Disclaimer: Don't own anything, blah blah blah….I do have a TMNT poster now though. That's mine. You can't have it, get your own!
SHOUT-OUTS:
Chibi Rose Angel: Well technically, now there's only two chapters and an epilogue left. And I'm flattered you love this story. It's much better than hating it. Sorry, I can't tell you anything about the ending. That would ruin it. All I can say is that I've had the ending planned from the beginning.
Lunar-Ninja: Well hey, the way I imagined the cave was pretty cool, so if I were there I'd probably stand there and gawk at it too. Yeah, the diet line didn't do much to boost Coen's ego. Although I'm still not sure if he knows what a diet is.
Somellamafreak: Well I wasn't planning on it! Although you're right, it does seem kinda like a Water Torture set up. It wasn't supposed to. Oh well, everyone sees something different when they read.
Misterfooch: Don't worry about it, as long as you enjoy the story I'm happy. I just KNOW there are some people lurking around in the shadows here. And yes, I noticed the whole getting less humorous thing…I guess I've been somewhat obsessed with getting the plot to go the way I want to. I'm glad you still like the story though.
Becca T: As they say in The Incredibles – "They always start monologue-ing!" They do, too. Because they're full of hot air. Ah well, always useful for the good guys, right?
The REAL Cheese Monkey: He's ugly enough to be one, I'm sure. And the monster doesn't really look like a T-Rex, just the arms, but hey, if you see a T-Rex, go with it.
Pacphys: Dihydrogen…what? Okay, my brain hurts. And no, I didn't hear about it, whatever it is. And I know Mikey's smarter than he lets on, he always is. He has hidden talent in there somewhere! As for Coen…mwahaha, I have a plan for him, don't you worry. All my bad guys get what they deserve – don't you remember Jared? (insert evil grin here).
A/N: Wow, this always takes up a whole page. I'm long winded. Heh. Okay, story time:
I paced around my cell, frustrated. Unlike my genius brother Donatello, it took me a little longer to think of good plans. Plus, it took me even longer when I was under stress and on the verge of panicking. I continued to pace throughout the small enclosure.
Stopping my pacing, I peeked out through the bars once more. James had left, to do what, I couldn't tell you. Probably had to go take a leak or something. Which left George sitting at the table, looking stupid. And bored. The keys to my cell were hanging from his belt. I remembered thinking something earlier about him not being the sharpest tool in the shed, brightest crayon in the box, whatever. He wasn't smart! I decided to try my luck with him. Backing away from the bars, I took a deep breath, then screamed, "HELP!"
George immediately scrambled up from his chair and bounded over to where I was, pressing himself against the bars to see what was wrong. Idiot. "What's the matter?" he gasped.
I reached out and grabbed his shirt, slamming his head against the bars, rendering him unconscious instantly. "The matter is, you're ugly." I told his unconscious form as I reached through the bars and grabbed the keys to let myself out.
Just to be sure, once I was out, I dragged George into my cell and locked him in. One less person to help Coen when I finally took him down. I was about to tear out of there, when I remembered the monsters Coen had shown me. I bit my lip – I couldn't leave them there. However, I wasn't quite sure if it was really safe for me to be anywhere near them. Oh well. Only one way to find out!
Making my way over to the well, I reached my hand in and began pushing stones at random, trying to find the one Coen had pushed. By sheer luck my hand found the loose rock, and it slid backwards with a scraping noise. I stood back as the chamber was revealed again. The gray-blue iguana thing I had seen earlier looked at me in shock.
"Hi." I said to the thing. I figured if it answered back, I could maybe figure out if it was okay to let out. The thing just stared at me. "I'm Mike." I tried again. It continued to stare, and I was about to leave when it opened its mouth.
"I am Gareth." Gareth? What was wrong with this guy's parents? I put it out of my mind – there were more important things to worry about.
"Listen…uh….Gareth. Would you be willing to help me take down Coen?"
"Of course. We have no wish to harm the king – we had no choice under Coen's command."
"And these others," I motioned towards the other cages containing the other monsters. "Are they safe?"
"Just because we look differently than we did before does not mean we are no longer the same people." Gareth said, sounding more than a little annoyed.
"I can relate to that…." I muttered. "Okay, I'm gonna getcha outta here, but you gotta promise to help me with Coen and his goons!" Gareth nodded his head and said that they would.
Soon I had opened every cell, and was standing in the middle of a chamber surrounded by monsters who were awaiting orders from me. "Uh…okay…" I said, shifting from foot to foot. "You guys are gonna have to hide while I go warn the king…I don't want to waste time convincing him you're good. He'll be convinced enough when you help with confronting Coen." I looked to Gareth, "Do you know of a good place to hide where you will still be able to hear and see?"
"I do," Gareth said.
"Good, then take them," I motioned to the rest of the monsters again, "And wait for my signal."
I tore out of that cave like a bat out of hell as soon as I was sure my own personal army of monsters was safe. Running like crazy (I still say there's no other way to run!) I made my way down the moor, trying to remember where I had left the horse Collen had given me. I wasted precious minutes dancing around in one spot trying to remember, but hey, the moor looks a lot different at night!
Finally after about ten minutes, I found the fence that I had left my horse tied to. By some miracle she was still there, looking at me with the utmost hatred. "Sorry!" I told her. "I was incarcerated for a little while." She tossed her head and snorted, as if to tell me that was no excuse for leaving her there all day. "I'll make it up to you," I promised, although I had no idea why I was explaining myself to a horse, "But now we gotta go!"
I climbed up onto her back and urged her forward at a full on gallop towards the castle. I needed to get there before midnight. I had no idea what time it was, and that bothered me. As I neared the castle, a man standing on one of the towers shouted, "TEN O' CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL!"
As if.
I made it to the stables and leapt off the horse, shoving the reins into Collen's hand and ignoring his questions. I was off again, running at full speed to the king.
Adrenaline rushing through my body made it possible for me to bound up all those stairs leading to his chamber without even getting tired. I burst through the door, looking wildly around for Henry. Catherine was there again – she took a few steps towards me. "Michelan-"
"Where's Henry?" I gasped, interrupting her.
She looked at me strangely. "Why do you-"
"Just tell me where he is!" I said urgently. It was rude, and I knew it, but this was an emergency. I could apologize later – if I was alive later. Catherine pointed towards the other set of stairs, the ones that lead to his bedroom.
I managed a quick "Thanks," then dashed up the stairs, running as if I was being attacked by a hoard of angry platypus. I made it to the top, and was slightly worried to see that his door was hanging ajar. For a moment I thought that he had found out about Coen, and had left to find the traitor himself.
But my worries were short-lived, for Henry came out from behind yet another door, looking at me quizzically. "Michelangelo, what brings you here at this hour?"
In a rush, I spilled everything that I had learned and everything that had happened the past afternoon. Henry's expression got darker and darker as I went along. "-And he's planning to attack the castle at midnight!" I finished.
"This is horrible!" Henry ground out. "We will stop him at once. Come with me." He swept out the door, me following.
As I followed the angry king down stairs and hallways and through numerous doors, I couldn't help but marvel at the fact that he had believed me so readily. Maybe something had happened between him and Coen before I had even come into the picture.
Finally the king got to his desired destination – the stables. Collen came forward, a worried look on his face. Quickly I gave him the abridged version of what I had told the king, and when I was done, Collen was more than willing to help us take Coen down.
The doors to the stables flew open, and James came in. I gasped, and pointed at him. "You! You're on Coen's side. What do you think you're doing?"
Henry put a hand on my arm. "Actually, he is on our side."
I blinked at him. "Say what?"
"I said-"
"No, no," I said, shaking my head, "I mean, what do you mean he's on our side? He works with Coen! I saw him!"
The king was smiling slightly. "Quite the opposite. I didn't trust Coen…he was too sneaky and sly for me. So, I put James on the case. He is the Captain of the Guard. He was pretending to work for Coen to get inside information. You just happened to get it to me first."
I blinked again. James was a sort of double agent all along! "Oookay…" I said, "Well whatever. We've got two hours to stop him."
James nodded, and motioned to right outside the stable. I peeked out. There stood at least a hundred men, dressed as knights, sitting atop horses. Actually, now that I think of it, they weren't dressed as knights, they were knights! Cool!
One particular knight came rushing up to James. "Sir," he said with a quick salute, "Coen's army is on the move. And they're….they're monsters!"
My jaw dropped open. Monsters? But I set them free! They said they were going to help us! I shook my head. It couldn't be the same guys I had talked to just an hour before!
Henry tapped me, and I was shaken out of my thoughts. "Will you help us fight?" he asked me.
Well duh.
"Of course." I told him, climbing onto my horse right after he had climbed onto his.
The king and James began to ride, leading the rest of the knights toward where Coen had been spotted. I rode alongside them, feeling excited.
Soon we caught sight of something bad. Very, very bad. Coen was standing on top of a large hill, but beyond him….
Monsters. Millions and millions of monsters. Apparently the ones I had set free were just the most recent ones he had created. They were swarming all over the hills like ants. I swallowed, and looked towards Henry and James. Their faces were set.
The king raised his sword, and screamed into the wind. "CHARGE!"
James followed suit, and soon every soldier had ridden forward yelling 'Charge.' I took a deep breath and yelled the only thing that came naturally to me in this situation.
"COWABUNGA!"
…
A/N: Heh, I've been wanting to write that scene since I started this story! Well, you know the drill. Review please.
