Author's Note: Surprised? So am I.
Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT.
Raphael crawled through a ventilation shaft, sweaty and covered in scrapes and bruises. He pushed through a vent and dropped from the ceiling into an empty hallway. He lightly sprinted down the hallway, looking for signs (he had no idea where Stockman's lab was). Raphael paused as he reached an intersecting hallway; he leaned against the dark gray wall and listened.
He heard nothing other than the sound of his own breathing.
Raph rounded the corner and ran down the hallway with the blank dark gray walls. He turned another corner and another and found himself standing underneath the open ventilation shaft. Raphael ground his teeth and clenched his fists in frustration. Raph continued down the hallway, slower than before, and rounded the corner to slam into a foot ninja.
Both of them fell back upon their rumps and stared at each other in shock. The foot ninja was clothed in dark gray and his dappled gray cloak settled messily about his masked head. The ninja's eyes were covered by thick black goggles; otherwise Raphael would have seen the ninja's bugged eyes. Raph quickly stood and unsheathed his sai in one motion. The ninja was even quicker, having stood and unsheathed his katana and thrust it at Raph. The red masked turtle staggered back in surprise. The ninja had his head bowed and the hilt of his katana to Raphael.
"Forgive me; I have no wish to fight you. I am an elite ninja guard to the former master of this clan." The ninja said in a smooth toned voice, revealing a seal to Raphael. The seal was a brass icon of two crossed katanas laced with ivy. Raph stared at him suspiciously. The ninja glanced down the hallway cautiously. "You may want to make your decision quickly; this is not a safe place to speak."
Raph grumbled something in reply, but he knew the ninja was right. Raph snatched the ninja's katana. "Alright, but only 'cause I dunno' where Stockman's lab is." Raph grumbled. The ninja bowed. "I am Tenjin, I will lead you to the laboratory, but we must hurry." The ninja said, turning and sprinting down the hallway. Raph nodded and followed, still not trusting of Tenjin. They turned too many corners for Raph to count. The turtle in red had stopped keeping track after ten different turns. Suddenly Tenjin stopped in front of a black door and Raph smacked into his back. Raph muttered curses as he stood up from the floor. Tenjin swiped a card-key into the door's lock and it opened with a click. Tenjin opened the door and entered, Raphael followed uneasily. The room was pitch-black except for the eerie red glow of computer screens. The two exchanged glances and continued inside. "Where would this guy keep his artificial crap?" Raph whispered. Tenjin paused, considering the question. He nodded to a case on the wall with the words "ARTIFICIAL CARDIO REPLACEMENT" written on it. "Ah, well that looks like it could be useful." Raph muttered, grabbing the case and opening it. He scrutinized the mechanical device inside, it hummed with energy every few seconds. Raph nodded and closed it. Tenjin coughed suddenly. Raph turned to look at him and froze. "Crap…"
A large group of ninja had filled the room. Tenjin tilted his head and gave what Raph thought was a wink. Tenjin snatched his katana from Raphael. He stood up and, gripping Raph's wrist, yanked the red-masked turtle to his feet. Raphael was caught by surprise and stumbled forward. He turned and growled at Tenjin, ready to beat the slim ninja. Tenjin laughed. "Do you really think that to be a good idea, turtle? Now move!" Tenjin yelled at him. Raph leapt back as Tenjin hurled black objects into the midst of the ninja. Gas erupted from the round objects and Tenjin dragged Raph out into the hallway. Raphael was careful not to bang the case around while keeping pace with Tenjin as they ran. They skidded to a stop in front of a pair of huge windows.
Tenjin turned to Raph. "I'll lead them off, get out of here quick. I will send my comrades to help guard your family, is that okay with you?"
Raph nodded. Tenjin sighed in relief. "Bye Raphael, I will try to make it back to your home." He said before shoving the startled turtle through the window. Raph shouted curses at the gray-cloaked ninja who waved happily before disappearing back into the building. Raphael turned in mid-air, the wind buffeted him and made him shut his eyes lest they dry out. "I heard Donnie say that people die before they hit the ground." Raph thought to himself as he slowly opened his eyes. "That'd be a cool way t'go, but it ain't quite my cup o'tea." Raph growled. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed hold of the edge of an open window from the foot tower. He slammed into the building and grunted in pain. "What a lucky break." He grumbled, sliding into the building. He shook himself a bit. "I bet whoever left that open is gonna' be in a world of shit." Raph commented as he took off, heading for the elevator that was conveniently across from the open window.
Raph entered the elevator cautiously and pressed the button to take him to the second floor. The elevator music began, Raph tapped his foot on the floor and his face settled into an unamused expression as the elevator chimed every floor they passed. He grumbled and looked up at the sign: tenth floor. Raph sighed.
Ding!
His shell-cell began ringing.
Ding!
Raph gently set down the case and grabbed the shell-cell from his belt.
Ding!
His caller I.D. showed that it was Don calling him.
Ding!
Raph answered. "What's up?"
Ding!
"Yeah, I got it. Why?"
Ding!
Raph glanced at the watch he had underneath his left wrist guard.
Ding!
"Hold on, let me put ya' on speaker, I can't hear shit."
Ding!
"There, you're on speaker now."
Ding!
Don's voice came out static. "Raph, I have to start the operation now. Mikey's heart is slowing down. I'm moving Leo's heart to Mikey. You've got five minutes to get here with that heart or Leo will die."
Ding!
Reviews please?
Fun Fact: The human body can only survive 2 minutes without a heart. After 2 minutes, the brain dies from lack of oxygen.