Chapter 25

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"Gotcha!" I heard someone grunt, and Donnie made a strange sound as something stopped his fall...

"Yaaah!" I slipped from his grasp, continuing to fall, before I felt a hand wrap around my ankle.

"Jade!" Donnie cried out, finding we were both now hanging off the side of the Eiffel tower of all things.

"Hang on guys" I managed to twist my body enough to look up, seeing it was Raph that had caught us, feeling us start to move onto the large platform him and Rachel were on.

I hit the hard metal surface on my hands and knees, looking up at the two as Donnie half sat beside me.

"Thanks guys"

"What the hell happened?!" Serah snapped now.

"Shredder found us! I don't know where he is now, but-"

"He cut the rope we were hanging off, but Raph grabbed us before we fell too far" I finished, sharing relieved look with Donnie.

"All right, we'll be out soon" Leo now "Hang tight, and.. be careful"

"I can't make any promises Leo" Raph half smiled, helping his brother up as Rachel helped me up.

"Let's get outta here" I muttered, shaking my head "I've had about enough excitement for today"

"For once, I agree" Rachel nodded, looking serious. We turned to head towards the elevators, all of us fast walking, knowing getting safely-

THUMP! CRUNCH!

Noises from behind us had the four of us turning around.

"Oh... fuck" Raph grunted, seeing the Shredder, in all his robotic looking glory, start to stand and look at us.

"W-w-what do we do now?" Donnie's voice shook as he said it, all of us just waiting for the Shredder to move.

"Leo! Shredder is down with the others! We have to help them!" Kristiana's voice cut through us, seeing the boys take out their weapons, and Rachel started to morph.

"Hang on guys, we're coming!" Leo called, but I don't think we really registered his voice as I pulled out my dagger, not knowing what else to do at this point. I couldn't think of anything to shift into at this moment that would help against his armor.

We all jerked as Raph let out a battle cry, running straight at Shredder with Rachel following in her grizzly morph.

I watched in horror, unable to move from my spot, as Raph threw a sai out, seeing Shredder dodge it, grabbing his arm as he went past, almost throwing him over his shoulder and down off the edge.

(NO! Raph!) Rachel then hit him full force, and I saw him start to slide back a little, before it was a battle of strength. Rachel pushed... Shredder pushed back...

"AAAAH!" Donnie started to run forward before I could stop him, seeing the Shredder stab Rachel right at the base of her neck, throwing her now limp body aside and moving to defend against Donnie's Bo.

To my utter horror, he grabbed Donnie's bow, doing the same motion as he did with Raph, literally using his Bo to throw him over the edge of the building.

I stood there in shock.

No... no... not again..

At that point the Shredder turned his gaze on me, and I felt my knees go a little weak, trying to ready myself for an attack. I saw Rachel was... thankfully... starting to demorph. I just hoped the boys managed to save themselves...

"Little girl... so weak..." He moved towards me, and I found myself starting to move backwards, not knowing what I could do against this metal maniac, almost kicking myself for not shifting. Then again... he'd beaten Rachel in a matter of seconds.

"Oh no you don't" The Shredder suddenly spun around, catching Mikey's arm as he ran at him, using Mikey's momentum to throw him towards me, barely missing me as he hit the wall behind where I was.

"Mikey!" I moved to go help him up, turning to see Leo there, defending himself against the Shredders bladed fingers, seeing him move to grab Leo's ankle, flipping him over. Leo managed to save himself, backflipping and getting back on his feet, going at the Shredder again.

"I'm good babe" I heard Mikey say, shaking his head a little before diving back into the madness, trying to help his oldest brother.

"Jade" Serah was by my side, helping a very weak looking Kristiana.

To my relief, Raph and Donnie soon joined their brothers in trying to fight the Shredder, but it wasn't doing any of them any good. Each brother kept getting knocked back, and no matter how relentless their attacks were, the Shredder seemed to be able to best them at every turn.

Mikey got hit in the face, seeing him skid towards the railing. Thankfully, he managed to catch the edge of it, holding his jaw with his other hand and trying to get up.

Leo got knocked back by a kick in the gut, and when he went to move to attack again, the Shredder blocked him, using his momentum to throw him towards the wall. He hit hard, looking like he was unconscious.

"Leo!" Serah half handed Kristiana to me and Rachel who was now beside us, moving around the fight to try and get to him.

"Ser!" I tried to stop her, knowing Kristiana needed help now, watching as she finally got to him, her hand on his head and chest. He looked like he was out cold.

"Ah!" Raphael hit the wall beside them, groaning a little and trying to get up, but looking like he was really struggling to move. He looked hurt.

"Raph!" Rachel cried out, then we all ducked as Donnie now hit the wall next to where we were, hitting the floor face first.

"Donnie!" I moved to roll him over, seeing his eyes were closed. He was out too...

I felt a strange anger welling in me, looking from our fallen turtles over to the Shredder, who was now standing in the middle of all this chaos.

"Girls! We gotta do something!" I growled, getting up and grabbing my dagger again, readying it against my wrist.

"But... we..."

"Use our strengths"

Shredder laughed, a horrible laugh that made me just want to slap him stupid "And what are four little girls going to do that these... freaks... couldn't do?"

"Serah, Rachel..."

They both nodded, and I could see them starting to change, looking at Kristiana, who caught on.

"All right... one last try..." She moved her hand up, her eyes now locked on the Shredder, looking like she was straining a little.

"Foolish little children! You-" He suddenly stopped, trying to move himself and finding he was frozen in place.

"Whatever you're going to do, you better do it quick!" I could see blood starting to pool out of Kristiana's nose again, but her focus was entirely on keeping the Shredder still.

"Girls, get that armor!"

I saw Rachel make her move, throwing a huge paw at the Shredder and knocking him down, then a leopard jumped onto his back, tearing at the small box there and ripping it off in one quick movement, seeing sparks flying.

They both leaped away, watching as Kristiana finally lost control, and he moved to get up, the electricity shooting all through his suit.

"AAAAH!" He yelled, slowly grabbing at the arms of his armor and ripping them off, then the half throwing the chest piece onto the floor. He threw his helmet off... and we finally saw the real face of our enemy.

"Foolish little girls!" He snapped, kicking the last of his armor off "I will defeat you as I am!"

"Uh, Jade?"

"I got this" I got into a stance, seeing him notice and move to take his own stance in front of me.

(I don't think that's-)

"I... got...this" I narrowed my eyes, taking in everything about my opponent. Without the armor, he just looked like any other person. He was Asian... and looked a little like a monk with his bald head and scar that ran across his face. A scar that I could only guess he got when the turtles defeated him the last time.

He moved first, going to do a round house kick, but I dodged, slamming my fist into his kneecap and hearing it crack a little. He collapsed to the ground, grunting in anger and pain.

"You'll pay for that you stupid-" Instantly he was up again, taking me by surprise and finding his fist connecting with my gut, winding me and throwing me backwards onto the ground. I felt the dagger skid across the floor as I looked up, suddenly finding a foot on my chest.

I grabbed it, twisting the leg and making him fall, managing to back flip and get myself back on my feet, getting into a stance as he flipped himself onto his feet, glaring at me now.

"You have... learned much from the rat..."

"Glad you remember who I am" I cracked my neck a little, sucking in a deep breath and trying to keep my guard up.

He came at me again, and I barely dodged, realising he'd now picked up one of the knives from his suit and was thrusting it in my direction. I grabbed his arm, wrapping mine around his as he thrust it at me, kicking him in the gut and feeling him drop it, using my other foot to slide it back and away from us.

In seconds I was on the ground, kneeling, with my head in his hands, and I knew what he wanted to do. I didn't know how he'd done it, but he'd been able to use my grip on him to his own advantage, twisting my arm behind me and knocking me down.

"Your time is over-"

I felt the dagger slide back into reach of my other hand, grabbing it and stabbing him as hard as I could in the leg, hearing him scream and let go of me.

As I got up I yanked it out of his leg, seeing him go to stop me but, I screamed wordlessly, ramming the dagger right into his neck, seeing blood start to spurt from the wound. I'd gotten a major artery...

I jumped back as he pulled the dagger out, dropping to his knees on the floor and desperately trying to stop the blood from pouring. I saw the fear in his eyes... his human eyes...

I watched him carefully, even as he finally collapsed forwards onto the ground, convulsing, before finally going limp. Blood was starting to pool on the floor around him...

"I am so asking Splinter to teach me some moves" Rachel's voice broke the silence that had fallen on the rest of us.

"You... you killed Shredder..." I looked up to see Raph had managed to get to his feet, looking purely shocked as he now stared at the unmoving form.

"Well... all us girls did it" I finally admitted, looking at Kristiana, who smiled at me even as she held her nose. She'd been the one to slide the dagger into my grasp... if it hadn't been for her, Shredder probably would have snapped my neck.

"You girls are awesome" Mikey muttered as he knelt next to Kristiana, holding his cheek still. He'd been hit pretty hard...

"Well done" We turned to see Leo had regained consciousness, and now Serah was by his side, helping him up a little.

"Those moves... I think-" I turned to Donnie as I saw him start to get himself into a sitting position, going to help him.

"Ellorian to ground team! Do you need assistance?!" Our headpieces crackled to life, and Leo looked at all of us. Slowly, his hand went to his ear, tapping before responding.

"Leo to Ellorian. We are off the ship and the charges are set. Please, proceed with the plan"

"Confirmed!"

"Uh, Leo, are you-"

We all ducked, moving towards the center of the tower as explosions rocked the ship above us, seeing it start to fall towards the ground next to us.

"Hang on!" Leo cried, and we all grunted in disapproval as we all huddled together, barely managing to avoid the horrible heat of the pool ship as it blew up, almost taking us with it.

The Eiffel tower rocked violently, before the heat started to die down, and we were all able to move again.

"I think my eyebrows are singed...Leo!" Serah slapped him a little and he grunted, all of us getting up to see the now burning remains of the ship next to the tower.

"Ow! What!"

"Don't tell them to blow it up while we're still near it!"

"Uh... too late" Kristiana shook her head, and I saw her and Mikey helping each other up, Mikey surprising me by holding her close, kissing her hair.

"Proud of you" He muttered, and she smiled a little. I watched them go to kiss one another, before a hand on my shoulder made me look up.

"Jade, you were..." Donnie was interrupted when Leo finally said "All right, let's blow this joint"

Mikey giggled, and Raph half slapped him on the back of the head, the girls managing to separate the two as we started to head towards the elevator.

"I hope it still works" I muttered, finding there was a hand on my shoulder again, and I looked up into Donnie's serious eyes.

"Donnie"

"Uh... Leo, we'll be down in a minute"

"All right, but don't go doing something stupid" Leo replied as he shut the gate thing to the elevator, and they started to descend.

"Donnie?" I looked up at him quizzically, and he led me over to the ledge, where we could see the still burning ship, as well as the rest of the destroyed city.

"If you're trying to be-"

"Jade" He stopped me, turning me to him and looking deep in my eyes. I actually felt butterflies in my stomach, wondering what he was thinking.

"Donnie" Was all I could reply, and he pulled me to him, holding me in his arms gently.

"What you just did... that was... that was... amazing..."

"I...uh... all us girls did it?" Was the only thing I could think to say.

"Jade... I don't know how to say this. I mean... I've never even thought this, but... the way you moved... what you did for me and my brothers just then... I just... I have no words"

"Then... should we go?" I suggested, going to move towards the elevator, but he stopped me.

"Jade... please. Let me try and get this out. I've been... well it's been on my mind for a little while"

I just stared at him, feeling panic and worry set in, feeling him pick me up a little and set me on what looked like a seat near the edge, moving to kneel in front of me with a little difficultly.

"Donnie... what-"

"Jade, I know we're young... and its probably too soon to ask this, but... would you ever consider... well... marrying me one day?"

My jaw dropped, and I simply stared. After I didn't move for a little, I noticed he got a little uncomfortable.

"Jade?"

"How would we... would that work? I mean-"

He chuckled, kissing my hand a little "Jade, we've made it work so far..."

I was still at a loss for words. It was the strangest time to be asking a question... we were still in the middle of a war...

"I just.. I don't want to loose you"

"Um... when we're older... and when this war is over... Donnie... I would love to"

He smiled again, and I almost fell into his waiting arms. Kissing him deeply.

He'd just... awkwardly... proposed. On the top of what was once the most romantic place to propose.

Our kiss started to get more passionate, until a voice in our ears said "Are you two done yet?"

"I think he did something stupid" Raph's added, and we finally broke apart, both of us looking awkwardly at each other and realising our earpieces were still turned on.

What an awkward way to end a mission!

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This was actually one really big chapter, but I decided to turn it into two smaller chapters.

Hope you all enjoyed! Ciao!

Oh, and as always...

Constructive Criticism appreciated!