12. Enter Friday the 13th
April ran through the city sidewalks away from TCRI. Foot Soldiers were hot on her trail and she clutched the stolen canister of purple ooze like her life depended on it. Her racing heart was doing its best to keep up with her racing mind. She still couldn't believe what she saw at that lab. It was impossible, wasn't it? And where had they gone?
She turned down an alley, only to be cut off at the other end by the soldiers that were chasing her. Two more landed from somewhere above her, finishing the circle that trapped her in the alley.
"Whoa!" she spun, taking them into account. "You guys don't really wanna do this again, right?" she panted.
The Foot Soldiers drew nearer still, stalking forward menacingly.
"It doesn't usually work out for you guys," she continued. "Because I have the four friends..."
One pulled a sword from the sheath on his back.
"Green..."
Another pulled two sharp weapons from his belt.
"Ninjas..."
"Give us the ooze," one of the soldiers demanded.
April tucked the canister closer to herself, her mind working to find a way out. They were drawing nearer now, closing in on her as if she was prey. She was beginning to feel like it, too. Where were they?
Something flew by her, hitting one of the soldiers and dropping him. Her head whipped around, but several more slipped by and took out her assailants.
One soldier grabbed her from behind, and a cry escaped her throat. Whatever had taken out the previous soldiers hit his face, just inches from the side of her head. The canister fell from her hand and rolled out into the alley.
A man appeared, wearing a mask and holding a hockey stick menacingly. The soldiers jumped into action, rising from the asphalt and looking rather irritated. The hockey guy jumped into action, fighting them with brute force. April watched, shocked, for several seconds before the canister slid into her field of vision.
She snapped into action, diving for it, only to have it kicked away at her every attempt.
A soldier grabbed the canister and took off with it. Hockey Mask flicked a puck in the air and hit it directly at him. The soldier dropped, and the cannister rolled off. Sirens echoed in the alley as the police drove up, and the remaining soldier turned on April.
She sucked in a breath and whirled around to run for her life as the police yelled for them all to freeze. Her lungs burned as she whirled a corner. Then her heart sank.
A dead end.
The soldier blocked the only escape, drawing his weapon.
April tried desperately to catch her breath, "The guy with the hockey stick in the other alley," she panted, "I had nothing to do with that."
The soldier didn't say a word, creeping nearer still.
April clenched her fists at her sides.
He was hit roughly from the side by Hockey Mask, sending him flying into a dumpster and knocking him out. April put her hands on her knees and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you."
He shrugged it off.
"What's your name?"
A muffled noise came from under his mask.
"What?"
The muffled noise came again.
"Stacy Moans?"
He lifted his mask, exposing a charming smile, "Casey Jones."
April smiled, "Hi."
The metal clang that sounded in the alley startled them both, a giant sai having stuck into a metal signpost between them
The turtles landed roughly between them, "Get away from her!"
Casey panicked, pulling April behind him, "Whoa, hey!"
April eyed him, amused, as the turtles neared them stoically.
"Do not eat us!" Casey enunciated.
April raised a brow.
"We are not food!" he continued, oblivious to the looks of amusement he was receiving. "The people of Earth are not your enemies."
Mikey chuckled and whispered, "Watch this."
He flipped up and landed beside Casey, startling him. Casey pointed his hockey stick in defense as Mikey bumped it with the nunchucks in one hand and twirled them in the other, "We were sent by the supreme leader to eat delicious humans and dip them in ranch dressing."
A small snort escaped April's nose as the other turtles snickered.
Casey looked panicked.
"I'm just kidding'," Mikey smiled, taking a second to knock out the coming-to soldier beside him. "I'm a vegan. Except for meat. And cheese... And eggs."
"Casey, they're my friends," April clarified.
Casey turned around to give her a look of disbelief.
"It's okay, I promise," April gave a reassuring smile.
Leo stepped in, "Sorry we're late, April. You want to walk me through what's going on here?"
She turned to face him and Donnie while Raphael and Mikey stepped forward to continue picking on Casey.
"Yeah, so I went to see Stockman, like I said. But Shredder was there. He was talking about opening some sort of portal to another dimension."
"Another dimension?" Donnie piped up, fascinated. "Like you were saying you read in his emails?"
"Yeah, but then these two guys came in and they had Ardyn and some other woman who...I don't know how she wasn't dead, she looked terrible. But Shredder knew them both, somehow? Anyway he took this purple ooze," she held up the dart she had snagged from the lab. Donnie grabbed it immediately and began looking it over. "...and injected it into Ardyn."
Leo's jaw clapped shut, and Donnie's head snapped up.
"She changed," April breathed. "I've never seen anything like it! Then the other woman got up and just tackled Shredder. She cut his face with this weird thing on her arm, then she and Ardyn went through the window."
"Ardyn went through a window?" Donnie asked in disbelief.
April nodded, "Broke right through it. The other woman shoved her out."
"That has to be Ibis. Do you think they survived that?" Donnie asked Leo. "Baxter's lab is at least fifteen stories up."
"Twenty," April corrected. "Who's Ibis?"
"Never mind, what else happened," Leo looked back to her.
"Shredder used the ooze on those two criminals who escaped with him and changed one into a rhinoceros and the other into a warthog."
Casey stopped messing around with Raphael and Mikey, tuning into her words. "Wait, you have eyes on Bebop and Rocksteady?"
Leo looked up, "What do you care about those two?"
"Let's just say I have a vested interest in bringing them to justice," he answered with conviction.
Leo uncrossed his arms and stepped forward. "Let's get back to the lair and regroup. Raph, grab friday the 13th here and follow. If he can help us find Bebop and Rocksteady, he's coming with."
"Whoa, no he's not. Not a chance. I'm not going anywhere with you," Casey protested.
"See, I'd agree wit' you," Raphael stalked nearer him, swaying heavily to back Casey into a corner. "But you're wrong. See, we too share a 'vested interest'."
"I don't share anything with you guys," Casey argued.
"Fellas, fellas," Mikey held his hands up to mediate. "Now the people of New York need us to put aside out differences and work together. Which begs only one question."
He turned around to face April and Casey. "Are you guys, like, a thing, or..?"
Leo rolled his eyes. Raphael shook his head and shoved Casey forward, "Come on, move it!"