Chapter Twenty Two

As the heavy door slammed shut, Angie's line of vision meet directly with Raphael's, and even though her psychic powers were being drained by the collar around her neck and the cuffs that bound her hands, she could still see the confusion and pain Raphael was trying to hide behind his brown eyes. She didn't want to believe Doctor Gershin words either, but her weakened sixth sense was picking up something that made her stomach turn. Angie then watched Raphael's eyes fall down to the ground as silent tears rolled down his face. He then let his body flop over and he fell down onto his left side, and remind motionless except for the few heaving deep breaths that made his back push out.

Angie pushed herself up to her knees and scooted herself across the cold floor, wincing at the pain that shot through her stiff legs. She moved along Raphael's side until she could see his face. His eyes were closed, and a pool of blood was forming under the cut on the corner of his mouth. Angie watched his heavy breathing for another minute, then she let herself fall onto the ground, lining her face up with the mutant turtle that laid in front of her. She continued to stare into his expressionless face, and Angie knew Raphael could feel her presence.

" What did I do ta deserve all of this?" Raphael asked Angie in a low whisper, his eyes remained shut as he talked. " Why does God, or whatever is up there, feel the need ta shit on me all the time?"

Angie sighed as she closed her own eyes, wishing she was free from the electrical cuffs on her hands so she could comfort Raphael in her arms.

"Raph, please don't take this the wrong way but, God does not, as you say, 'shit' on people. He puts obstacles in your way so you can overcome them and grow into a stronger person."

Raphael slowly opened his eyes, then wrinkled his forehead. " And he doesn't think I'm strong enough yet?" Raphael then rolled over onto his shell and stared up at the fluorescent lighting above them. " I must be pretty fuckin' weak then."

" No, that's not it, Raph." Angie pushed herself back up and sat Indian-style.

"Then what exactly is it then, Angie? Cause I'm tired of all of the crap I've been gettin in my life!" Raphael yelled as he suddenly sat upright. " I can't love nobody cause they fuckin' die on me! I was gonna be a dad, but the kid ain't even mine! Now I find out that the one person I ever really give a shit about was lyin' about who she really was!" He shook his head as the tears began to fall faster.

"Raph," Angie went back to her knees and moved over to the turtle. " I know it seems like all hope is lost, but you have to remember that there are greater things waiting for you."

Raphael then turned his head to Angie and narrowed his eyes at her. " What the hell do you know? You don't know what I've been through. My whole life as been nothin' but crap like that! So how can you sit there and tell me that shit!"

Raphael took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but his anger raged on. " I've been lookin' for that so called 'greater thing' all my life, and I'm tellin' ya right now, it don't fuckin' exist!"

Angie lowered her head, knowing she was losing to Raphael's pessimistic nature. " I'm sorry you feel that way, and I know I can't change how you feel."

"Damn right you can't, and I'm glad someone finally learned that!" Raphael then spun himself around to face the gray concrete wall behind him, then sighed as Angie spoke to him again.

" You will see, Raph. It will come to you when you least expect it." And with that, Angie crawled on her knees back to where Mandy was sitting.

The booming silence that was ringing through Raphael's head was suddenly cut short as gunfire and loud screams echoed down through the ceiling, and he and the girls all raised their heads.

" What on earth is going on up there?" Linda whispered loudly as she looked over at Angie and Mandy. She then turned back to Raphael, who was straining to hear the voices that called out above him. A large explosion then shook the room, making the ceiling crumble and fall as dust to the floor, and Mandy lifted her bound hands up to shield her face from the falling debris.

"Whatever it is, those guys are getting their butts kicked!" Mandy lowered her arms and stared into the ceiling as more German screams and shouts were heard.

"Move over to the far wall," Raphael motioned with his head, and Linda and Angie moved without saying a word. Mandy remained in her spot and glared at Raphael.

" Hey, you moron! My freaking knee is broken!"

Raphael turned his head sharply to her and returned her glare. "Well, if you wanna get flatten by the lightin' above yer head, be my guest."

Mandy then cautiously looked up as another explosion shook the long fluorescent cylinders above her, causing them to swing back and forth.

" Come on, Mandy," Angie said with a calm smile. " Just lay on your side and push yourself with your good leg."

Mandy sighed heavily, then began to attempt what Angie had suggested. Tears of pain found their way out of her eyes as she slowly moved along the floor. She then had a memory of when her brothers would go fishing, and they would chop their worms in half before hooking them on their poles as bait, and Mandy believed she finally knew how those worms must have felt as they lay on the ground, wiggling around like they were screaming in pain.

The sounds of gunfire rang through the thick walls, as did a scraping metallic sound that none of them could place. Raphael kept his eyes on the door as Linda motioned at Mandy excitedly with her eyes.

" You're doing good, Mandy," Linda said as she saw the torture twisted in the young girl's face. " You're almost there!"

Mandy looked up, and the sweat rolled down her face, and she was about to make a comment on Linda's encouragement, when the heavy door that locked them away from freedom was blown open, and two lifeless bodies were flung into the wall in front of them. Mandy screamed and tried to move faster as pieces of metal struck her, but she then felt something pull on her. She looked up to find Raphael's toes wrapped in the sleeve on her shirt, and he gritted his teeth together as he jerked her to safety, just as the red light from the hallway outside flooded into the room, and a figure stepped into the doorway.

Minutes before...

As the Germans scattered down farther into the underground compound, Donatello opened up his duffel bag and grabbed another handful of explosive shuriken, then passed a couple to Leonardo and Michelangelo.

" Now, we only have a few more to go around, and probably a lot more solid steel doors, so don't waste them."

" Gotcha, captain!" Michelangelo saluted his brother as he shoved the throwing stars into the pocket of his black shorts.

Leonardo looked around the hallway they stood in, taking in the smell of water and gunpowder that filled the air. There was another hall in front of them, as well as behind them, then several metal staircases that led down farther under the falls.

"There is so much ground to cover, and we don't have a lot of time!"

Leonardo looked back at Donatello, and almost laughed at the fact that his brother was thinking the same thing as he was.

" Right, which means we should spilt up. Donnie?"

Donatello tightened his grip on his bo and pointed to the corridor in front of him. " I'll take that way."

Leonardo nodded. " Okay. We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes. Does that give you enough time?"

"No problem!"He then pushed past Michelangelo and ran down the corridor behind Leonardo.

"Mike?"

"Uh," Michelangelo scratched his head as he looked around. " Wish I had a coin to flip or something."

Leonardo sighed and shook his head, then turned around and climbed down the staircase that sat on Michelangelo's left side. After watching his brother disappear into the darkness, Michelangelo heard loud shouting coming from the hallway in front of him, and he took a step back.

" This way it is!" He then ran down the opposite hallway, away from the angry German voices. As he ran, Michelangelo would turn his head around, knowing that whoever was behind him wasn't even close to catching up with him. Michelangelo laughed triumphantly at himself, then turned his head back and gasped.

" Watch out, Donnie!"

Michelangelo crashed into his brother and they both fell to the ground.

" Mikey! What the hell?" Donatello shouted as he pushed the younger turtle away. " Leo told us to spilt up!"

"Well, I thought I did, but I- then those people- and then I ran, and I thought I went that way, and then-," Michelangelo stuttered as his hands flew around in all directions.

Donatello held up his hands as Michelangelo stopped talking and took a deep breath.

" It's okay, just stop before you hurt yourself." Donatello then jumped to his feet, bending back down to retrieve his bo staff. As he wrapped his right hand around it, his eyes caught something that sat under Michelangelo's sprawled out feet.

" Mike, get up now."

Michelangelo narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. " Boy, aren't we bossy?"

Donatello growled in frustration, then jerked his brother to his feet. He pointed the end of his bo to the ground and Michelangelo's eyes grew wide as he stared into the extended six points of the throwing star that had fallen out of his pocket. He looked at Donatello, then gave his brother a huge grin.

" Whoops."

"RRRRUUUUUUNNNNNN!" Donatello shouted at the top of his lungs as he and Michelangelo took off down the hallway and dropped to the floor as smoke, fire and pieces of concrete flew over their heads. After the rumbling had settled, the turtles raised their heads and saw that the entrance to the hallway had been blown apart, and the debris from the explosion covered the way out. Michelangelo slowly turned his eyes to Donatello and he giggled lightly.

"Whoops, again."

Donatello growled once more, knowing that he was now trapped in the corridor with his baby brother.

When Leonardo's feet touched solid ground, he pulled the flashlight that Donatello had given him earlier out of his back pocket and swung it around. The red lighting that filled the hall in front of him hurt his eyes, and he tried to direct his vision to the path made by the flashlight. He then felt vibrations bouncing through the floor in the soles of his feet, and he quickly turned the light off. He pressed himself into a doorway, then listened as the footsteps drew closer, and he could hear the mumbling of two Germans soldiers.

"Der Doktor hat etwas um einen Sicherheitsbruch gesag (The doctor said something about a security breach)," One of them said.

"Ich denke, dass der Doktor im Kopf gefickt ist, wenn Sie mich fragen! (I think the doctor is fucked in the head, if you ask me!)" Said the other, then they both laughed as the first one stop walking and pulled out a pack of cigarettes out of his uniform pocket. The second sat his rifle against the wall and offered a light to his comrade, then lit his own. They both then froze as an explosion echoed from above them.

"Vielleicht hat er die Gefangenen von seinem gesprengt. (Maybe he blew up those prisoners of his.)"

" Verdammen Sie! Ich wollte das sehen! ( Damn! I wanted to see that!)"

Leonardo peered around the corner of the doorframe, and almost gagged as the cloud of smoke circled around his head.

"How can people stand those things?" He whispered to himself as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand. It was then that Leonardo remembered that he was carrying his swords, and the blade that was in the hand that covered his mouth was sticking out into the hallway, and the red lights from the ceiling bounced off of the sword's shiny metal surface. He quickly pulled it back down, hoping that the two gunmen didn't notice, but it was too late.

"Haben Sie das gesehen? (Did you see that?)"

The second gunmen threw his still lit cigarette to the ground and slowly picked up his rifle. He took a few steps closer to where they had seen the flash of metal, then lifted the gun up to the doorway, just inches away from the side of Leonardo's head.

"Zeigen Sie sich, oder ich werde Ihren fickenen Kopf ab blasen! (Show yourself, or I'll blow your fucking head off!)"

Before the German could wrap his finger around the trigger on the rifle, Leonardo's sword ripped the gun from his hands and it flew into the air. The gunman screamed out as he looked down and saw the tips of his fingers had been sliced off and the blood poured down his hand. The first soldier fumbled with his rifle, but then found himself on the ground before he knew what had happened to his fellow soldier. His skull clashed with the concrete floor, and it made him dizzy for a moment, but he then scrambled back to his feet. His partner held his bleeding hand under his opposite arm and re-cocked his rifle.

"War welche die Hölle das? ( What the hell was that?)" The first soldier asked his wounded partner.

The second soldier spat on the ground and was about to speak when a clang noise sounded behind them. Then cautiously turned around, and saw the glaring stare of a mutant turtle, and a smile grew across his face as he scrapped his swords together. The gunmen then fumbled with their rifles as the turtle leaped into the air with the points of his swords aimed right for them.

Linda gasped as Leonardo stepped farther into the room, his chest heaving as he tried to regain his breath. She watched his hands flex around the handles of his blood-covered swords as Leonardo stared at the motionless bodies in front of him. He then winced as he bent down and pulled out a small knife that was embedded into his left calf muscle. Leonardo then threw the knife back at the dead Germans, and it found it's mark in the middle of one of the gunmen's forehead. Linda's heart raced as she saw the rage in Leonardo's eyes, and her sent her back into her to the day they had fought in the city during the war, and he had removed her Foot hood and realized who she was.

Leonardo regained his composure then caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He held up his swords in defense, but then lowered them slowly as his eyes met with Linda's. He rushed down to her side, dropping his swords on the way, and grabbed her in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad I found you," He whispered into her ears as he kissed her. " I was so afraid." Leonardo leaned back and held Linda's dirty face in his palms, then caught sight of the bullet hole in her leg, and it ran his finger around, not caring to touch the dried blood around it.

" It's nothing. I'm fine." Linda reassured Leonardo with a smile. " We need to find Andrea. Something bad is going to happen to her if we don't get to her."

Leonardo then looked over at Raphael, and he began to reach for the gash on his brother's face. " What happened to you? Did you mouth off to someone again?"

Raphael sighed. " Yeah, she's gets all the sympathy, and I get the lecture."

Leonardo laughed as reached back to grab one of his swords, and he cut through the wiring around Raphael and Linda's wrists, then noticed another bullet hole, this one in Raphael's shoulder. " I'm so sorry about all of this. I wish I had been there."

Angie shook her head. " Then you would have been in here with us, or worse." Leonardo then stood up and moved over to her and Mandy and gave the metal bondage on their wrists a curious look.

" Hold up your hands and spread them as far apart as you can," Leonardo watched as Mandy did what she was told, and he raised his sword above his head. Just as the blade was coming down, Angie lunged at Leonardo and knocked him to the ground.

"No! You can't do that!" She said as Leonardo sat back up. " These things are protected by high frequency electric pulses. If you break them open like that, you'll electrocute us."

"How do ya know that?" Raphael asked as he stood up and twisted his stiff neck.

"I heard one of them say it when we were knocked out, before these things started draining me. You need either the key or something to reach into them to cut the wiring."

Leonardo pulled Angie slowly up to her feet and he continued to look over the metal bands. " Looks like we need to find Donnie for that. He and Mikey are somewhere upstairs."

He then looked back down at Mandy and noticed the large bruise and the swelling around her knee, and he knew just by looking at it that the bones were shattered.

" Can you walk?" Leonardo asked as he knelt back down to her, and saw the tears in Mandy's blue eyes as she shook her head back and forth. Leonardo gave her a reassuring smile then turned around. Linda and Raphael pulled Mandy's bond hands over and around Leonardo's neck and held her as Leonardo stood up. Mandy then wrapped her good leg around him and buried her face into his shirt.

"Do you have any idea where Gershin might have gone to?" Leonardo asked as his eyes bounced between Linda and Raphael. They both shrugged as Raphael spoke.

" How are we supposed to know when we don't even know where we are!"

"We're deep under Niagara Falls," Leonardo said as he moved toward the door. "They've had this underground base for years and our government never knew about it."

"How crooked is that?" Raphael shook his head, then let Angie and Linda walked past him and into the glowing red hallway. Before he followed them, he looked back at the dead German soldier who Leonardo had returned the knife to. He looked back at his brother as a smile crawled across his face.

" Where the hell did ya learn to throw knives like that?"

Leonardo shrugged as a smile grew on his face too. " I can't give away all of my secrets." He then winked at Raphael and followed the girls out of the room.

"Let's try this one!"

Donatello grabbed Michelangelo's arm and pulled him back as his brother reached for the handle on the heavy door.

" Mikey! You just don't go up to a strange door and open it! " He pushed Michelangelo out of his way and reached into his duffel bag. " We need to find out what's on the other side."

Michelangelo watched as Donatello placed a very thin panel on the floor and pushed it carefully under the door. He then pulled out a small gray box and he pushed on the red button that sat on the top. Michelangelo's eyes grew as the screen on the box flickered and the bright fluorescent light from the room in front of them appeared.

"Hey! That's cool!" Michelangelo exclaimed as Donatello pulled out a short piece of plastic and pushed the onscreen arrows, and the picture moved down from the ceiling.

" That thing I shoved under the door has a digital camera built inside of it, and I can move it in all directions, and it never even moves off of the floor."

Michelangelo patted Donatello on the shoulder, then pinched his cheek. " You're so smart Donnie! "

Donatello laughed. " So I've been told, time and time again." He moved the plastic stick to another arrow and the image on the screen sharpened. " Now this is extremely odd."

Michelangelo bent down next to his brother and leaned over to get a better look at the screen. " What the heck?" he wrinkled his forehead in confusion as he saw a white baby crib covered with a white lace canopy. " Man, I think someone has some kind of sick fetish or something!"

Donatello sighed at Michelangelo, then moved the camera around, noting a white changing table and several other various baby items that were scattered around the large room.

"It's a nursery, Mikey." Donatello moved the camera again, and they found more white cribs that were similar to the first one.

" Are there any babies actually in there, namely ours?" Michelangelo stood up and stared into the door, holding himself back from breaking it down.

Donatello also stood up and shoved the device back into his duffel bag. " I can't tell from here. We'll have to go inside." He then pulled out a lock pick, and after a minute, the heavy steel door swung open quietly, and the two turtles tiptoed inside. Michelangelo stepped up to the first crib they had seen and peered inside.

" Nope! Nothing here!"

Donatello started on the opposite end and also found nothing. They worked their way to the middle of the row, stopping in front of the last one, and they gave each other looks of hope. As they looked down, there was Andrea, sleeping peacefully, as if she knew nothing of the world around her. The turtles sighed in relief, and Michelangelo carefully lifted the baby out of the crib.

"What the heck is all of this for?" Michelangelo asked as he followed Donatello back out of the room. " Is that freako doctor expecting more or what?"

Donatello looked around the hallway cautiously before stepping out into it. " Actually to tell you truth, I think he really is." He waved Michelangelo out, and he closed the door behind them. " If I'm right about Andrea's DNA strand and how potent it is, then I'm sure Gershin is planning on doing A LOT of baby shoplifting."

Donatello lead the way down the red lit corridor, and glanced at each passing doorway, hoping to see a way out of the hallway and back outside. He stopped at one of the doors, and pressed his face against the glass window. The room was completely black except for a few red lights. Donatello placed his hands next to his face, hoping to get a better look at the object that sat between the red lights, and he smiled when was finally able to make out a ladder that led up through the ceiling.

"Bingo." He whispered as he reached into his bag for his lock pick. "Hey, Mikey! I think we have a way-"

Donatello stopped suddenly as he raised his eyes to his brother, and noticed the six black clad Germans that were standing at the end of the hallway behind them.

" A way what?" Michelangelo asked, obliviously to the threat behind him. " Really, Don. It's rude when you don't finish your sentences!" His look of disgust turned into confusion as Donatello pulled out one of his shuriken and pushed into its center, releasing the extra three points inside.

"Uh, Don? What are you doing?"

"Get down-" Donatello then launched the star down the hall. " NOW!" He shoved Andrea closer to Michelangelo's chest and pushed himself and his brother down to the floor. A wave of flames bellowed over their heads, and the ground rumbled beneath them, and after waiting for it all to end, Donatello helped Michelangelo to his feet.

" Now what the hell was that for?" Michelangelo cried out. He followed Donatello's pointed index finger to the scattered ripped body parts that sat only a few feet away from them, and he gulped loudly.

"Oh, I see." Michelangelo then pulled Andrea away from his chest and laughed at the still sleeping baby.

" Man, this has to be Raph's kid! She sleeps through anything!"

Donatello laughed at Michelangelo's comment as he picked the lock of the door, then the two turtles disappeared into the darkness.

" Where are they?" Leonardo asked himself out loud as he and Raphael watched the hallways for signs of their brothers. "I told them to meet me back here. I hope nothing went wrong."

Raphael glanced down the corridor behind him. " Which way did they go?"

"I know Don went down that way," Leonardo pointed to the hallway behind Raphael. " I don't know where Mikey went."

"Great." Raphael griped, then started to walk down the hallway that Donatello had went down, but he stopped suddenly before he ventured further. " Oh, yeah. This just keeps getting better and better."

"What do you mean?" Angie asked as the rest of them gathered behind Raphael and saw that the hallway had caved in.

"Well that's lovely!" Mandy pushed her head back to Leonardo's shoulder.

"And who knows how deep this freakin' place is!" Raphael shouted, his voice around them. "It could take hours ta find them!"

"Now what?" Linda asked Leonardo as she and Raphael shared an exasperated sigh. Leonardo's eyes darted around the pile of rubble, then back to the metal staircase.

"I don't know." Leonardo lowered his head as he rubbed at his temples. " I just don't know."

The sound of several loading guns made them all turn around, and Leonardo heard Raphael growled deep in his throat as they stared in the yellow eyes of Doctor Gershin.

"I have a suggestion." Gershin's accent pushed through his toothy evil smile. " Since you are clearly overpowered, give yourselves up now, and I promise to make your death much easier."

"Where the heck are we, Donnie?" Michelangelo called up to Donatello as he stopped climbing the ladder and looked down into the darkness below.

Donatello also stopped and looked around. " I wish I knew Mikey, but there is nothing that will tell us what floor we are on." He started climbing again, feeling Michelangelo's breath on the soles of his feet. "I wish we had some light in here."

A sudden flash stopped them again and Donatello covered his eyes with his left hand while Michelangelo buried his face into the railings.

"This can't be good," Michelangelo said as he blinked at the source of light, hearing a familiar evil laughter above him.

Donatello lowered his hand and looked down below Michelangelo. There stood a dozen soldiers with their rifles aimed upwards. Both turtles then looked up to the open doorway above them, and Donatello could make out the shape of a giant cat standing in front of the spotlight, and a sense of dread flooded over him.

" No, Mikey. This isn't good at all."