Casey was out cold.
A metal fist to the head had made sure the hockey masked human was sleeping face down in the gravel. Leo had managed to get Casey to the side, to a place marginally safer than in the middle of the battle and then he was forced to jump back into the fray to keep Don from getting his arm ripped off. That had been ten minutes ago, and both turtles were getting tired.Leo knew it was only a matter of time before one of them made a mistake and..then something bad was going to happen. Don was on the ground a few feet away recovering from getting punched in the plastron and thrown into a concrete wall, all the metal Foot's attention was now focused on Leo and the blue masked turtle realized that if he could just keep the metal maniac busy Donatello might have another chance to use his device.
"Don, try it again!" Leo called to his brother and then swept the metal maniac's feet out from under him, immediately rolling backwards. The foot was almost immediately on his feet, he lumbered forward punching at the blue masked turtle frantically. Leo was able to dodge the punches, get around behind the metal foot and give him a swift kick in the back. The foot staggered a bit and turned, he made a grab for Leo and managed to grab one of the blue masked turtle's katana. He gave it a yank pulling it out of Leo's hand and bending it in half. That left Leo with only one Katana and it left him very angry. He cherished his katana, they were a part of him, an extension of who he was. Now seeing one of his precious Katana bent into a useless piece of metal, he launched into a flying kick of the type he had once used on Hun, a leap and a kick that ended in several kicks..repeated blows to the foot's chest pushing him farther and farther backwards until he hit the fence separating the giant electric turbines from the rest of the world. The fence rattled as the metal foot fell into it and the large sign saying "Warning: High Voltage."flapped back and forth. The foot rebounded off the fence launched himself forward at Leo and clobbered the blue masked turtle in a tackle. Turtle and foot hit the ground, Leo immediately flipped the foot backwards. The foot hit the ground and pulled himself back to his feet..but he was perceptibly slower than before as if he were getting tired himself. Leo realized that hitting the foot with is one remaining Katana would be
Futile as the sword would just bounce off, so he elected to continue without using it. He leapt at the foot…and suddenly found himself on a collision course with a large green ball of energy. Leo and the energy ball collided and for a minute all Leo could see was bright flashing lights, his brain reeled, his body jerked and he felt like he was being stabbed with a thousand needles.He felt himself hit the ground but barely felt the shock of the ground hitting his shell, the pain coursing through his body was worse. He couldn't move, couldn't think. Don was right, it was like having your brain scrambled by an electric mixer. Then the pain from the energy bolt stopped and he found himself experiencing another sort of pain..the pain of a metal hand squeezing his neck. Leo gasped and grabbed the Foot's gauntleted hand. He tried to pry the hands away but it was no use, the foot's grip was as solid as steel. Kicking did no good either because his feet only met solid metal.
Just as he was starting to see dark spots in front of his eyes Donatello landed on the Foot's back wrapping his arms around the maniac's neck. The Foot staggered forward under Don's weight..and let go of Leonardo. The blue masked turtle fell to the ground gasping for air and watching as the Foot tried determinedly to get Donatello off his back. He tried throwing Don, twisting in place, even flying upwards but the determined black clad turtle refused to let go. He was trying to get his device attached to the Foot's neck but the Foot was moving around too much and he almost dropped it several times. Enraged and frustrated the Foot propelled himself backwards towards a nearby concrete wall, trying to squish Don or shock him enough to make him let go. Don let out a cry as his shell hit the concrete but he still didn't release his grip. The metal foot tried to do the same once more but Don, as always, was a quick thinker. As the foot propelled them backwards Don braced his feet against the wall and gave a shove forwards..sending the foot reeling off balance. As the metal maniac stumbled forward Don took advantage of his enemy's distraction and quickly placed the device at the base of the metal Ninja's neck. Don pressed the button and leapt away..just as electricity began to course through the meal maniac's suit and body. He screamed and fell to the ground muscles jerking under the stream of electricity.
Don ran over to his brother and helped him to his feet. Together they watched as the electricity gradually decreased and then disappeared as the device shut off.
"That looked painful." Leo said softly.
"It probably was. From what I've read the gauntlet needs access to its wearer's central nervous system, and it does so by inserting two liquid metal needles into the top of the spine, just where the head connects with the spinal column. He was feeling that electric shock in his brain as well as his muscles." Don said with a grimace.
"It didn't kill him did it?" Leo asked concerned. Even though the maniacal foot Ninja had almost killed them on several occasions Leo didn't like the idea of killing him.
Don shook his head. "No, though I..or maybe I should say he.. had to walk a fine line in creating the device. Too much voltage and it would kill him, not enough and it wouldn't be enough to force the gauntlet into submission."
"That's not much comfort Don, he didn't care whether he killed anyone or not." Leo grimaced.
"No Leo, you're wrong. He may have been excessively violent, but he wasn't a killer…and neither am I." Don walked over to the prone, now unconscious form of the metal foot soldier known only as Wick. The metal surrounding his body was liquefying now and was slowly sliding down his body to retreat back into the gauntlet itself.
Don checked for a pulse and nodded to Leo when he found one.
"He's still alive."
Leo came to stand next to Don, he knelt and lifted Wick's gauntleted hand.
"What the heck is this thing?" Leo mused, he looked up at Wick's face, now clear for them to see without the protective covering of the gauntlet's metal coating.
The skin on the man's face was so brittle it could have belonged to a mummy, and his face was so painfully thin he looked like a skeleton with a bit of parchment stretched over it. His hair had come out in patches, and his lips were white, cracked and bleeding. Wick's arms were like his face, painfully skinny, and brittle. " What did it do to him Don?" Leo looked up at his black clad brother.
Don sighed. "It took everything he had Leo. I guess you could call it a partially beneficial parasite; it attaches itself to a host and gradually uses up everything the host has. According to what I've read the suit is addictive, and after prolonged use it begins to slowly kill its host. It begins as extreme hunger, the suit feeds of the energy resources of its host. In the end it will end up using everything the host has, death always follows. Judging from the way this man looks he didn't have much time left. The suit would have eventually killed him. While wearing the suit what the host can do is pretty much unlimited, he's well nigh invulnerable, he can fly, he has strength, soon he begins to feel like a living god…what he doesn't realize is that he's slowly turning into a corpse."
"And you think this thing..it's alive?" Leo pulled on the gauntlet that had attached itself to Wick's arm. At first it didn't seem like it was going to come loose, but then with a slight sucking noise it did. Underneath, Wick's right hand was a mass of bloody, rotted flesh. Leo stood and backed away. The fingernails of the human's hand were gone, as had most of the skin.
"Yes I think it is. I think it has intelligence, but it's a deadly intelligence. It knows exactly what it's doing to its host..and I don't think it cares." Don said looking away from the poor sad body of Wick.
"I don't understand why anyone would want to mass produce something like this." Leo said in disgust handing the gauntlet to Don.
"That is because you are blind to its true potential."
Leonardo and Donatello whirled at the sound of the voice and turned to find Shredder, Hun and a host of Foot Soldiers standing at the entrance to the power plant, blocking their way out. Hun had Casey Jones in one of his large fists and was grinning evilly.
"If you give me the gauntlet of your own free will I promise that you and Mr. Jones will die as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Refuse and I shall see to it personally that you suffer dearly for your insolence." Shredder said crossing his arms across his armored chest.
"That's not much of a choice Shredder." Leo said with a scowl drawing his one remaining sword.
"It is the only choice you will receive. Give me the gauntlet or Jones will be the first to die." Shredder gestured to his hulking henchman.
"Go ahead and refuse, I've been waitin a long time to pop Jones's head like an over ripe melon." Hun sneered grasping Casey's head between two huge fingers.
Leonardo and Donatello were silent, they exchanged the briefest of glances..and Leo nodded. Don nodded back. He hefted the gauntlet in the air like he was going to throw a football.
"All right Shredder, you want this gauntlet..you can have it."
And then he threw it..
Two things happened at once; Don's hand went to his belt and he tossed four small devices at the villains in front of them…just as Leo leapt into the air. The four devices went off almost instantly filling the air with smoke. Shredder reached out for the gauntlet but caught Leonardo right in the chest instead.
Hun dropped Casey to go to his Master's aid but found Don standing in front of him instead. Grinning Hun reached for Don, but he found to his amazement that his hands went right through where the turtle was supposed to be.
"Wha?" He said waving his hand back and forth through the image. Then something hit him from behind but when he turned there was nothing there. He turned back again to find the image of Don still there..and Casey Jones gone.
The image of Don smiled and slowly faded away. Only to appear in the smoke a few feet away. Hun went for the image only to have his fists pass through nothing. Getting angrier by the minute Hun saw several more images pop up around him, and he ploughed through each only to find nothing. Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to find Don hovering there in mid air.
"Surprise." He said and decked the villan in the face.
Hun reeled back a bit, and turned to find another image behind him. He swung at it..again thin air. Howling in frustration he saw a row of images and ploughed into them.
Nothing.
By now he was so turned around in the smoke, and so angry he didn't know where he was nor did he care. When he saw Don appear yet again in the smoke he didn't even think, he just rushed forward at full speed fists swinging..and suddenly found his fists connecting with the very solid bodies of the gathered foot soldiers who were just as confused in the smoke as he was. He stood angrily staring at the groaning forms of the Ninjas lying around him and heard Don's voice somewhere in the smoke.
"Nice going Hun. You took out your own guys without me even having to do a thing." and then he was gone.
Hun growled in frustration and glared down at the Foot. "Well, what are you waiting for..get up and get those turtles.. and somebody find Casey Jones!"
Chuckling to himself Don supported the now awake Casey across the street to a nearby manhole. The human was groggy but still determined to get back into the fight.
"You just let me get my breath Donnie and I'll be right back in there with ya kickin ninja butt."
"No Casey, I need you to do something else." Don said shaking his head. "I want you to get back to Aprils and get Sensei, Mike, Raph and April and get them over here. Things are getting bad here and Leo and I are going to need some help when this is all done with."
"No way, I'm gonna help you fight." Casey protested standing.
"No Casey we need you getting help more than we need your help fighting. Besides I have a plan."
"Wait a minute Donnie, you ain't gonna do soemthin stupid are ya?" Casey asked raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"Yes I am." Don said and turned to disappear into the cloud of smoke that was slowly beginning to dissipate
"What does that mean..Donnie!? Hey Donnie!"