So… how's everyone? Good? Bad?
Just thought I'd ask. If it's the latter, hopefully this chapter will cheer you up. If you're doin' good, hopefully it won't put you in a bad mood!
Well, might as well get on with it. Hey, I'm gonna take a guess at this, but I'm thinkin' this story's gonna make 25 chapters. I pray that shall not deter any of you from reading.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't know who's expecting them to be, but the TMNT still ain't mine.
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Often times, Stockman enjoyed the advantages of his robotic body. Certainly, he still would've preferred his normal, human flesh once again, but you had to take the bad with the good. He wasn't complaining. The robotic suit was much better than being a brain in a jar, providing him with all sorts of useful gadgets and cybernetic technology within reach of his fingers.
It made him feel like a god.
Before and after his many punishments from the Shredder, the only good thing had been the amazing technology his former master had supplied him with. Bishop's was only better. There were many things that man provided his new body with.
And he was taller too!
But now was not the time to think of these things. As he neared the turtles' cell, Stockman was sure he'd find them planning a way of escape. They were very gifted at that, but Stockman had been extra careful this time. Nothing smaller than a Chihuahua could make it out of this holding cell, and only if they could jump six feet off the ground.
Still, he was planning on punishing them for even thinking they could outsmart him. For Baxter Stockman, that was a crime in itself. How many people had thwarted death… seven? Eight times? The scientist found he couldn't remember how many times he'd escaped the embrace of eternal darkness.
However, as he arrived at the ninjas' chamber, he realized he might just be the one who was going to be punished.
The cell was empty; the force field dissipated.
Stockman double-checked his findings, hoping he might find them somewhere in the corner of the room, perhaps. No such luck. "No!" He shouted. "Impossible! How could they escape?"
This was literally the most advanced holding cell in the nation. He knew because he had tested it with his gifted Slayer; not even he had been able to get out. Besides the visible exit, the only opening was the near invisible chute in the back, but the turtles couldn't have fit through that.
That only left the traditional exit. But that too was impossible. First, and the hardest part of the escape, one would have to make it pass the shield. Secondly, if an outsider hadn't performed this task, one would have to know the code to disable the shield.
But the only people who knew that code besides Stockman himself was Bishop and some of his higher ranking agents. And none of them were here; not even scheduled to come for the next two days. In fact, besides the turtles, the only other person in this building was the Slayer, who certainly did not know any access codes.
It was impossible to escape.
Yet they had.
Stockman growled while punching the wall with a robotic fist. He would have to worry about how later. Right now, he needed to find those turtles; those future soldiers; his physical well being.
For Stockman knew that if he didn't find them soon, this was going to be bad.
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This facility of Stockman's reminded Donny of a labyrinth, only one made of highly advanced and polished metal. With angular twists and turns, they made their way deeper into it, instead of trying to find a way out.
Unanimously and silently, they had decided they were going to get the children Stockman was using to further the abilities of his Slayer out of here.
Luckily for them, by the time they heard Stockman thumping their way; Leo was far enough out of his nightmare to move on his own. Raph, his hand now free, was able to move a lot faster too. Their elder brother was still cold, a bit confused, but he was coherent enough to understand the severity of the immediate situation.
Coming to yet another hallway, the four of them stopped for a breather, also making sure Stockman wasn't on their heels. The sound of the scientist screaming at his finding of their escape, coming from approximately the same place as their cell had been, and thus a ways behind them, was like music to Donny's ears.
Caution written in his very veins, Leo was quick to dispel that relief. Turning to Don, he asked in a whisper, "What kind of security do you think Stockman has in here?"
"Among the best, that's for sure. Anything from motion and heat sensors to live video feed. And probably some other things we haven't even heard of."
"In other words," Raph put in, "we gotta keep movin'."
The four of them nodded, before starting off again, just as Stockman's footsteps could be heard thundering down one of the many corridors behind him. Unlike them, the scientist knew where he was going.
As quickly as possible, the ninjas disappeared, making their way deeper and deeper into the labyrinth. Passing, many cells and rooms that revealed all sorts of tortures, technological devices, among other things, Donny began to wonder what kind of Minotaur awaited them within.
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For once, the orange-clad turtle was relatively silent. While he didn't like that, Mikey dealt with it. He was planning on making plenty of jokes later. But at the moment, he was getting increasingly confused.
Left… right… left… right. Mikey had a feeling that no one knew where they were going right now, besides as far away from Stockman as possible.
Methodically, every time they turned into a new passageway, either Leo or Donny, or sometimes both of them, would look around for any cameras, motion detectors, or anything that might alert Stockman to their presence. Eventually Raph and, finally, Mike himself joined in.
Usually Leo was the paranoid one. Mikey feared his brother's vigilant and ever-present concern was rubbing off on him. He snorted quietly. Wouldn't that be a sight?
The twists and turns eventually led them to… yet another hallway. But this one appeared oddly different. While the dreaded cameras they'd been looking for had now appeared, they seemed to be off. On each side of the corridor, long and made of a duller, yet thicker, metal, were four doors, spaced an even twenty feet or so.
All of the other passageways they'd seen were more like their cell. This was interesting.
Mikey looked at his brothers, speaking in a loud whisper. "Who wants to bet those kids are somewhere in here?"
Nodding, Leo seemed to agree. "This is probably one of Stockman's biggest projects; he'll keep them under tighter surveillance."
Donny seemed to agree. "And don't forget his Slayer. From the sound of it, it- he's pretty powerful. Stockman's bound to keep him under even greater supervision."
Trying the nearest door to his left, Raph opened it to find a large storage closet. Mostly it was cleanup items, brooms, mops, and such. But there were also things in there that Mikey had never seen before.
In one corner, half-hidden, was their weapons.
Dispersing the goods among them, Raph closed the door, turning to another. It was locked. Turning back around, he said, "Anything he has to hide'll probably be behind a locked door." He pulled out a sai and grinned. "I like pickin' locks, but I don't wanna waste time."
Walking over to a door, Leo tried it. It was also locked. "I agree. Just… be careful. Okay?"
Everyone just nodded, and set off to work.
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Among the gifts that Stockman's work had provided him, one of the Slayer's more discreet ones was enhanced senses. After moving a little closer to the door, careful not to touch the handle, the Slayer listened to the conversation outside.
He was almost surprised to hear them, the turtles. Sure, they were ninja, but he hadn't been expecting them to come looking for the children, as he suspected they were.
With the DNA samples Stockman had provided, the Slayer had learned much about them. He was even able to discern things like vocal patterns.
Thus, he knew who was speaking.
He heard the one called Donatello; the one whose leg had been burned and then healed by none other than the Slayer himself. "And don't forget his Slayer. From the sound of it, it- he's pretty powerful. Stockman's bound to keep him under even greater supervision."
The turtle's words shocked him. Though he had started out by calling him it, he referred to him like one would refer to any normal human. While the child was, in fact, far from that, the words fell upon his ears nicely.
But no. He reminded himself. I am an it. I'm no child; no boy.
Quickly, he pushed these thoughts out of his mind, listening for the turtle's progress and hoping he could make his escape today.
A grin played on his lips. Perhaps he could use them to his advantage…
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Of the eight doors that had been checked, half of them were locked. The four of them had met at the furthest of that last group, at the end of that hallway, waiting for Raph to pick the lock.
The red-clad turtle was just about to when all of a sudden a funny lock appeared on his face and he straightened.
"What's wrong?" Mikey asked.
Raph shook his head. "I don't know…" He looked up at them. He seemed to be debating whether or not he should speak. Obviously, he chose against it, for he bent down and put his sai up again.
Leo was standing to his brother's right; watching not only what he was doing, but looking out for Stockman, in case he should show up. Besides still being a little chilled, his normally, yet oddly, calm paranoia had escalated to full-blown apprehension.
And then a little voice went off in his head. But it wasn't his own.
I wouldn't let him do that if I were you. That is, unless you want to see him burnt to a crisp…
In the blink of an eye, Leo had grabbed Raph's wrist and pulled the sai away from the door. The blue-banded ninja wasn't sure he trusted this voice, but he wasn't willing to be proven wrong.
Donny put his hand on Leo's shoulder. "What is it?"
Still looking at Raph, Leo explained. "Raph, I… don't think you should do that."
While Mikey and Don seemed confused, a wave of understanding passed over Raph's face. "You heard him too?"
Now it was Leo's turn to be surprised. "Yeah…" His eyes narrowed to slits. "And why didn't you listen to him?"
Raphael crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't tend to listen to any voices in my head, Leo."
Mikey laughed as quietly as he could. "Well, duh! But here I was thinking you killed off poor Jiminy years ago!"
The voice came again. The first two doors… It seemed to be thinking. No metal. Try his code again…
From the looks on his brothers' faces, they'd heard it too.
Raph reluctantly put away his sai. "Well that was creepy."
Hesitantly, they moved to the first of the two doors. There was no panel like the one by their holding cell. Top left…
They looked to Donny. Mikey put on his smile that said 'I'm not doing it!' He shrugged. "You're the tech whiz, bro."
Cautiously, Donatello felt along the top left section of the door. He gasped slightly.
The whole time, Leo had been watching his fingers. He'd seen them go over something that resembled the shape of Stockman's control panel.
Don turned to Leo. "What was that code again?"
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He didn't like this. He didn't like hearing a group of innocent young children screaming in his head, he didn't like hearing voices in his head, and Raph sure as hell hated to actually listen to them!
But it was the only lead they had.
Leo gave Donny the code. His brother seemed to hesitate before punching it in. Raph took that opportunity to talk to Leo. "You do know that it's probably the Slayer talkin' to us, right?"
Without turning his head, Leo looked at him. After a few seconds, he nodded. "Stockman said he'd given him telepathy."
Mikey scratched his head. "So why are we listenin' to him, then? I mean, he's the one doing this to them, and us, isn't he?"
There was that voice again. I want revenge; redemption… The way the words were 'spoken' made Raph shiver. Aware that this slayer was only a child, it was scary hearing such a malicious tone. I will get it by any means I can. Stockman is the real prize; we share a common interest, you see…
Raph couldn't help but grin. The image of Stockman getting torn apart by his own creation was morbidly appealing. The smile faded; the idea of this… Slayer running around New York, or wherever he may go, was not.
Mikey shuffled his feet on the metal floor. "Maybe we should try the other door."
Though he put his hand down, Donny shook his head. "I don't know; there's still a fifty-fifty chance that the Slayer is behind that one, too. Same story for this one."
Opening his mouth, as if he was trying to say something, the sound of something like a television flicking on was heard. Above them, Stockman's voice echoed as he spoke. "No!" He shouted at them. "You irksome reptiles will not get away with this!"
Looking up, they were able to see that the cameras had turned on. Every one bore the image of Baxter Stockman. For a moment, they were able to hear the sounds of his footsteps, which were no doubt heading this way.
But then they were interrupted by a siren. Red lights flashed. Towards the opposite end of the hall, loud clicks told Raph that the doors were locking by themselves.
His frown deepened. Instinct told him they'd never get a chance like this again.
Apparently, this same thought was going through everyone else's mind as well, for, after a pleading look from Leo, Don quickly typed in the code.
Slowly, but what was probably normal speed, the door began to open.
And then, it swung inside fast, hitting the wall on the other side with a loud clang. Out jumped something that looked too much like a child… yet was obviously not anymore.
The Slayer landed gracefully with his feet hitting the middle of the opposite wall. Like Spiderman, he seemed to be able to walk on walls.
Stockman's image seemed horrified. It looked from his creation to the turtles. "What have you done?" He asked.
Then, the Slayer outstretched his arms. His fingers cracked as he began to fold them into a fist that never closed. It looked like he was holding onto a ball of the smoothest, light blue ice.
When he released it, the ice proved to be a display of his telekinesis. It went to each of the cameras with enough force to make them explode; shutting up the scientist, for now.
Calmly, the Slayer turned his head to the turtles.
Oh, yes. Raph definitely didn't like this. Not one little bit.
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Sorry this was a little late! Computer troubles… grr! I'll try to get the next one up quicker, 'kay?
So, how was it? Please tell me with a much-appreciated review!