Chapter 18: Allies
The Hamato Compound was under siege.
They were definitely brazen. It was broad daylight, and the building was surrounded by various tanks, military vans, and black clad armored EPF troopers walking around the courtyard with all the confidence of fully successful conquerors, their weapons hanging loose at their sides. They were ready for a fight if one popped up, but weren't really expecting one to happen. No, they were just there to supervise, to make sure that all went well and that nobody escaped out of the building.
A rat sitting next to a dumpster gave a squeak of alarm and dropped the piece of old pizza crust he had been nibbling on, running away in a panic as three EPF troopers walked around the side of the building, chatting quietly with one another as they patrolled, a loose grip on their guns and not expecting too much trouble at the moment.
They never even saw the shadow slip in behind them and disappear into a loosely attached grate set into the building's brick wall.
Now once crawling silently again in the by-now-familiar ventilation shafts, I immediately saw that things were wrong. Alarms were blaring, red lights flashed, and a pleasant automated female voice was reminding people over the speakers that this was not a drill, that in case of emergencies, the elevator was out of service and to use the stairs, and to follow other emergency protocols.
I studied the area outside the ventilation shafts every time I passed an opening. I didn't see any humans, either EPF or Hamato, which worried me. The ground floor of the dojo is where I would've expected the first line of defense to be stationed, and since it was empty, it meant that the Hamato Clan had truly been caught by surprise, and any attacks were happening deeper within the compound.
My jaw clenched tightly, and my third eyelid had slid into place, turning my eyes white and dangerous.
Darius Dun had made a mistake betraying my family. I would find them, and I would protect them. I would NOT lose another family! Not while I still drew breath!
I only made it one floor down, the barracks floor where the majority of the Hamato ninjas lived, and there I found myself stumbling upon a completely chaotic scene.
Dozens upon dozens of Stockman's robots were swarming one particular set of closed metal doors, chirping and making beeping noises as they crowded around and climbed over one another, chewing at the metal doors and walls with skin-crawling noises of metal crunching through metal and splintering wood.
Concerned, I quickly slunk through the ventilation shafts, trying to see what they were trying so hard to get at.
"Come on, guys! They're going to break through!" I heard somebody snap out in a strained tone. "Get more furniture over here!"
On the other side of the barricaded doors, I peeked through the slatted grate, and saw the human friend of my brothers I had seen before in the lab, Casey Jones, pressed up against the doors with several other Hamato ninjas, straining among a pile of haphazardly placed furniture to try and keep the doors closed against the invading army of robots trying to push and batter their way in on the other side.
There were over two dozen humans trapped in this room, most of them unarmed and all on the verge of panicking. I could see another familiar face in the room, Donnie's girlfriend, April, who was standing with two other girls, one tall and slender, a tough looking woman with purple streaks in her black hair, and the other shorter and dressed in oversized overalls covered in pockets, her scruffy brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and thick bottle glasses on her freckled face.
"Come on!" the purple haired woman snapped out, breaking a leg off of a chair. "Grab anything that can be used as a weapon!"
"There's an army of the things out there!" another ninja gestured towards the door in a panic. "And you're telling me we're supposed to hit them with sticks?!"
"We're not going down without a fight!" the purple haired woman pointed her stick at him and snarled.
"Why are the Mousers attacking us anyways?!" The girl in overalls wrung her hands.
"Because Stockman is a traitor sleezeball!" Casey snarled, throwing his shoulder into holding the door shut. "I swear, I'm going to deck the guy as soon as I see him!"
"Not if I get to him first, brother." Purple hair was obviously seething just as much as he was.
I could see that the humans were in trouble, and that they didn't have much time. I pressed up against the small ventilation grate. "Casey!" I urgently hissed out to the closest human that I knew that name of. "Casey Jones!"
Casey paused and blinked. "Wait... guys... Is it just me, or is somebody calling my name?"
"No, I heard it too." Purple hair frowned in confusion.
"Up here." I urged out, tapping against the metal walls of the tunnel I was in.
Casey glanced up at the ventilation pipes by the ceiling. "Uh... Guys? The vents are talking to me."
"Is somebody up there?" April walked under the small grate, narrowing her eyes as she peered up, searching. "Who's there?"
"Don't worry, I'm a friend." I hurriedly reassured them through the grate, certain that they couldn't see me in here. "Listen, I'm trying to find the Hamato brothers. Have you seen them?"
"No. Don't know what the heck's going on." Casey complained, grunting against a particularly violent shove against the door at his back. "Everything was going on as normal, and then the next thing I knew, the alarms were going off, and we suddenly found ourselves under attack from a hoarde of damned Mousers!"
"Mousers?" I glanced back over my shoulder. "Is that what they're called?"
"Yup. Stockman's pride and joy, though where he got so many, I haven't the damndest idea!" Casey snarled, then shot a glance up towards my vent. "Though if you're a friend, like you said, any way you can help us out a bit?"
"Those doors aren't going to hold out much longer." the girl in overalls agreed. "Mousers were engineered to gnaw through any structure, no matter how fortified." She threw up her hands and began pacing. "We're all about to become Mouser chow in a few minutes if we don't do something quickly!"
I quickly ran the layout of this area through my mind. It was a straight run down the hallway towards the elevator, with only a few side passages. I nodded as I glanced down at the pile of furniture used as a barricade. "Okay, here's the plan..." I told them through the vent.
The Mousers all perked up and stopped their assault on the badly damaged doorway as a metal grate popped out of the ventilation shaft halfway up the hall, clanging noisily to the floor.
I dropped out of the hole it made and, for good measure, picked up the grate and flung it at them like a square frisbee.
The Mousers all gave beeps and squawks of alarm, and as one, turned to begin chasing me.
Good. I had their attention, just as planned.
I turned and ran, the Mousers loudly clanging behind me, and quickly reached the elevator. I grabbed the doors and forced them open, jumping up as high as I could to wedge myself between the two panels of the doors to both keep them wide open and to keep myself up out of the reach of the Mousers' snapping metal jaws, though barely and definitely not for long. The elevator itself was parked and locked on the ground floor just up above us due to the emergency protocols in place, leaving a dark shaft looming down below.
The Mousers crowding under me me jostled one another a little too much, and one gave an alarmed squawk as it was pushed over the edge, disappearing into the darkness. The other Mousers paused to watch it fall with apparent interest, until a faint crunching noise could be heard down below. Then they resumed their hopping up to snap at me.
I grunted as snapping jaws got a little too close to my tail for comfort. "Come on!" I glanced at the door, trusting the humans to do their part before I was pulled down to what would probably be a swift but painful death.
And, as if on cue, the twin doors burst open, and Casey and several of the ninjas gave impressive battlecries as they pushed two tables in front of them in an inverted v shape, rushing forward like a makeshift, human powered plow.
The Mousers crowding the hallway barely had time to turn around and squawk in alarm before they were all bowled over and shoved into the ever-growing pile of flailing metal creatures being pushed before the tables down the corridor. The very same corridor that ended at the elevator, where I conveniently held the doors wide open.
The humans pushing the table all gave one final warlike roar, and then it was like a waterfall of shiny metal pieces as over a hundred Mousers were pushed through the open elevator doors and over the edge, tumbling with alarmed beeps and squawks and bouncing down the elevator shaft, at least a four story drop, before disappearing down into the darkness below.
A few Mousers managed to escape, being pushed into side passages and hallways instead of riding with the main bulk towards the elevator shaft, but the Hamato clan ninjas following behind the main driving force quickly fell upon these few with makeshift clubs, smashing them before they could group together again and become a threat again. The girl in overalls had produced a good sized hammer from somewhere, and was proving to be especially effective.
Still wedged in the door, holding it open, I watched the last of the Mousers fall into the darkness of the mechanical pit, the sound of it smashing below echoing up, then exhaled in relief. It worked. Then I glanced up to eye the humans.
Yup. They were reacting rather predictably.
All of them were staring at me in shock and alarm. April's hands had flown over her mouth, eyes wide, and several of the ninjas with clubs were tightening their grip on them, nervous and muttering among themselves.
"Angel..." Casey leaned over to whisper to the purple-haired woman next to him, not taking his eyes off of me. "Am I crazy, or were we just saved by a giant turtle?"
"Yes." the purple haired Angel leaned to whisper to him. "To both of your questions."
I frowned and glanced down the elevator shaft, looking for a handhold to grab onto as I made my escape. I had danced this dance many times before. I would save some humans, and then there would be screaming and cursing, and then I'd have to quickly get away before the humans I just rescued pulled out the pepper spray or even more lethal weapons on me. This was just the way things were for a mutant. My brothers would have a lot of work in front of them if they expected it to be any different with their clan.
"Leonardo?"
April's reverent whisper of my name caused me to pause and look up at her.
She lowered her hands, stepping forward with, to my surprise, not fear on her face, but eagerness. "Hamato Leonardo, is that really you?"
There was a murmur of surprise among the ninjas at the surname.
I swallowed hard at the full name, feeling a little strange at hearing it said out loud, but slowly nodded.
"Wait, April, do you know him?" Overalls Girl looked between her and me in surprise. Since Purple Hair had been identified as Angel, I wondered if this was April's other roommate, Irma.
April balled up her fists and squealed excitedly. "Leonardo! Ohmahgosh! I can't believe you're really real and here!" She turned towards her confused friends. "Guys! He's the lost Hamato brother!"
Casey blinked at her, then glanced at me. Then back at her. "Uh... Wanna run that one by us again?"
April bounded over to me, obviously thrilled and not afraid of me at all. I had slipped down from my perch between the doors, letting them close behind me, and nervously flinched as she joyfully grabbed my hands in greeting. "This is what Donnie's been up to the last few weeks, isn't it?! They found you at last! Oh, I'm so happy for them!"
"Uh... yeah." I glanced down at her small, delicate human hands grabbing at my large, green ones, a little afraid that if I pulled my hands away, I'd accidentally hurt her. It wasn't an unpleasant touch, I guessed, just extremely strange being touched so casually. "But I'm worried they may be in trouble, and I really need to find them."
"Wait... so you're not kidding? He's really Raph's brother?!" Casey glanced at the humans around him in surprise.
April nodded, turning to them. "Yes! This was before you joined us, Casey, but about six years ago, the clan had a clash with the EPF, and my dad was charged with deciphering some of the files they managed to swipe." She let go of my hand, and rubbed the back of her head, suddenly looking a little sheepish. "I... ah... may have snuck onto his laptop and read some of his reports."
"April!" Overalls-Girl-Possibly-Named Irma scolded her. "Those were confidential files!"
"I know, Irma, (Oh, confirmed!) but I was just a kid, and I wanted to help the Hamatos too!" April defended herself, then glanced up at me. "That's how I learned about you, though, up until now, I was certain that you either didn't exist, or were gone for good!" She gave a happy squeal. "Oh, I'm so happy for Donnie! He never said anything about it to me, but I know your brothers been looking for you ever since they found out!" She turned to the others, and gestured towards me. "You see, the short version of the story is that Leo here used to be their pet, but an accident with some alien chemicals mixed his blood with Master Yoshi's and turned him half human."
"With the human half coming from Master Yoshi." Irma had walked over as well, adjusting her glasses as she walked around me. "Fascinating! You really are a Hamato, then!"
"Uh, yeah. I guess." I eyed her nervously, feeling uncomfortable and not really sure how to deal with this situation. It was so much easier to know how to feel and what to do when humans were screaming and trying to hit me.
"Huh. Wow." Casey tapped his chin, looking at me, intrigued, then lowered his arms and shrugged. "Well then, Leonardo, like I said before, I don't really know where the... er... your brothers are at the moment. I do know, however, that all three of them went out to go talk with Darius Dun about something this morning. Seemed like normal stuff, but then the shit hit the fan and everything went crazy."
"Dammit." I muttered under my breath, extremely worried.
He frowned. "You think Dun's up to something?"
Angel scoffed, toeing one of the smashed Mousers. "This screams of Stockman's handiwork, and if Stockman betrayed the Clan, you know it was on Dun's orders."
I nodded. "And the EPF is involved in this somehow as well."
A worried murmur flowed through the Hamato clan ranks.
"Oh, this just keeps getting better and better." Irma said sarcastically.
"So what do we do now?" Angel asked.
It took me a moment to realize that she was directing the question at me. I looked up to see all the humans looking at me expectantly. I blinked, surprised that the humans would turn to a mutant for answers. "Uh..."
"You are the Hamato here, after all." Angel gave me a smirk.
Oh... well... in that case...
"Head towards the armory and get geared up, take what armor and weapons that you'll need." I nodded towards the Hamato ninjas. "Afterwards, make a sweep of both this floor and the offices below, destroy any Mousers, and assist and gather up any other clan members that you come across. I don't want any groups smaller then five warriors going anywhere. Afterwards, group up in the gymnasium, tend to the wounded if needed, and hold the compound until I join you there."
"Well? You heard the boss." Angel glanced at the men.
"Hai, Hamato-sama!" the ninjas all drew to attention, bowing smartly at me, which startled me quite a bit, and then, like leaves scattering on the winds, they disappeared as only ninjas could, off to do as ordered. In a second, only Casey, Angel, April, and Irma stood around me.
"So, Leo, what are you planning on doing?" Angel turned to me, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.
"I need more information." I glanced back at the elevator shaft and narrowed my eyes. "And I'm fairly certain that I know where to get it."
I reached over to start prying the elevator doors open again, preparing to climb down the elevator shaft.
Irma crossed her arms. "You do realize there are stairs, right?"
I paused, the doors pried halfway open, then finally weakly shrugged. "Uh... this way's probably faster?"
"That way's DUMBER. And currently filled with Mouser corpses." Irma rolled her eyes and waved for me to follow her. "Come on, I'll show you where the stairs are. They won't slow you down that much."
"I'm going with you." April said with determination, walking up to me. "I just know that Donnie's in trouble, and I'm going to help in any way I can."
"And sorry, but I hafta tag along to watch your back." Casey shrugged. "Raph would kill me if I didn't."
"I have a pretty tough shell." I raised an eyeridge, reaching back to tap at it. "My back's pretty well protected."
"Well then, I'll just watch your soft, fleshy bits." Casey rolled his eyes. "The point is, I need to keep you safe."
"Really, brother? You're going to watch his 'soft, fleshy bits'?" Angel raised an eyebrow at him, amused.
Casey paused and blinked, obviously suddenly realizing how that sounded. "You know what I meant!" he growled, suddenly a little flustered.
Angel coughed meaningfully.
Casey growled and punched her on the arm hard.
She just cackled in amusement, dancing away from him while rubbing her arm.
I swallowed hard, looking around me. Then my jaw firmed up and I strode forward with a new purpose. I had so much more to protect now.
Author Notes: To tell the truth, I'm a little nervous about how the next few chapters will turn out. As you can probably guess, things are going to get pretty crazy, and probably my two weak points in writing are romance and action scenes.
Which is why I'm writing, of course. I want to practice and get better. I'll try to keep things flowing and entertaining to read, but, be warned, I don't have a lot of experience in fight scenes.