Didn't get it into the first chapter but a very special thanks to Beautiful Harmony and Donnie-O for all of their help with this story. You were great guys!
"You have disobeyed my orders."
The two Foot soldiers who had managed to survive their encounter with the turtles had returned to Shredder's Hideout and were now cowering in fear on the floor in front of their master's throne. Shredder had been pleased to hear how his Ninjas had taken care of one of the two turtles, but not at all pleased to hear that the gauntlet was still stuck to the hand of the leader, and would not come off.
" I expressly forbade you to use the device, for anything " Shredder stood up from his throne to tower above his two Foot clenching and unclenching his fists.
"I know Master, but the turtles they were too much for us. If I had not used the device they would have beaten us, and taken it for themselves." The lead Foot said his voice shaking with fear; a sharp contrast the arrogance he had displayed not long before.
"So you freely admit not only to incompetence, but weakness as well. Your dishonor disgusts me." Shredder went to a rack of Katana hanging on the wall. He examined the swords for a second and then carefully took one off the rack. Drawing it from its intricately decorated sheath he held it up in the air in front of him, letting the light of a nearby candle glint off of the blade. Then he slowly walked back towards his now even more frightened Foot.
"Tell me why I should not simply remove your heads from your bodies right now, and then take the gauntlet from your hand at my leisure, by cutting off your arm."
"No Master, please!"
"Stop your sniveling before you dishonor yourself even further." Shredder snarled raising the katana above his head.
" I can use the device to get you anything you want!" The gauntleted Foot shrieked.
The Shredder stopped, the blade pausing in mid-air. " Go on."
"I know what this thing, is..I..I know what it does. I can use it to anything for you, I can steal anything, destroy anything..and no one will be able to stop me."
Shredder raised the Katana slightly. " All the better to cut it from your arm for my own use."
" No Master, with all due respect, it will not work for you!"The lead foot screeched out.
"Why not." Shredder asked.
"Because of what you are, the gauntlet lets me see it. It won't work for you, you arent..real.."
The Shredder looked around the room to see if none of his other servants were present, but none were, he was alone with the two Foot soldiers.
"And what is it exactly that you think I am." Shredder asked in a tone that suggested his servant choose his words very, very carefully.
"You are not human, that is all I can tell. The gauntlet needs a human body otherwise it will not function." The foot said risking a glance upward at the Shredder.
Shredder caught the glance and growled. " How do I know you are not lying to save your miserable skin?"
"I swear Master, I swear on my life that I'm not lying. I will do anything you ask, anything!"
Shredder pondered that for a second and finally lowered his Katana completely. He put it back in its sheath, but did not put it back on the wall. It was a silent warning that although death had been postponed for now, it was still a possibility if they failed again.
"Very well you have stayed your execution for now. However if you fail to follow my orders again I will not hesitate to kill you. You will tell me exactly what this device can do, and I will decide whether or not you and it can be of any use to me."
Leonardo and Raphael paced back and forth in unison outside Splinter's room, Raph walking right to left, Leo left to right. They crossed one another's paths periodically and when they did they exchanged worried glances. Mike sat huddled in an arm chair, Turtle Titan costume lying in a wad on the floor, his hands on his face. Leo had tried to talk to him, to tell him that it wasn't his fault but he would neither look at him nor speak in response. Mike was feeling the heavy weight of guilt pressing down upon him, and Leo was afraid his little brother couldn't handle it.
He was even more afraid of what would happen if Donatello were to die.
He had been the first into the building after Mikey's frantic call, the first to see what condition Donatello was in. He had smelled the odor of burnt skin, and felt the heat that still seemed to emanate from Don's body, though Mikey in his desperation hadn't seemed to notice it. Leo had also been the only one Splinter had allowed in the room after they had gotten Don back to the lair, the only one allowed to help in trying to save Don's life. Their brother had stopped breathing at least two times when Leo had been in the room and both times it had taken all Splinter had to get him breathing again. Finally Don had seemed to stabilize and Splinter had told Leo to go wait with his brothers; and there he stayed with Raph and Mike, as the hours passed by in a haze of worry and dread.
Raph had called April and Casey, and the two were on their way down, though Leo wasn't sure what for. They couldn't do anything other than sit there and add to the pool of worry and fear that was already threatening to overflow and wash them all away.
Leo and Raph exchanged glances again as their paths passed one another, and Leo sighed.
The ticking of the clock counted the minutes and hours as more time passed.
April and Casey had arrived and were waiting with Leo, Mike and Raph in the living room. April had managed to get a response out of Mike, but she could not convince him that what had happened wasn't his fault. Casey made an attempt to comfort Raphael but the red masked turtle was too worried to respond to his human friend's well meant but clumsy attempts to cheer him up. Finally the door opened and Splinter stepped outside, sliding the door shut behind him. His fur was a mess, and he looked very tired, but he didn't look like one who'd just lost a son. Leo broke off in his pacing and headed towards Splinter, as did Raph. April and Casey stood up from the couch, and Mike's head jerked up. When he saw his father he got up from the chair, coming to join his brothers and the two humans in front of Splinter. The old rat looked at them, his eyes full of pain.
" Will he live Sensei?" Leo asked softly.
Splinter drew in a ragged breath and shook his head. "Only time will tell my sons. He has fallen into a coma and I cannot tell you with certainty if he will ever wake again."
"Ain't there anything we can do?" Raph asked his face painted with worry.
"No Raphael, we can do nothing other than wait..and see if your brother is strong enough to survive."
Leo looked to Raph, and both looked to Mikey. Michalangelo had been looking at Splinter so hopefully, but hearing his father's words he bowed his head, tears running down his cheeks.
" He'll pull through Mikey, Donnie's a tough turtle." Casey said laying a hand on Mike's shoulder. He looked at April and she nodded at the orange masked turtle.
"When Don puts his mind to something he can do anything." She agreed trying to look optimistic.
Mike just shook his head.
"Sensei, remember when I was ambushed by the Foot? Remember how you brought me back by talking to me? We can do the same with Don can't we? We can each spend time with him every day and we can talk to him..we'll bring him back the same way he helped to bring me back." Leo said determinedly his eyes still on Mikey.
"I do not know if it will work this time Leonardo, or if Donatello can even hear us.. but it is worth a try." Splinter nodded.
" So, wanna take the first shift Mikey?" Raph asked his orange masked brother placing a hand on Mike's shoulder.
Mikey's eyes lit up and he nodded.
A week passed as each turtle, Casey, Splinter and April, took turns spending time with Don, talking to him, reading to him, and trying to keep him alive by trying to get water down him to keep him from dehydrating. Don's injuries were slowly healing but he neither moved, nor woke. The turtles went out several times looking for the two remaining Foot or any evidence of the Gauntlet they had stolen, but they found none. The news wasn't much help either, there was no mention of any robbery at the factory, indeed any robberies at all that night. The turtles were left with no clues as to what the gauntlet actually was, where it came from or who made it. All that they knew was it was powerful, and Shredder probably had it in his posession. As if that prospect wasn't scary enough the city seemed to be caught in the grip of a crime wave, like all the evil in New York had woken up and was now running amok. Amidst the reports of the every day robberies, there came reports of one series of robberies in particular; ones committed by a man in a glowing metal suit, with a metal gauntlet on his right hand.
" That's it, that's gotta be him!" Mikey exclaimed one night while the turtles and Splinter were watching the evening news.
"Are you sure Mike?" Leo asked putting a hand to his chin.
" Well who else could it be, a man with a metal gauntlet on his right hand and energy blasts?" Mike shrugged.
"But didn't you say he just put the gauntlet on? Where did the suit come from?" Leo asked puzzled.
"How would I know Leo? Maybe he robbed a Musem, maybe he's going for the metal suited look this season..I just know it's him."
" Wonder what it is." Raph mused.
"I bet that metal gauntlet came from some strange alien race, or some weird other dimensional being..." Mike pondered.
" But you said Donnie was sure that they were makin somethin in that factory." Raph asked scowling. "What if they were makin somethin like that."
"It's possible that it could be some new kind of weapon, but we won't know for sure what's really going on until we track down that armor wearing Foot. He shouldn't be too hard to find, he's leaving a rather large trail of destruction in his wake." Leo said making a face.
" Do you think Shredder has anything to do with this Sensei?" Mike asked his father.
Splinter frowned. "It believe it is a possibity, it is not likely he would be unaware of the havoc currently being caused by one of his own."
" Could it be him in that suit and not the ninja who hurt Don?" Leo asked.
" Perhaps, Saki could even be controlling the suit from elsewhere. There are too many possibilities to say for sure what Saki is up to or if he is even behind these robberies." Splinter shook his head.
" Then we go find that metal maniac and take him to the scrap yard, permanently. It's time these Foot goons learned that nobody messes with one of ours. He hurt Donnie, now we're gonna put the big hurt on him." Raph said punching a fist into his palm.
" We're all angry about what happened Raph, but we shouldn't make this just about revenge." Leo placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"He's lyin in a friggin coma Leo, do ya expect us to just forget that!" Raph said angrily.
"No my son, but thoughts of revenge can cloud one's judgment. You will all need to be prepared both in body and in mind. Focus on your task, and leave thoughts of revenge alone." Splinter said catching Raphael's gaze with his own and looking him in the eyes.
Raph sighed. "I guess you're right Sensei."
" We'll find him Raph, and we'll stop him. That's what Donnie would want, he'd want us to stop that Foot from destroying the city and hurting people." Leo said, then gave his hot tempered brother a smile. " But when we do get this guy Raph, when we do stop him you can be sure he'll never mess with one of ours ever again."
" Now we're talkin Leo" Raph grinned back.
"Let's go kick some metal butt." Mike said, smiling for the first time since Don had been injured.
Splinter looked at his three sons and with a half smile, shook his head.
Extensive searching of the city left the three turtles with nothing, and they were often distracted in their search by having to stop to fight regular criminals as well. Soon they were exhausted and after days of searching returned to the lair to regroup and re-think their strategies. Coordinating with April, they worked out a list of possible targets for the villain to strike next and spent following days staking out each target. Finally after days of work they got lucky.
They were staking out a jewlerly store from an adjoining rooftop when the Metal Foot made a dramatic apperance by blowing open the front of the the store from the inside. When the smoke cleared they could see him strolling out of the store hands full of jewels, rings, and other valuables. The three turtles leapt down to the street to land right in front of the evil metal plated Ninja and drew their weapons.
"Funny, I didn't see a self-service sign on the door, did you Raph." Mike said going into a crouch. The Foot saw them and snorted. "Well well, if it isn't the Turtles!"
"Good goin guy you got it in one guess." Raph sneered twirling his Sai. "Wanna put that stuff down before I make it a permenant part o' yer anatomy?"
"Turtle Titan has returned and he has brought his sidekicks. It seems to me you three are missing somebody. Did you find a nice urn to put your brother in? Personally I would have dumped the ashes in the sewers with the rest of the shit, but that's me."
Raph's eyes widened at the insult to his brother and when he spoke his voice was an angry growl."You're the piece of shit, you little metal plated.." Before Leo could stop him, the red masked turtle rushed towards the metal Foot in a rage..only to fly backwards under the force of a very impressive punch from the evil villan. Raph flew backwards over his brother's heads and hit a wall, making a shell shaped crack in it and landing admist a group of trash cans. Leo looked at Mike and they charged the foot in unison. They immediately discovered however..that although the Foot looked like a mere man in a shiny metal suit; he was a lot more powerful than that.
Leo's Katana didn't bother the metal menance one bit and Mikey's Nunchuku only bounced off the suit with loud clanking noises. Leo and Mike fought with ferocity, but they were out-matched by the sheer strength of the Foot's new suit. It seemed to be made of liquid metal, allowing the man inside to move as if he were wearing nothing, and yet was nigh invulnerable. It glowed a greenish color, that made anyone looking at it feel a wave of nausea; he could fly, was super strong and fired strange green energy blasts. Both brothers were soon lying face first on the ground.
Raph shook himself off and came barreling back into the fight, still enraged by the Foot's comment about Donatello. He tackled the Foot until Leo and Mike could get back up and all three turtles tackled the metal clad human at once; punching, kicking, trying to do anything to harm him..but they were little more than annoying mosquitoes to him.
If that wasn't bad enough they gradually became aware of mocking laughter and Leo looked up to the roof of the jewelry store to see the other Foot Jin sitting above them on the edge of the building..eating popcorn. He had his mask rolled halfway up to his nose so he could eat and was tossing handfuls of little yellow buttered blobs of popcorn into his mouth barely taking time out to chew. He laughed again in between mouthfuls.
"Man this is the most entertaining thing I've seen all year. After what happened to your brother, I thought you freaks would be smart enough not to come after my buddy again. Looks like without your big brain to think for you, you guys are as dumb as bricks." He laughed again.
"Why don't you choke on your popcorn, and do the world a favor." Mike called up trying but failing to dodge a punch by the metal Foot. Mike flew backwards and landed on a car, before he could get up Wick grabbed Mike's leg and proceeded to slam him up and down on the pavement. Raph and Leo interceeded tackling the Foot and tossing him back into the jewelry store. They knelt beside the now very dazed Mike, and looked up as Wick came shooting back out of the store at full speed. He ploughed into them carrying both backwards and into a concrete wall at full force. With both turtles now semi-unconscious the Foot grabbed a leg each and dragged them back to where Mikey was trying to sit up. A swift kick to the face put Mikey into the same state as his brothers and then the evil metal Ninja simply dumped Raph and Leo right down beside the orange masked turtle.
Wick raised a fist preparing to kill them all but Jin's voice called out.
"Forget about them for now bro, we don't have time to kill them properly. We're supposed to be following The Shredder's plan anyway. If he sees us here robbing stores while we're supposed to be working he'll come and rip our spleens out through our throats."
Wick looked up at his brother. "The plan, bah! The Shredder's plan will not remain our own for long. I think I should kill them now, and save ourselves further trouble."
"Oh come on, look how easily you kicked their tails? I doubt they'll be too eager to bother us anytime soon. And what if they do? You can kick their tails again. We don't have the time, the cops are on their way and we don't need to get into a big fight with those guys it only wastes time." At the sounds of police sirens in the distance, Jin stood and tossed his popcorn aside. The popcorn fell to the ground like fluffy, white, buttery rain.Wick still seemed unwilling to leave the turtles alive, but he seeemd to listen to his friend. Turning away from the groggy and dazed turtles he snorted.
"I am hungry, it is time for another meal." He said stomping to the pile of jewels and picking them up and taking to the air. He floated up to the roof where his brother stood and then flew off slowly across the city.
"Again? You just ate four Big Macs two hours ago." Jin said pulling his mask back down and following his brother across the rooftops.
Down below the bruised, and battered turtles were just crawling painfully down into a manhole..just as the police were arriving. They limped their way through the sewers in the direction of home, leaning heavily on one another, not speaking a word. The realization had dawned on them that they were seriously outmatched. It would take brains not brawn if they were going to beat this metal clad menace..and for that they needed Donatello. But their brother was still uncontious and they didn't know if or when he would ever wake again...