Splinter, Donnie and Mikey dodged aside as the Shredder advanced, grouping together as the Shredder turned faster than the robotic body suggested he could. The alien within the stomach of the body grinned at them maliciously.
"Um, Donnie," said Mikey hesitantly. "What is that thing?"
"Mech-body," replied Donnie. "Stockman must have built it for him."
"And the Shredder was an alien all along?"
"It would appear so," said Splinter. "And would explain much about his ongoing survival skills."
The alien continued to smirk at them, gloating over their confusion. "It's no good to fight. You shall soon be as dead as your brothers!"
"Guess again Shredder," said Leo from behind him. Before the Shredder could register the comment, Leo and Raph vaulted over him, joining their family in the stand off, brandishing their weapons, ready for a fight.
The Shredder narrowed his eyes. "You deceived me... but it is of no matter. You shall not leave this place alive. You cannot stop me!"
"Yeah, well forgive us for trying," snarled Raph as he raced forward, sun and moon daggers glinting in the overhead lights.
The Shredder strode forward to face him, an arm-like appendage taking aim at Raph. The turtle barely had time to move aside before it coughed fire at him. And still the Shredder advanced, forcing the five mutants to leap out of his way or be trodden underfoot.
Leo somersaulted over the robot, the pommel of the Sword of Tengu brushing lightly against the metal and immediately he felt the thrum of energy that coursed through it. With a sudden cold certainty, he knew that he couldn't let the Shredder get hold of it. It might be the only thing that could save them. Conventional weapons weren't going to do much against the mechanical body the Shredder had now.
He was an alien all along and we never suspected a thing...
Leo went to grab the Sword of Tengu, thinking he might be able to put a stop to the creature once and for all, before the fight even truly began – and then a vicious kick knocked his arm away from the sword, a second hitting the back of his shell. He stumbled forward, regaining his balance and turning quickly.
Karai.
She advanced on him, her own sword held in front of her face, her green eyes flashing fire. Leo had always known whose side she would choose when it got down to it, that she would never betray the Shredder and refuse to fight them.
Didn't mean it didn't hurt to have it confirmed.
He dodged as she parried at him and grabbed his katana, swinging it only for her to block the blow in a clash of metal on metal. They struggled for a moment, eyes locked, then he forced her backward and attacked again.
The Shredder aimed an arm at Mikey, a missile aiming straight at the turtle. He leapt away as the floor shook with the force of the impact.
Donnie flew for the robot, bo aimed squarely at the pack that he suspected held the suits power supply. He didn't even get close, one of the arms lengthening like a tentacle and hitting him, throwing him aside. He hit the wall hard, sliding down and rubbing the back of his head, the headpiece through which he had been communicating with April broken into several pieces, cutting them off from the outside world.
"You OK Don?" shouted Raph as he looked for some kind of opening, some way to get through the Shredder's defenses.
"I'll be fine," replied Donnie, getting back to his feet. "Watch out!"
Splinter leapt into the air and aimed a kick directly at the alien visage, hoping that to take out the alien would be to render the suit useless. Sensing the gambit, Shredder readied the flamethrower, knowing the rat had no way of adjusting his course in mid air.
And then a sun and moon dagger flew at the appendage, almost severing it. Circuitry prevented the arm from totally falling off and the interference sent an electric shock throughout the body. Splinter hit the body less than an inch from the alien, catching the tail end of the shock and falling stunned to the ground. The Shredder shuddered, but recovered far too quickly, the missile launcher aiming at the rat.
Raph had been right behind the dagger, snatching it up as he vaulted over the robot and landing beside Splinter. He grabbed the rat and jumped, the missile barely missing them and sending another tremor through the floor.
Karai ducked a kick by Leo and swept low, taking him off his feet and resting a foot on the back of his neck, stopping his movements and going for the Sword of Tengu.
"Oh no you don't!" Mikey say the move and raced over there, swinging a nunchuck at her head. She was forced to dodge to avoid it, not able to get hold of the Sword. Mikey attacked her with a barrage of blows, Karai managing to block them but not easily.
"I've got it," Mikey shouted at Leo. "Stop the Shredder!"
Leo nodded, running over to where the Shredder was and slicing at one of the legs, hoping that once off balance it would be easier to get access to the alien within the robot. Sensing the move Don grabbed a grappling hook on a long rope from his bag. But the robots legs were far more solid than the arms, having less circuitry, and the katana didn't cut deeply enough. The grappling hook snagged a leg but was easily shaken off as the Shredder moved forward, guns blazing.
Splinter was back on his feet, seemingly fine, so Raph dived back into the fray, jumping at the already damaged arm and severing it totally, hoping the act would shut down all of the robots systems. It didn't work. He had to flee further away just to avoid the bullets that sprayed rapidly from another. The arm fell to the floor, unnoticed.
Mikey feigned a blow with his nunchuck and when Karai went to block it, he aimed a kick to her midsection that knocked her flying backward, the sword clattering to the floor beside her. Ignoring her, Mike ran back the the fight against the Shredder, dodging bullets. But there was little he could do, unless serious dents in the body were going to have any effect and he doubted it.
The Shredder aimed another missile, this one at Raph. It missed but hit the wall, causing the room to shake again. At the same time, the tentacle like appendage swung around, catching Don and sending him sprawling.
He's toying with us, thought Donnie angrily. The knowledge brought him no comfort. He couldn't see a way that the overconfidence could be used against the alien. He was right to be overconfident. There was little they could do...
His eyes fell on the severed arm.
Stockman built it – and if I know Stockman, he went over the top. He never could resist showing off his genius. If I know Stockman, each component of the armour should have its own internal back up power supply.
He dived forward, narrowly missing the Shredder's legs, snatching up the fallen arm and scrambling away with it. It was too heavy to pull far, but he only needed a moment to check out his idea. Yes! There it was, the back up power source. The arm was still functional.
Thank you Stockman for being so predictable.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"
The other four mutants, who had been cautiously approaching the Shredder, dived out of the way and Donnie had a moment to be grateful that their time at the farm had built up their trust enough for them to just take his word for it without question before he fired the missile, turning his back and hoping that he was far enough from the robot to avoid the fallout and if not, that his shell would protect him from the worst of it.
The missile hit the Shredder low, taking off one of the legs and leaving another a twisted mess of metal. They all saw the look on the Shredder's face change from malicious amusement to shocked understanding before a cloud of smoke obscured the alien.
And before they could act, a blur leapt to the air and aimed at where the alien should be. Splinter, determined to finish off his nemesis while he had the element of surprise.
He didn't even get close. The Shredder's robotic arms flailed wildly as he tried to fend off any unseen attack and one of them hit Splinter in the hip, knocking the rat sideways at speed. He bashed into the window, a panel of glass that extended from floor to ceiling and the turtles had just enough time to see his widened eyes and startled expression as the glass broke and the rat plummeted from the top floor of the skyscraper.
Closest to the window, Don moved as soon as he realised the glass couldn't hold, throwing himself full length across the floor, unmindful of the glass that still showered around him and littered the floor, extending his bo as far as he could in the hopes that he could catch Splinter before gravity took over. Splinter's hands clutched for the weapon – and missed. Don could only watch as the rat fell away from him...
And then someone jumped over him and a green figure started out of the window, falling, grabbing the bo as it passed and yanking it out of Donnie's grip.
Raphael.
Don blinked as the turtle shoved the bo in his belt and quickly tied off a rope around his waist. Following the path of the rope, Don could see that it was his forgotten grappling hook, snagged over a pipe that ran near the ceiling.
Raph was safe – the rope would stop him falling too far. And if he could grab Splinter too, it was possible that they would both be saved. It was an insane act by his psycho brother – but it would work.
Before Don could get to his feet, he felt a vicious kick in the soft part of his torso between his shell and plastron and bright, sharp pain rose within him as he felt something, perhaps a rib, give way inside him. His breath was forced from his body and he was unable to take another as he writhed in agony, gasping harshly as he tried to recover. A second kick nearly knocked him out of the window after Raph, this time without the benefit of a safety rope.
Leo had watched Raph's insane plunge from the window in startled admiration, before turning back to the Shredder, determined to finish off what the alien once and for all, when movement at the window distracted him.
Karai. Donnie at her feet, in obvious pain.
She was staring at him, her sword drawn, his brother helpless before her.
For a moment, Leo met her eyes, remembering how things used to be. How she used to be his best friend, sparring partner, confidante. How he had missed her when she was sent to Japan. How he had never thought anything more might come from their friendship, but a part of him had always hoped...
Without breaking his gaze, she swung the sword – and severed the rope that was rapidly reaching the end of its length, the only thing that tethered Raphael to the building.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Raphael hadn't stopped to think. He had seen Splinter fall, seen the grappling hook and known that there was only one chance left to save the rat. He had snatched the hook as he raced past, swung it at the pipe and not checked to see if it snagged, vaulted over Donnie's prone form and swan-dived, grabbing the bo in the hope that it would be long enough to reach Splinter if he didn't fall fast enough.
Splinter's face was full of fear and Raph knew there was only seconds to catch him. Below them the skyscraper widened, allowing for the Shredder's personal helipad. They were going too fast. If Splinter hit it, he would die instantly.
Once he was sure he was secured to the rope, Raph took the bo and reached it as far as he could. For a second, it seemed as if it would be too short anyway – then Splinter reached out and managed to catch hold of the end. Raph smiled grimly. Splinter had grabbed the bo just in time, he doubted there was much more rope left before the length ran out and he was jerked to a stop.
He braced himself for the shock of the rope pulling taut...
It never came.
The pair continued their free-fall, Splinter looking at something behind Raph, his face contorting in rage, letting out a cry of anger.
Guess I missed the pipe,thought Raph.
In spite of Splinter's shout and the wind rushing in his ears, Raphael thought he heard his brother yelling his name.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"RAPHAEL!"
The anguish in Michelangelo's voice was almost palpable as he ran toward the window, only to see the end of the rope slither through and out of reach. Karai flipped out of the way quickly and only Mikey's natural agility saved him from barreling straight out after Raphael. Instead he veered aside, ninjitsu skills forgotten, jumped Donnie's prone form and went for Karai with his nunchucks, forcing her backwards as she fought to defend herself against a turtle who had suddenly given in to red rage and become a force of vengeance.
Donatello tried to grasp the rope but it was too far away, falling after the two figures below. He stared out after them, thinking that at the last minute Raph might be able to think of something, anything...
He couldn't think of anything.
And then he heard the sound of Mikey battling Karai behind him and turned from the tableau below, rising to his feet in spite of the protestations from his injured body. Mikey blocked a blow from the sword without even thinking about it and shoved backward, Karai taking a couple of steps and tripping over Donnie's bag, which he threw at her feet. Immediately, Mikey capitalised on her lack of balance to wrap a nunchaku around her neck and attempt to throttle her.
Leonardo hadn't moved.
He couldn't believe – wouldn't believe – that things had gone so badly wrong, that he had led them into this, actually led them into it, thinking they would finally be rid of the Shredder.
And somehow, it had come down to this.
His vision greyed out for a moment, everything becoming indistinct. He closed his eyes tightly, fighting the feeling and when he opened them again, the world was back in focus. It just seemed darker.
There was a burbling laugh from behind him. "Two down, three to go," said the Shredder. The triumph in his voice was clear.
Slowly Leonardo turned, his hand going for the glove that allowed him to hold the Sword of Tengu. The Shredder wasn't going anywhere, the robotic body crippled thanks to the leg that Don had blown off, but the weaponry was still working and now the Shredder aimed the missile launcher at him.
"You're next Leonardo."
Leo blocked out everything else. The grief, the sense of failure and shame, the fight between Mikey, Don and Karai – they all became distant. All he could see before him was the face of the alien, gloating at its victory, preparing to finish him off.
Dimly, Leo could hear the whine of electronics getting to work. It didn't matter.
He leapt into the air, gracefully turning his body to avoid a missile, feeling its heat skimming past his shell, snatching the Sword of Tengu as he was in the air. He began his downward descent, heading straight toward the alien, driving down the sword with all his strength. He had just enough time to see the Shredder's face change from triumph to shock and then the sword penetrated the alien's face, an amazing gout of yellow fluid spurting from the wound, splashing over the sword, coating Leo's arms and plastron, pattering onto the floor. The forward momentum drove the sword still deeper, until it punctured through the back of the robot, releasing a brief counter surge. Leo landed, letting go of the sword, eyes narrowed as he watched his hated enemy die.
The robot collapsed into a heap of metal, rendered useless.
"Father! NO!"
Karai found the strength to throw Mikey over her shoulder and to the floor, perhaps because he had been distracted by the scene before him, barrelling past Donnie hard enough to knock him over. Leo had just enough time to turn before a wicked punch to the chin made him see stars and he sagged to the floor, dimly grossed out by the sticky alien tissue that he landed in.
Karai knelt, her eyes wide with shock and horror as she looked upon the mess that had once been the Shredder. Leo backed off a little, glaring at her as she turned to face the three of them.
"You... you treacherous swines!" she hissed. "You shall suffer for what has happened here this day!"
"You're right," replied Leo with a woeful glance at the shattered window. "For the rest of our lives."
"And so will you," added Mikey, limping forward with murder in his eyes, nunchaku whirling.
Karai took in the sight; Mikey seeking revenge, Leo's hands going to the pommels of his katana and Donnie finding the sun and moon dagger that Raph had left behind and gripping it tightly.
She came to a decision. "There is no place on this Earth where you can hide from the wrath of the Foot!" she said haughtily. Then she turned and ran for the door to the courtyard.
Leo pointed a katana at the window. "You two, go see if – go after Raph. I'll take care of Karai."
He took off after her, bare seconds behind as she ran through the door. But as he exited himself, into Oruku Saki's personal tranquil courtyard, he could see no sign of her. Just the sight of the place, untouched by the battle that had waged within the walls of the skyscraper, was enough to hit him with a powerful sense of deja vu. They had spent time here often as children, after training sessions that had gone well. It was something of a special treat. Karai had often joined them in those days, playing with them, having fun, being their friend. As trainee ninja, all of them had been good at hide and seek, but this time, he knew there was no chance of finding her.
But he knew where his brother was.
Hearing a sound behind him, he turned to see Donnie, who for some reason was dragging a piece of the Shredder's heavy exo-suit, the sun and moon dagger tucked safely away in his belt.
"Um... what are you doing? Why haven't you gone after Raph and Splinter?"
Don glanced up, weariness etched into his face. "I'm making sure the Foot can never use this building for anything else ever again. If my guess is correct, the radial power cells in this suit combined with the Sword of Tengu should be enough to fry most of the tech in this building."
Leo nodded. "And Mike?"
"He's gone after Raph and Splinter."
Leo ducked his head for a moment, then pulled out the Sword of Tengu and the glove and dropping them to the floor, letting Don continue with whatever it was that needed to be done to the suit while he walked back inside, going over to the broken window. If he was wrong, if there was even the slightest chance that Raphael had survived the fall...
But there was no sound from below, none of the excited shouting that Mikey would rouse if either of them were alive. The empty, bereft feeling inside him hadn't lied.
Donatello ignored the pain in his ribs, tried to push aside the pain in his heart. He knew what had to be done up here, he was the only one of them that would know how to do it – and he doubted there was anything that could be done for Raph or Splinter. He had stared out over the drop and knew just how far they'd had to fall. If there was, Mikey would be sure to let them know. Otherwise, there was one thing left to do.
He pulled wires from his bag, attaching them to the arm and heading over to the power supply to attach the other end. The whole floor seemed quiet, too quiet. It was unlikely that Karai was still around, but there should have been Foot ninja bursting in on them when they found out the Shredder had been defeated. Likely they had been ordered to stay out of the way while the fight was going on – but Karai should have given the order for them to attack. Unless she hadn't gone anywhere...
Keeping an eye out, Don returned to the arm, slipping on the glove and lifting the Sword high. The move should fry all the tech in the building, the place where their whole nightmarish journey had begun. Where they had been brought to as children, brainwashed into being a part of the Foot, where Splinter had been held prisoner, where Mikey had been maimed, where Leo and Karai had practised and sparred and left the other turtles out, where Raph had very likely met his end...
With an inarticulate cry of rage, Donnie slammed the Sword of Tengu into the Shredder's robotic arm.
A surge of electricity went through the cables attaching the arm to the main power supply. The backlash from the Sword entered the systems of the skyscraper, going through the circuits and frying everything in its wake. Lights all over the skyscraper burst in a spray of glass shards. Genetic experiments that had been kept alive through electrical impulses and thick, viscous fluids were suddenly electrocuted within their tanks. Computer systems throughout the building broke down and the monitor in what had once been Donnie's room blew, belching smoke and glass. Communications systems and alarm systems failed, the sophisticated weaponry fizzed with too much power for scant seconds before overloading, irrevocably destroyed.
The Sword of Tengu shattered.
And on the front of the skyscraper, the illuminated sign of the Foot went dark.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Leonardo scaled out of the building down the same rope that Mikey had used, rescued from Donnie's bag. He had been expecting a mess. A fall of thirty storeys wasn't going to be cushioned by a shell, no matter how tough. And Splinter didn't even have that meagre protection. He expected to find Mikey, crying perhaps or raging against Karai.
The scene he found was quite different.
There was a single prone figure on the helipad – a turtle. But it wasn't Raph. It was Mikey. There was a dart lodged into the skin of his neck, one that Leo recognised. Karai had always been damn good with a blow dart and these were just the kind she would have used. Leo reached a shaking hand out to test his brothers pulse and exhaled loudly when he realised Mikey was just unconscious. Not poisoned then, merely incapacitated. Of course, if Karai had been carrying any poison, that would probably not have been the case. But he found it hard to be grateful for the small mercy.
So where are Raph and Splinter?
There was no sign of them, no bodies, nothing. Well... not quite nothing. There was blood on the floor. Not as much as he might have expected, but some. Raph's? Splinter's?
Where are they?
As the lights darkened, he realised that Donnie had done his work and that the Foot would be aware immediately that something had gone wrong and would be bursting in to the Shredder's personal rooms any time. They had to get out.
It took a minute or so before Donnie's silhouette appeared at the window and Leo watched as his brother made his way down the rope, slowly, obviously in some pain. Leo had to bite back the urge to tell him to hurry up. They needed to leave. Now.
We can't leave without Raph and Splinter...
He shoved the thought away. They had no choice. He had no idea where they had gone, where they could be.
Donnie took in the scene as he cautiously jumped the last couple of feet from the rope and winced. "What happened?"
"This is how I found things. Mikey's out and Raph and Splinter are – gone."
Donatello narrowed his eyes. "Karai."
"I don't know," said Leo, hating the helpless feeling he had. "I just don't know."
Donnie pointed to empty air. "There was a copter here. I saw it when Raph – when he went after Splinter. It's gone now. She must have got down here somehow and taken them."
"But why?" Leo clenched his fists in frustration. "Does that mean that they're alive?"
"I hope so," said Donnie quietly. "And if they are, they've a better chance of survival with Karai. But she's not taken them out of the goodness of her heart. You just killed the Shredder. If they are alive, she took them to hurt us. And... I hate to say it, but they may not have been. She might have taken them to mess with our heads."
The sound of sirens from the street interrupted them. The power surge had garnered some attention it seemed. Which might just give them the distraction they needed to make good their escape.
Leonardo carried the unconscious Michelangelo and Donatello followed. As he did, his foot kicked something and he glanced down. His bo staff, snapped about a quarter of the way up. He picked it up, turning it over in his hands. Raph had taken it to try to save Splinter. Don shoved the broken staff into his belt, touching the sun and moon dagger he also carried lightly. Was Raph alive? It seemed so unlikely and yet... he wasn't here.
They made their way out using the vents they had used to enter, remaining undetected. Maybe the police presence had given the Foot something to worry about. Or the loss of their Master. Neither Leo nor Don cared, both too damn tired and heart sick to worry what would happen should they run afoul of the Foot again. But they knew the building well and managed to leave unseen by their enemies or the police.
Before they went back into the sewer, Leo turned and took a last look at the darkened skyscraper. It had lost none of the brooding menace that he had come to associate with the building, but now it seemed even more sinister, now that his brother was missing, perhaps dead. He heard the faint sounds of Donnie opening the manhole, felt the weight of Mikey across his shoulders. Those things were real. The events of this night were no bad dream, no matter what he wanted to believe.
I swear you'll pay for what you've done Karai, he thought as he stared up at the skyscraper. On my honour, if it's the last thing I do, I'll find you if I have to go to the ends of the earth to do it, I'll find you and I'll make you suffer. If Raphael's dead, if Splinter's dead, I'll make you wish you'd never lifted that sword against them. And if they're not and you do anything to them, you'll regret it. I swear it, on my honour as a ninja.
And then Donnie was speaking to him and Leo turned away from the Foot headquarters to go home.