19. The World's Sh*ttiest Field Trip

It was unbearably hot over the Amazon.

True to her word, Ibis had a connection that had gotten them on a Cargo plane headed for Brazil. Yodie was a curious character. His golden eyes were sharp and darty, and his smile was jagged and unnerving. He appeared to be almost animalistic in his features. Ibis didn't seem to notice, and she definitely wasn't close with him. He made a sarcastic comment to the affect of 'Did you do something different with your hair?', to which she replied 'A trim goes a long way'.

None of them were quite sure what to think of him, especially considering he didn't seem remotely surprised to see four mutant turtles traveling with her.

Mikey had finally asked about his name.

"It's a nickname," Ibis had replied.

"What's it short for?" Raphael asked.

"His alias," Ibis had responded. "Koyote."

No more questions were asked about him.

Several hours later, they had reached the heat of South America. Sweat beaded on each of their foreheads. Mikey fanned himself, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Man. Aren't there supposed to be, like, pretty stewardesses handing out warm hand towels and stuff?" Mikey panted.

Raphael was bouncing a ball against a crate tiredly, "Not down here, Mikey. Not for us."

Ibis looked up from the card game she and Leo were playing on one of the crates, "Why would you want a warm hand towel?"

Leo shook his head with an amused smirk as he flipped over a card, then wiped the sweat beading on his own forehead.

"Damn, that's three," Ibis quipped to him.

"I thought that was a bad thing?" Leo looked up at her.

"Those ones cancel out at three," she answered. "It's against my instinct to tell you that you'll win if you keep 'er."

Leo let out a puff of air that was almost a laugh as he traded the card for one of his own. He gave her a cocky smirk.

"Don't look at me like that, Honor Boy, you would've been 50 in the hole without my help," she snapped good-naturedly as she rounded up the cards to reshuffle.

"Oh boy," Donnie piped up. "Bebop and Rocksteady are en route back to New York."

Leo's head snapped around, "What?"

"They must've retrieved the last piece they needed to open the portal," Donnie surmised.

Leo looked at the hologram that popped op from a gadget on Donnie's wrist. "Looks like our plane is about to cross over theirs right?"

"With one hell of a gap, hopefully," Ibis shoved the box of cards they'd been playing with back into the secured pocket on her cargo pants.

"3,000 feet, to be exact," Donnie interjected. "Uh... I could plot a course for intercept, but we'd have to jump."

Raphael's determined expression fell, "Jump?"

They walked over to the door, which took some effort to open. The high speed of the wind and the noise from the engine was almost deafening.

Raphael stiffened, "Oh boy. Guys, I don't know if this is such a good plan."

"Aw, come on," Mikey bumped his arm. "Don't go getting soft on me now. This is gonna be fun."

"Yeah, like a root canal," Ibis remarked, braid whipping behind her.

They turned to grab parachutes as Donnie looked on through the open door.

"We gotta go now. We only have a 30 second window," Donnie stated. "You know the plan."

Ibis buckled the straps on the front of Raphael's chest as Leo tightened the chute on the back.

"Uh, dudes?" Mikey piped up.

"What?" Leo didn't turn, grabbing the chute from Ibis's hand.

"He jumped."

Ibis whipped her head around, eyes wide. Leo mirrored her. Raphael looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

"He jumped?!"

"Who knew the Doc had balls like that?" Ibis put her hands on her hips.

"All right, one for all," Leo stepped toward the open door.

Raphael panicked, reaching for him, "Wait, wait! You don't have a chute on!"

Leo let out a 'whoo' as he leapt from the plane.

Mikey pulled his board from his back, running to the door. "I don't need a chute! I've got my board!"

Raphael clung to the frame, panic evident in his features as Ibis tucked her wings back and looked down below.

"Come on, Red, we're going to miss our window!" Ibis shouted over the wind.

"Don't rush me!" he growled back.

Ibis rolled her eyes as he began to give himself a pep-talk.

"Okay. Okay, you got this," he clutched the frame tightly. "What would Vin Diesel do?"

She let out an incredulous snort. "Seriously?"

He rubbed a hand over his face, still gripping the frame.

"No regrets, no fear, Red," Ibis called to him.

"No regrets, no fear," he chanted.

She stood beside him, "No regrets, no fear."

He shot her a nervous look, and she gave him a reassuring nod.

She elbowed his arm lightly, encouraging. "No regrets!"

"No fear!"

She took a few steps back, crouching a little to prepare for a run and leap, "No regrets!"

He backed up with her, hopping on his toes to ready himself. "No fear!"

They took off, leaping out of the plane. Ibis rolled to look at Raphael, an adrenaline-fueled grin on her face as the wind whipped around her. Her wings were tucked tight around her, waiting to deploy.

Raphael was rolling haphazardly through the air, screaming.

"I regret this! Fear sucks!"

"Red!" Ibis called to him to try and calm him down, but he rolled and plowed into her. Upon impact, he latched onto her like a life raft. She squirmed, trying to shout reason over his panicked struggling and the overbearing noise of the wind around them. He'd pinned down her wings, trapping her arms and rendering her helpless to correct their descent.

"Red!" she shouted over the noise, seeing the plane approaching them. "Red, your chute!"

He yanked the chord, deploying the chute. The force of it opening made him drop her. She failed to right herself, her wing catching the wind and whipping her around. She bounced off the engine, denting the metal around it. She flailed for a moment before catching herself by digging her claw into the side of the plane. Her body whipped around and slammed into the plane. Mikey rushed over and secured a life-line, beaming at her as she stood.

She looked over to see Leo had caught Raphael and was bringing him to the top of the plane with them. She glared at him.

"If we live through this flight," she shouted, braid whipping in the wind, "I'm gonna beat the green off you!"

He gave a guilty smile.

The door to the plane tore free with some effort. They filed in with military precision, fanning out before an audience of Foot ninjas. Ibis was shuffled behind Raphael and Mikey.

"The good news is, you're wearing chutes," Raphael started.

"Chutes," Mikey emphasized.

"The bad news is," Raphael continued.

The Foot ninjas didn't give him time to finish. They came forward sloppily. Their bodies were too small comparatively to do any damage, and they were each easily thrown through the open door.

Ibis shoved aside a few crates and used her claws to pry her targeted crate open. The pieces fell away as the boys crowded around. Donnie immediately began scanning it.

"This must be what they came to Brazil for," Leo stated.

"What makes you say that?" Ibis remarked sarcastically beside him, earning a dirty look.

"It's the interdimensional portal-opening thingy-mabob," Mikey replied dramatically.

"Well, there's probably a more technical name for it," Donnie amended, only half-paying attention.

Ibis's nostrils flared. Something in the plane smelled foul. It wasn't sweat, or gunpowder... She wrinkled and turned her head.

Raphael must've noticed her expression change, and turned too.

Ibis grabbed Leo's arm beside her as Raphael turned Mikey's head.

"Oh, boy," Leo breathed.

A rhino in a leather vest, despite the blaring humidity, and a Warthog with a purple mohawk stood before a giant tank in the back of the Plane's cargo hold. Ibis steeled herself beside the leader, flexing the stone armor on her arm.

"Dude!" Mikey piped up. "Bringing back the mohawk! Good for you."

Ibis shot him a look of 'are you out of your mind?!'

"Oh! Y'all got jokes, huh?" the warthog spiked his hair. "Well, let's see how funny you are after we bash yo' heads in!"

They charged. Leo attempted to take on the warthog, and got absolutely clotheslined. Raphael got tackled by the rhino, being lifted into the air and slammed down onto his shell. Ibis shoved the case with the device into Donnie's hands and sandwiched him against Mikey as the warthog drew closer.

"Aye, I know you," he pointed at her.

Leo stood from the floor and tousseled with the warthog before he could say another word. Raphael hefted the rhino onto his shoulders, spinning him around and launching him at the tank.

He hit the front solidly, then righted himself for rebuttal.

Ibis stood in the center of the brawl, Raphael having gone back to help Leo with the warthog. The rhino was readying himself to charge, making eye contact with the wall Ibis was making of herself in front of the device.

"Oh, f-"

He charged, yelling a hearty war-cry. Fear welled up in her throat as she mimicked him, shouting and plowing forward toward him. Her cry was more of fear than adrenaline, but it was coming out one way or another. They collided in the center of the plane, the noise making Leo turn his head and receive a sucker punch.

The claws on Ibis's feet dug into the floor, tearing the metal as she was shoved back. The rhino was easily twice her weight, not to mention a decent bit bigger. He seemed to only struggle a little in his force, but grew tired of the effort quickly. Ibis had to think fast.

She dropped her back knee, using his own force to throw him up and over her body, and slammed him into a crate of ammo. It shattered beneath him, and he rose looking mildly disoriented.

Much to Ibis's dismay, he charged again.

She was at a disadvantage when he came in low, and could only brace herself. His horn collided with her forehead, knocking her back into his tackle. Her head slammed against the metal flooring of the cargo hold. He looked a little dazed in her blurry vision, as if her head had been harder than he'd expected. His low-lidded eyes met her dazed red stare. It was then that she recognized him. He was the henchman that had carried her into the lab where Shredder was waiting with the mutagen.

"Wait a minute," he breathed, recognition crossing his punch-drunk, now-animalistic features. "I thought you died."

Ibis shook the dizziness free, steeling herself, "I did."

She flexed her stone armor and tanked the side of his face, knocking him a good ten feet to the side. He rolled and stopped against a crate that had seen better days, chuckling to himself in a daze.

"I like her."

Ibis rolled to her feet and shoved her way forward. Leo and Raphael still had their hands full with the warthog. Donnie and Mikey were trying to keep the case from the brawl, Donnie calling out warnings of care and holding the case as high as he could.

Ibis's ear picked up the metallic click and she turned to see the Rhino behind a machine gun that was secured to the tank. Bullets began to fly, tearing up the interior and contents of the cargo hold. Ibis dove at Raphael as the spray shifted at his back. He fell solidly to the floor, and she held him in place under her wing.

The raining fire destroyed the plane's interior and kept eating through the metal. Soon, the barreling wind that they had escaped previously was darting into the cargo hold. The firing ceased, and the mutants of the hold rose with less-than-thrilled expressions on their faces.

"Dude!" the warthog chastised. "Seriously?"

"Yep, that's my bad, I got carried away," the Rhino raised his hands.

The plane began to drop, the loss of altitude shuffling them inside what was left of the cargo hold. The case bounced around with the debris of the cargo and the passengers. Bodies collided clumsily with broken crates and each other as the wrecked plane made a spinning nosedive for the rainforest below.

"Donnie!" Ibis latched onto the metal floor with her claws, "Can you fly?"

Donnie slammed into Mikey with a grunt, knocking the younger brother's hold free and bouncing around in the shifting gravity.

"Turtles don't fly, Ibis!" he shouted.

"The plane! Can you fly the plane?" she shouted.

"Oh! Yes!" he called, falling onto the ceiling and shoving a crate out of his way.

"Grab on!" Ibis locked her toes into the floor and reached for him.

He grabbed her hands and she slung him forward into the cockpit.

Raphael came spinning forward and collided into her back, knocking her free and slamming her into a pile of broken crates as the plane spun.

"Ow! Damn!"

"Sorry, Sparky," Raphael managed before they were thrown back.

Ibis collided with the warthog, sending him flying into one of the chains that held the 60 ton tank in place. One of the links snapped, whipping Ibis back into Raphael and Mikey. The tank dropped, slamming the rhino that was still in the seat into the floor. Ibis didn't get a chance to feel her face before the plane shifted again.

"How ya doin' up there, Donnie?" Leo called, trying to right himself as Raphael hung onto a dazed Ibis.

The plane leveled out, Ibis's head lolling in Raphael's grip, then began shooting up to the sky again.

Raphael rolled to avoid the heavy debris that was now making a beeline for the back of the plane. He lost his grip on Ibis, who had enough wits about her to sink her claws into the metal wall. The back of the plane blew apart with the impact of the tank, sending Raphael and Leo scrambling for a hold. The spinning didn't cease, causing the two to fall back into the plane with what was left of the cargo.

They skipped on the water, jarring Ibis's hold. She flailed and grabbed onto the shredded floor just before the end of the plane. The wind whipped her tired wings around her, and she struggled to hold on. Her swimming head lifted just in time to see a metal-framed weapons pallet coming straight after her.

"Oh for fuck's sake-"

It collided with her, knocking her out and sending her hurling into the river.

"No!" Raphael screamed out as the plane skipped on the water. He leapt from his spot, feet first. Leo called for him, but he couldn't hear it.

His heavy body skipped on his shell across the muddy water as the plane continued on. It took a moment to right himself, fighting the turbulent water to break the surface. He took a breath and dove, searching for Ibis.

She was floating limply in the current not far behind him. He managed to drag her onto the rocky shore of the river and lay her over a rock. She wasn't breathing, and he wasn't far behind. The humid air he sucked in couldn't come fast enough to his burning lungs. He shook her shoulders, studying her bruised face in a panic.

"Sparky?" he put his ear to her chest, "Come on, don't do this ta me." He pushed the wet locks of hair that had fallen free of the braid from her face. Her cheekbone was purpling and blood dried on her lips.

He recalled the first-aid course Donnie had given them. He never though he'd need CPR, but was not grateful he had semi-paid attention. He pinched her nose and placed his mouth over hers. She tasted of blood and river water as he breathed into her. His heart was racing as he began thumping on her chest. Donnie would kill him for the improper form, but he was too scared to care.

Imagine the relief he felt when she rolled over to cough up the river water.

He flopped back onto his heels, hysterical huffs of laughter coming out. He kept his grip on her shoulder as she hacked. When she was done, she flopped onto her back with her eyes closed. He leaned over her.

"Ya good, Sparky?"

She barely opened her eyes to look at him, "Are we dead?"

"Nah, we made it!" he breathed in relief, grinning widely.

He didn't expect a formidable right-hook.

But that's what he got. He ended up on his shell in the shallows of the river, holding his face with a bewildered expression and looking at her as she stood.

"That was for dropping me on the front of the fucking plane, you ass!" she shouted.

He rubbed his face, nodding. "Yah, I deserved that."

"Where are the others?" she stood straight, as if everything was coming back to her. "Where's Sunshine?"

"The plane crashed down the river, Sparky. We gotta go," he stood.

"You'll never catch up to them swimming, even with the current at your back," she reasoned.

He turned, "Well, then, whatdaya suggest, genius?"

...

"Jesus, Red. Do you have the entirety of the Knicks in your goddamn shell?" she grunted, hefting the largest of the brothers through the air. Her wings screamed as she soared over the muddy water. Her ruined clothing clung to her uncomfortably as the hot wind whipped around them.

"I had a big breakfast," came from inside the shell.

Ibis was about to retort when she spotted the brothers. "There!"

"Where?"

"Bombs away!"

She dropped him into the water. He swam up and landed on a floating part of the wing just as the tank broke the surface of the river. he dove, knocking Donnie out of the line of fire.

Ibis watched as the projectile neared Leo. She felt it again: the fear of losing someone you care about. It was the same pain she felt in the fraction of a second that followed the noise of the paint can in the warehouse. Her movement was entirely instinctual, as if her body decided what to do before her head could catch up. It didn't take much, just a shift of her wing to deter her from her path.

The impact, however, was not so easy.

Leo turned just in time to see her smoke-covered form collide with a tree. It fell and launched Bebop back, caught by Rocksteady as the tank marooned itself on a boulder sticking out of the water.

Bebop held the case high and proud. It was the last thing they saw before going over the edge.