missing the lasers by a hairsbreadth, looping his fingers through the silver chain and gently drawing it up. No one moved. Not an inch. They waited with baited breath to see if this soldier could get it out.
And as simple as a quick snatch, the silver handset was out of the case and looped into the soldier's belt.
"Now." Leo whispered and they charged.
The soldier leapt off the wall to the ground, rolled and spun his legs around. The turtles jumped, missing the trip up closely. The soldier spun, grabbing an Arabian sword.
"All yours Leo!" Raph yelled.
Leo sliced through the air, blue sparks flashing off their blades as they battled closely. At one point Leo clipped the soldier's arm, tearing the black fabric and grazing the skin. Michelangelo snuck in and grabbed at the handset. The soldier forced Leo back, grabbed Mike's hand, walked up his chest and kicked out, ripping the handset back and sending Mike sprawling.
"Do these guy's moves remind you of anyone!" Mike yelled, stumbling over his own dizziness.
The soldier whirled around, grabbing Don's bo as it sailed towards his head. He yanked it, drawing Don closer and then dragon punched him to the ground.
"Like who?" Leo called.
Through the air Raph's sais flew, heading straight for his chest.
And with one in each hand, the soldier caught them.
The turtles stared in disbelief.
"The Shredder for example?" Raph murmured.
The soldier flipped them around in his hands and flung them back at the turtles. They side flipped out of the way, the sais striking the glass case, shattering the enclosure and sending the alarms wild.
"That wasn't my fault!" Raph yelled.
The soldier began to back flip, heading towards the balcony.
"Don't let him get away!" Leo cried, "He knows where Kia is!"
The soldier went faster and faster until it reached the balcony and simply flipped off.
"No!" Leo moaned.
"Bungee jumping without a bungee!" Mike gulped and they dashed to the balcony's edge, Raph wrenching his sais from where they had embedded deeply into the wall.
Below they could see nothing. No sign of the vigilante.
But police cars were pulling up, their red and blue lights flashing below.
"Time we made an exit too!" Don called, grabbing the flying fox and pushing off the wall.
Not waiting for him to reach the other side first, his brothers all leapt on, Mike last. Leo looked behind him and felt a cold shiver. The soldier had grabbed the edge of the balcony in his fall, was now reaching up and slicing the wire.
"Hang on!" He roared, locking the flying fox into place.
Don and Raph did the same as the taut rope became slack and they careened through the air, heading for the opposite building.
But Mike's nun-chuck couldn't lock.
"Woa!" He gasped, grabbing the rope desperately but the end of the rope was approaching faster than he could grab.
At the last second he wound his fingers around it and caught hold, slamming into the glass windows of the building they were tethered to.
"Mike! You okay?"
"Do I look okay?" Mike demanded, a twinge of fright entering his normally jovial tone, "I'd hurry! I haven't got the best of grips!"
The other three clambered to the top and hauled the rope up. As soon as he could, Mike clutched the ledge and collapsed on the good side of safety.
"I nearly was bungee jumping without a bungee!" He shivered, his hands burning from the rope sliding too quickly through.
Don glanced at the burn marks on his hands while Leo peered over the edge.
"This is why I expect you to use the equipment I provide." Don chastised his little brother lightly.
"No time for that. We have to split. Now." Leo ordered. Raph and Don picked up Michelangelo and they dashed for the stairs. Leo risked one last look over at the penthouse building.
The soldier had gone up, not down and stood on the roof top, glaring down at him, the red symbol of the Shredder emblazed on its face.
"You're gonna lead me to him." Leo vowed in a whisper, "And then I'll make you pay."