Chapter One
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Ah, Raphael thought to himself contentedly as he walked through the street-level garage and passed by the Battleshell, home, sweet home. Or sewer, sweet sewer. Sewer, stinking sewer? Whatever.
Raphael had spent the night with Casey Jones, embarking on "vigilante duties" as the two had dubbed it. The raw reality of it was that they spent the night cruising the city for Purple Dragons, to drum some sense into them, and show them who the good guys were. Most of them deserved it, as more often than not, Raphael and Casey happened upon the lowlife punks midway through some kind of felony or other, either muggings or drug deals, so all in all, they were doing the city some good, they rationalised. And, if it meant Raphael was able to release some of his pent-up energy and frustration from being caged within his sewer lair during the day, that was always a bonus. As he told Splinter and Leonardo, "it's like extra-curricular training. I'm getting a work-out, using my ninja skills, and I'm doing some cleaning in NYC." Though Splinter did not overly approve, if it meant that Raphael could "go out for air" as he sometimes needed to, then he would overlook his actual activities on the surface. Plus, if it meant Mr. Jones spent less time in the lair, the occasional excursion would most certainly be encouraged.
As he headed towards the elevator doors, Raphael stretched his arms and worked the kinks out of his shoulders. The workout last night had been more strenuous than usual, but luckily, he had nothing more than sore muscles to show for it. When he came back covered in bumps and bruises, and sometimes cuts and scrapes, he got the third degree from his Sensei, and later, his older brother, both of which he could do without. He was being less cocky when it came to battling, something which was developing with maturity, but mainly from learning that the less time he spent ragging on his foe, the fewer abrasions he came back home with. And the less lectures I get, Raphael chuckled to himself.
His unusually cheerful mood was abruptly interrupted. The elevator doors had closed and he had pressed the button, but for his efforts he received nothing more than a half-hearted mumble from the machine. The elevator itself did not move an inch.
Growling, the now-frowning Raphael punched the button again, and when the noise became louder and more ferocious, Raphael jumped back, Sai in one hand out of nowhere, and decided to abandon the machine altogether – and quickly, before it got violent.
A few minutes later, he walked through the lair from the sewer entrance, and made a beeline for Donny's work bench. "Yo, genius," he called brashly, making Donny jump half out of his shell. "We got a problem. Elevator's busted," he said, jerking a thumb towards the offending machine.
Donny rolled his eyes. "And you want me to fix it, I assume?"
Raphael folded his arms and fumbled, "well... uh... yeah."
Donny sighed. He didn't mind fixing things for his family, especially since mechanics and machinery was an eternal fascination to him, but sometimes, he felt a little taken for granted. He stood up, and smirked. Still, he thought to himself, there were ways of making sure his brothers did not treat him like a doormat. "What's the magic word?"
"Please fix the elevator," Raphael growled in a low voice. He did not see it as a selfish request to ask Donny to repair the machine – everyone used the elevator, and they never knew when an emergency might crop up. He at first thought Donny was just being an annoying little brother by stalling, but then realised that his request came across as more of a command or a demand. "Please," he repeated, this time more graciously.
"Much better," Donny said, moving to his toolbox. Don't think a polite tone is going to call us even, dear brother, he thought to himself, hiding the wicked gleam in his eye as he bent over to pick up the box. He strolled into the living area and called out, "Mikey! Wanna come help me fix the elevator?"
Michelangelo glanced up from the video monolith, a fistful of popcorn inches away from his mouth. "What's in it for me?" he asked bluntly, before throwing the popcorn into his wide-open mouth and chewing it loudly. Michelangelo was the master of not being walked over by his older brothers.
"Raph will cook dinner tonight, instead of you," Donny called back, before shooting his older brother a grin. "You don't get my services for nothing, bro. Catch you later!" He and Mikey exited the lair, leaving Raphael grumbling to himself about the bane of younger brothers.
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"So, why's it stuck, Donny-boy?" Mikey drawled, deftly twirling a wrench in between his three green fingers. "Why won't it go? You've been working on it for like, twenty minutes, and it's not fixed? Man, you must be losing your touch, bro!"
He and Donatello had gone up to street-level via the sewers to the warehouse, where they were still trying to fix the elevator, or at least work out what was wrong with it. Well, Donny was trying to work out what was wrong with it. Mikey's part in the operation was standing around and occasionally passing tools to his brother. Plus incessantly chatting to him for the past twenty-one minutes and nineteen seconds.
"I can't figure it out," Donny sighed, close to defeat. He hated admitting to defeat, and so he decided to call it a strategic pause. He sat back on his haunches and wiped his brow. "There's nothing clogging up the mechanism, none of the crystals are damaged – I just don't get it."
Fixing the elevator was not as simple as it would be to fix any other device. The machine was not powered by electronics, but by the crystals, so the problem was not as easily solved as locating a loose wire. Repairing it meant having a sound knowledge of the crystals, and though Donatello had some basis in this, he was still well and truly stumped.
"Erm... hydraulics?" Mikey asked, balancing the end of the wrench on one finger of his hand. He didn't especially know what the hydraulics were, but the word sounded good.
"Fine too," Don replied, thumbing his chin in thought. "Come to think of it, I haven't checked..."
A low rumbling cut Donny off mid-sentence, followed by a trembling that seemed originate from directly below the elevator. He stood up suddenly, holding his hands out in front of him to try and balance. Michelangelo dropped the wrench, which echoed with a harsh clang in the elevator capsule.
"What's that?" Mikey asked a little apprehensively, feeling the juddering from beneath his feet.
In the lair, Leonardo and Raphael were sparring in the dojo when they stopped, feeling the soft mats seemingly vibrating beneath them. "What in the shell is that?" Raphael demanded to know, looking around for the possible source of the disturbance.
Master Splinter was watching the television when the signal broke up, and all he could see on the screen was static. He too felt the shaking, and stood up to find out what the disturbance was.
"My sons!" Splinter called out. "Is Michelangelo playing his rock music again?"
"No, Sensei," Leonardo said as he and Raphael emerged from the dojo into the living area.
"Maybe Stockman's brain made some more Mousers for us," Raphael contemplated, holding his hands up over his head as a thin shower of dust rained over him. "'Cept maybe this time they're tigers or something!"
"It could be an earthquake, they're rare in New York, but you never know," Leonardo suggested over the noise.
"Alien invasion?" Raphael wondered, as though it were the most ordinary explanation in the world.
As the shaking continued, the three heard a whoosh accompanied by a rough squealing sound, the kind that tore at their eardrums and made their spines shiver and stand on end. They then heard a loud, violent crash, and the shaking ceased. Silence, save for the settling crumbs of debris, boomed through the lair.
"What was...?" Leo began hoarsely, before Raphael cut in.
"The elevator!" Raphael cried, tearing towards the doors. He pressed the button for the doors to slide, and nearly fell forwards in anticipation. He grabbed onto the side of the wall to stop himself tumbling through the empty space. He looked up, and saw two broken cables hanging alone, swaying in the new breeze whistling through from above.
"Don!" Raphael called out in vain, wincing as his shout echoed relentlessly. "Mikey! DONNY! MI-"
"Raphael," Master Splinter gasped, having reached his son's side and grasped his shoulder. "Are they..."
"They were fixing it," Raphael whispered, his eyes transfixed on the black abyss that used to contain the elevator. "It was broken when I came back home earlier. I sent Don and Mike out to fix it. I told them to go fix it..."
"Alright, Raph," Leo cut in mid-ramble, "we're gonna go down there and we're gonna get them. Come with me to get some ropes and equipment," he instructed, trying to remain calm for the sake of his family, despite quivering internally. "Sensei," he continued hastily, "here's a Shell Cell. Press that button and try and talk to Don or Mike, see if they answer."
As Raphael and Leonardo ran to a cupboard at the back of the lair, where the abseiling equipment they would need was stored, Splinter anxiously spoke into the device. "My sons!" he called, desperately trying to keep the fear out of his voice. "Donatello! Michelangelo! If you can hear me, please answer!" He listened for a moment, hearing nothing but a slight crackling sound. "Please, my sons! Are you there?"
"They're gonna be okay," Raphael mumbled, convincing himself more than Leonardo. Both were rummaging frantically in the cupboard. "They'll be okay."
"They'll be fine," Leonardo affirmed. "I don't know how deep the elevator shaft goes, but they'll be safer inside the elevator than... than not." He didn't really know for sure, that's why he stopped before he got too far ahead. He wanted to give some hope to Raphael, but he didn't want to lie. He decided not to talk, just to concentrate on the task, and give it his full attention.
The two brothers headed back to Master Splinter, who shook his head in the negative to their silent question. Wordlessly, they quickly carried out the task of fixing the abseiling ropes. Leonardo was harnessed first.
"We'll be back as soon as we can, Master," he said, and was moments from taking his first step backwards when Splinter spoke.
"I am coming with you."
Leonardo opened his mouth to protest, to say that it would be too dangerous, that Splinter should stay behind, but he closed it. No argument could counter the fact that two of Splinter's children were in peril. "Yes, Sensei," Leonardo nodded. Raphael had already began to attach a harness to Master Splinter.
Leonardo tugged at the ropes sharply once, to make sure they were secure. With a curt nod, he began his descent into the dark void below. Splinter, and lastly Raphael, followed soon after.
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