Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, guys! I know that as soon as possible someone's going to send in the 'angry sniper' out for me for being so late in updating this! I have excuses! (i.e. poor ones) #1, I do half my writing during free time at work, which I couldn't do. Apparently for two weeks the military found that me logging in or submitting review was a threat to national security or something, cause the base blocked it from the computers. #2, I've been sick as a dog. Reason: it appears that the author of Expecting is now expecting. So of course I have a swamp of appointments plus paperwork needing to be filled out. Sometimes being pregnant and being in the military can be a complicating business. It took me a week just to get the right papers to the right people and making sure that all my chain of command is now aware. Plus I'm now non-deployable. Peachy. I was looking forward to the next deployment. Oh well. I hope that I won't have to be looking out for any sniper bullets any time soon. Please forgive me!
By the way, thank you for all the information concerning birth stuff. Especially to Reijiro. Thanx a bunch. I have no clue exactly when he will go into labor, it might be this chapter, it might not. It is the will of the fingers what happens next!
Chapter 25
Bad Plan
(Raph looks at you, grinning from ear to ear) Yeah, that was really awesome, wasn't it? I've been wanting to do that for the longest time! Just one hit, bap! Man, that made my day. Can't believe how satisfying it felt, knocking Leo out like that! Can't quite describe it! And Mikey helped! I always knew he was the sensible one of the group. Hehehe. Don't worry, I'm not serious about that. I know that I'm going to pay for that 15 seconds of pure happiness, but at the moment I don't really give a damn. He can do whatever he wants, it won't make the moment any less glorious! It's not like it was just for pleasure. He was about to exclude me from kicking Honor's ass! He can't do that! That stupid friggin b!t#h cost me my freedom, she impregnated me against my will, and had me locked in a tube of snot for eight months! I can't wait to get my mits on her, man! The things that I'll do! She won't know what hit her! Then I'm going to make her suffer, yeah! I can't wait. It'll be a better day than punching out Leo's cocky mug. Ah, well. Here's the rest of the story already...
My blood was pumping as we ran down the hallway. Mikey sprinted by my side. Or more like he was jogging. Geesh, was I going that slow?
I looked down and discovered that I was holding onto my belly for support and was tempted to let go because of the embarrassment of it all. I decided not to. I could just imagine this kid popping out of my skin like a huge zit. Not a pretty sight. Or at least I don't think that it would feel too good. Besides that hard bobbing hurt a little.
I felt the kid squirm against my hand. It surprised me. It's not like I didn't know it before, that it was alive... It's just that I've been hating it. To me it was a parasite that I didn't want there, a tumor, a disease, something to get rid of. But when I felt it move against my hand, I don't know... I'ts probably just some wierd thing, or something. Nothing to worry about. I'll get this kid out somehow then life can go back to normal. Just like it was before I came to this friggin place! Nothing new, nothing different...
Damn I'm full of shit.
I know this is going to change me somehow. Hell, maybe I'll get stretch marks. Funny, I'd never imagined stretch marks looking like that. I always imagined that it would look like stretchedout taffy or something. But really it looksmore like little canyons. Like someone took a dark color penciland drew littlevertical lines.I'll tell Casey that they're battle scars or something. Suddenly the blood drained from my face. I never pictured Casey's reaction that I got pregnant and carried a kid. Man, I'd never live it down! NO!
Ruthlessly I shoved it to the back of my mind as I'd done countless times before. I'd think about it later. Yeah. Later. Seems like a good idea. Really thought out.
Yeah.
Mikey is the one that I've been surprised about. I've gotten wierd looks from both Don and Leo, but Mikey has been nothing but, well, for lack of a better word, supportive. He hasn't made a single jibe, joke, or comment at me. In fact, he seems happy, more like ecstatic. He's going to be dissappointed later. There's no way in HELL that I'm playing mama to ANYTHING! No way in hell. Nope..
Gritting my teeth I tried to run faster, but it was getting worse. What is it that Donny said? The more I move the faster that I induce labor? Well, I wonder what a fast paced jog down a dark corridor to meet and ruthlessly kill a certain witch would do? Wonder if it will make me give birth quicker? It sure was hurting. It was like when a muscle cramps up after you jump in the water for a swim.Except it covered my belly and stretched to the reaches of my back. It is the only time that I've ever felt like massaging my back. There was another wierd thing. The pain would intensify periodically, and I would feel the strongest need to 'bear down' or something. Like I needed to take a giant poop.
I don't know how often they are, but they sure seem often to me. Don't doctors count these things or something? Or maybe they time them? I don't know. My thoughts aren't really too clear right now.
I suppose that I'm preoccupied with Honor's imenent demise!
Suddenly Mikey grabbed my arm. I whirled, ready to swing at him when I saw why he did it. I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going, and we were nearing the entrance. Good thing that it was a straight shot from the hallway to where Honor was or I'd of gotten lost for sure. With Mikey grinning ear to ear, we slowly approached the huge doorway. It was big enough for Godzilla to fit through and grand enough that it would feed America for a week.
Greedy females.
Couldn't settle for a simple little back alley door or something less gaudy.
Mikey tugged at me. I looked at him, thoroughly irritated. All that I wanted to do was to bust in there and bust some heads. What did he want now?
He grinned at me. "I have a plan."
Well, this I gotta hear.
I pushed open the doors. The things were slower than frozen shit. Or maybe these fu#king contractions were effecting my upper body strength or something. I don't know. If they weren't so damn gaudy then I wouldn't have to try so hard. The door creaked hard on the huge hinges and I pushed it open enough to slip through.
Immediately the room fell silent with my entrance. And what a room. It was at least half the size of a football field. It looked remarkably similar to the other room that I've already fought her in, only bigger. And instead of one guard on either side, there was a cluster of soldiers bunched over on one side. They were actually in formation. Without counting individually, I could guess about fifty of them at least. The walls were covered with what appeared to be some guady purple and red velvet. Gold braids big enough to squash me were intertwining between equally gaudy dark blue velvet curtains that covered the ceiling. The floor was covered with what looked like a jumbo sized ornate rug or something. Big enough to be wall to wall but small enough that you could see the thousands of tassles on each side. On top of that, the room was painfully bright. Like she tried to capture the sun or something.
Once my eyes swept to the other side, my heart stopped. There, chained to the wall was Vivid, Heartfelt and Amuke. They saw me immediately and at once they strained against the shackles. Their mouths were covered, so I didn't hear a sound, but all I had to do was see the tears budding in Vivid's eyes and I knew it. Honor was going to die a slow painful death. Nomatter what it takes.
Honor was seated on a ridiculously high throne which sat upon four raised pedestals. The moment that I stepped in she perked up, leaning forward in her chair with a sly grin on her face. With a flick of her hand the group of soldiers executed a right-face with perfectly timed movements, turning themselves so that they faced me. Then they brought their weapons to bear in unison. Then everything was still and a somewhat eerie silence engulfed the room.
I got the message. She was expecting me, and she had the forces to overwhelm me easily. Or so she thought.
With that stupid grin still on her face Honor slowly slinked off the throne, stepping down from the pedestals with swaying hips. The soldiers stood at perfect attention, their eyes staring blankly in one direction, never giving any indication that they noticed anyones presence. Finally stepping off the final pedestal she slowly walked towards me.
Refusing to have someone approach me like that, I marched out to meet her. I had to struggle to not walk with a haunched back or clutching my stomach no matter how much I wanted to. I didn't want the contractions to be visible. I somehow managed to concentrate on something else and could feel the energy tingling at my fingertips. Yeah. Honor was going to get it.
But surprisingly so, I think that Mikey's right in his plan. I can't fight by myself in the condition I am, no matter what I think right now. At every contraction it is a struggle to keep my mind focused on keeping the gathered energy where it is. I needed to use it soon, as soon as Mikey gave the signal. He better hurry his sorry tail up.
In the meantime I needed to deal with Honor.
We met each other in the middle. We just stopped and stared at each other. She smirked and looked down at my belly. "Well, I guess that you just couldn't stay away, huh? You know enough to realize who you belong to."
Immediately three guards moved up close behind me. I didn't have to look to know that their weapons were drawn.
My fist clenched. I had to physically strain myself to not pop her in the nose right now. Instead I tried to concentrate on keeping my much needed energy exactly where it was. Damn I'm beginning to hate any hair-brained scheme that Mikey comes up with.
Honor grinned and cocked her chin up so that she was looking down her nose at me. Leaning forward so that she was a few inches from my face she laughed out loud.She oozed confidence.
A slow smile crept on my face. I could see the truth. Her whole body was tense. Her foot was edged out perfectly to take a flying leap out of my way. Her hands nervously assumed a 'casual' position that could easily be put to use for defense or attack. Her laugh wasn't completely true, and her eyes never left mine. Basically, she was on edge. She was nervous. She was nervous being this near to me.
I don't know quite how to explain it, but knowing that gave me power in a way. That this 'ruler' was afraid of a lowly earthling.
She was talking boastfully, putting more confidence in the guards behind me than she really should have. I didn't really hear a word that she said. I just glanced out towards Vivid and her family using my peripheral vision. Mikey, who was near the top of the doors when I opened them (I wasn't that spry, I couldn't climb up there). Once they were open he used the convenient gold braids draped across the walls and ceiling in order to reach them. Like the ninja he was, the four soldiers guarding them had already been knocked out without notice from the others. Currently he was struggling with the chains.
I didn't particularly care at the moment. For all I was concerned, he was close enough. My temper was to a boiling point with this witch, and I wasn't about to let her continue talking over me like that, no matter how crucial to the plan that I do this is.
The power on my fingertips tingled stronger. Slowly I looked around. My body was screaming Earth! and I knew that that's what I would use this time. Maybe sweep up Honor in a slab of rock and squash her against the ground like a cockroach. Or maybe get a stream of earth to fly down her throat, filling her lungs. I bet she couldn't escape that. Or maybe a rock stake jabbing her all over, through the heart like a vampire. Yeah, that seemed like a good idea. With strong resolve I gathered my power. Plan or no plan she would die, now.
Another contraction racked my body, this one was particularly fierce. At first I held my breath, not wanting to make the groan that my mouth begged me to take. Then slowly I breathed in. The guards behind me stiffened and Honor paused. What did I do? Did they notice me?
Then I found out why.
The loud clatter of chains filled the air. Without thinking I looked to the side. Mikey nearly got part of one of Amuke's chains free, but apparently found a surplus of chain bunched up behind it. Surprised by the unexpected weight, he toppled off of his precarious position on the wall. The chain wrapped itself around his foot and now he was hanging with his head dangling five feet in the air. He swung back and forth like a pendulum, and being the idiot he was he couldn't help but smile, grin and wave at the mass of angry powerful females poised to kill him.
Great. Just great. Last time I trust Mikey.
Before I could blink an eye soldiers massed upon my dangling brother.
I knew what his fate was going to be if something didn't happen fast. The last thing that I wanted to see was my brother being skewered by a mob of angry females, no matter how much he'd laugh about it in heaven. Desperately I summoned my energy again, calling it from everywhere. Then another contraction hit and immediately it all completely dissapated as I concentrated past the wave of pain.
Shit! If I didn't do anything Mikey was going to die! But I can't work past these damndable contractions! I can't frigginbelieve it!
I needed to do somehing. Mikey was in danger. Then again, Honor was right in front of me, distracted and vulnerable. But if I took the time to attack her, I wouldn't reach Mikey in time to save anything, maybe a toe. But not hime! This couldn't be happening! It's like some evil force was trying to make me choose between saving my brother and slicing Honor's head off!
With a ragged breath I took a step and whipped out my sais. Time to fix this, the old fashion way.
A/N: Hello. Sorry. I know that this chapter sucks majorly. I had to kinda struggle through this one, took me two days to write. So naturally I'm going to pour a tad bit more encouragement than usual for assistance in offering ideas. My mind is dead right now. I'm so frigging tired. Sometimes I think that there should be a law against night shift. But I couldn't let this go without finishing up the chapter at least. Hope I didn't lose any reviewers like I did on Deadly Dealings. Ah, please! Stick with me!
Please, if you Read it, Review it!
Toodles
