After exchanging some stories in the last chapter, the team now faces armed men dressed in black and a battle is about to start.

Warning, this chapter will contain blood and death. You have been warned.

I don't own TMNT

Chapter 7

Hostile Greeting

Leonardo's eyes swept over the rooftop as he stood with his brothers and friends, all with their weapons drawn, facing twenty to thirty men, dressed in black and gray, that had cornered the mutants. A red symbol adorned the chest of their cloths, a symbol the turtles knew well. The Foot. Most of the ninja were armed with katanas and some had bladed staffs, sais, kunais, kamas and chains.

"Acquaintances of yours?" Sephie asked.

"More like returning pests." Raph replied, gritting his teeth.

"Well, I did never get any combat-training today, so I might as well get some now." Tyroth said with a smile as his pupils narrowed and his muscles flexed. "Mind if I go first?" he asked Leo.

"Only if they attack us first, if so, be my guest."

Tyroth took a few steps forward so he was standing in front of his friends, waiting for the enemy to make their move. The Foot-ninja just stood, looking at the mutants, occasionally exchanging glances with each other. Swiftly two ninja armed with katanas dashed at Tyroth, planing to attack him high and low from his right and left. Thinking that someone with his size and mass would be too slow to put up any resistance, let alone dodge or block. They were very surprised when the large mutant spun around and hit them in their chests with his tail, sending them flying backwards. This was a signal to the other ninja, who moved to engage the mutants. The gang also moved against the ninja with Tyroth already halfway there, eyes filled with a lust for battle.

One ninja tried to stab Tyroth with a pair of sais, while two of his comrades, armed with a katana and a staff, followed behind. With a powerful left punch, the sai-wielding ninja was knocked into a wall, hitting the staff-wielding ninja on the way. Attempting an overhead slash the third ninja jumped at Tyroth, who countered with a rising diagonal slash from his own sword, cutting clean through the katana and decapitating the poor Foot-ninja in one fell swoop. He continued by breathing fire at the remaining ninja, who scatter to avoid the flames.

Using the distraction to his advantage, Leo knocked out two ninja with a well placed splitkick and disarmed a third by cutting his staff into pieces before punching him in the face. A fourth ninja wielding kamas engaged the blue-masked turtle forcing him to defensive actions. As the Foot-ninja was about to bring down the weapon on Leo, an arrow pierced his wrist, the pain making him drop his kama. Seeing an opening Leo, stabbed his opponent in the chest with his swords, killing the man. After he pulled out his swords, Leo threw a nod at Sephie as a 'thank you' for the assist. He proceeded to make a quick check if he had any injuries and found only a few shallow cuts on his arms, nothing that needed immediate attention. Looking over the battlefield he saw how his brothers and Mona fought of plenty of ninja.

Raph had just jabbed one of his sais in the side of one ninja and followed up with a right hook, flooring the guy and leaving him to bleed out. Three other ninja already lay on the roof, at least one of them were dead due to a cut throat.

Donnie succeeded in disarming a chain-wielding ninja by coiling up said chain on the tip of his staff and hitting its owner over the head with it, breaking the jaw, then tripping a few more before removing the chain to regain the balance in his staff.

Mikey was in the middle of a backflip, avoiding the swipe of a bladed staff, while at the same time striking the shins of nearby ninja with his nunchaku, shouting "Coming through!"

Several Foot-ninja had been shoot by Sephies arrows, a few of those were lethally wounded or dead. She was now locked in closecombat with a ninja armed with a katana. Thanks to one of her feints, she was able to get past the sword and deliver a hard kick to his groin, heel first. The ninja fell on his side holding his aching crotch with both hands, his mask showing the wet marks of tears. Leo grimaced and made a mental note not to mess with her. Ever.

Mona had been able to disarm several ninja by catching their weapons between the blades in her fans and followed up by kicking or cutting them down.

Seeing that everyone were doing fine, Leo was about to reenter the battle when he saw a pair of ninja flying through the air into the wall of the neighboring building with great force, leaving them unconscious. He knew what the cause for their unplanned flight was, or rather 'who' it was.

The battle was proceeding in the mutants favor as more than half of the Foot-ninja were either incapacitated or dead. Fighting a ninja with katana, Mona however made a fatal mistake. Sidestepping to avoid a slash from the sword, she accidentally stepped on a staff laying on the floor and lost her balance, giving her opponent an opening. Receiving a kick to her stomach she fell on her back, knocking the air out of her making her drop her weapons. Looking up she saw the ninja ready to sink his katana into her chest, her eyes widened in fear.

"MONA!" Raphael cried as he saw what happened, trying to cut his way through the ninja in front of him, not knowing if he would make it in time. Panic forming within him.

As the blade made its way to Mona's chest, she instinctively closed her eyes. She heard the sound of sharp metal meeting flesh, she felt how warm blood splattered on her face. Hearing the sound of a sword dropping to the concrete floor, she opened her eyes to see that she was unharmed. Looking up she saw what fate had befallen her would be executioner.

Somehow Tyroth had been able to run up behind the ninja and skewered him with the large sword. The blade had entered the man in the lower back and exited through the throat, cutting straight through the spine. Blood dripped as the limp body hung on the sword half a meter above the floor.

Swiftly removing the body from the sword, Tyroth extended a hand to help Mona back on her feet.

"Thanks. If it hadn't been for you, I... Look out!" Mona said as the tip of a bladed staff impaled Tyroth's left side, making him yell out in pain before instinctively snapping the staff in two with a chop of his left hand. He turned his glare at the now unarmed ninja, who was about to make a tactical retreat when a nunchaku hit him in the back of his head, making everything go black.

"Donnie! He needs help!" Mona cried, remembering how Leo almost died from a similar wound, hoping that Donnie could save their new friend. She tried to stop Tyroth from pulling out the blade as Donnie made his way to them, but she wasn't strong enough. To their shock the wound had already begun to heal and was closing itself remarkably fast, even faster than Leo's injury and he was given an injection of healing serum, made from Mona's DNA, directly in the wound. It took only a few seconds before the only sign of injury was the bloodstain.

The battle was over, at least one third of the Foot-ninja were dead or dying, the rest were unconscious. Aside from a few bruises, scratches and small cuts, the mutants were relatively unharmed.

"We'd better get moving before anyone comes and investigates." Leo said wiping his swords on the clothes of one of the ninja.

"What about this mess, Leo?" Donnie gestured to the battlefield.

"We don't have time to clean it up. The Foot will have to handle it on their own."

Sephie was about to protest when she heard the sound of sirens coming from the northern street. The seven mutants collected their things and started jumping across the rooftops.

Watching them from afar, however, was a shadowy figure with a malevolent smile.

"It would seem that my mutant adversaries have found themselves some allies. They will need all the help they can get to survive what I have planed for them."

A close call for Mona and a mysterious character with a grudge. Perfect place for a cliffhanger.

Next time, a bit more character development and a foreshadowing event.