Shortly after finding his sister, Tyroth is shot in the back by an unknown attacker, leaving Raphael alone to face this new enemy.
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Chapter 12
In Need Of Medical Attention
Dodging an energy-blast, Raph drew his sais and began to charge the metal-clad assailant. Several more blasts were shot at the turtle, who deftly dodged them all. With rage in his eyes, Raph managed to get close enough to engage in close combat.
He tackled the man in the chest, forcing him backwards and upsetting his balance slightly, but it was enough for Raph to deliver a roundhouse kick and knock his foe over the edge of the roof. The man hit the road below with a large clang, but Raph's surprise, he almost immediately started to get back up, albeit slowly and with difficulties.
"What the fuck is that guy!?" Raph thought, but he didn't have any time to figure that out, as he ran over to the opposite side of the roof. Looking over the edge he saw his friend lying unmoving on the sidewalk with a blond girl in a black hoodie kneeling next to him trying to wake him up by shaking him.
"Oh no." Raph thought as he recognized the girl. Jennifer, Tyroth's sister. "She must still have been in the alley when we were attacked, and heard when Tyroth hit the ground." Quickly he made his way down to the ground and ran over to the two.
"P-please wake up." Jennifer sobbed as tears ran down her cheeks "Don't leave me. Not when I just have found you again."
As Raphael got closer he could see the hole through Tyroth's chest, he wasn't very good at anatomy and the like but he was very sure that the hole went straight through the lung on the right side, at least it wasn't bleeding, probably burnt. He quickly knelt beside Jennifer and started to look for a pulse. Pressing his fingers against Tyroth's throat he was relieved that he found it, but it was weak and erratic.
Jennifer never noticed the red-masked until he knelt beside her. She didn't trust him one bit, but as he apparently was worried about her brothers life, she decided to let him help.
Raph looked up as he saw that several lights in the surrounding buildings were lit. The commotion had woken up half the neighborhood.
"Shit!" Raph exclaimed and turned to Jennifer. "You need to go!"
"What? No! I'm not leaving him."
"Look, if you don't scram, that thing that did this to him will find us. Not to mention the cops"
"I don't care! I'm not leaving him and you can't make me!"
Raph gritted his teeth at how stubborn she was, he wanted to give her a piece of his mind but they didn't have time to argue.
"Grr. Okay, if you won't beat it, then help me get him out of here." Raph said as he started dragging Tyroth's unconscious body towards the nearest manhole. Jennifer wasn't sure what the turtle was planning but she helped him drag her brother. At the manhole, Raph removed the lid as he had many times before, and started to climb down.
"Make sure you got a good grip on him, he's heavier than he looks." he said as he dragged Tyroth with him down through the hole. Jennifer wasn't sure what the turtle was planing, but guessing that he knew how to get around unnoticed, she pushed her doubt aside. Once in the sewers, Raph quickly put the cover back on the manhole before carrying Tyroth back to the lair, with Jennifer's help.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To my place. Think you can hurry up a bit?"
It took them almost fifteen minutes before they reached the lair. Jennifer was astonished when part of the wall opened after Raph had pressed a few well hidden buttons. Once inside they were greeted by a blue-masked turtle who apparently was waiting on the red-masked one.
"Took you two long enough. How was the..." was all Leo managed to say, when he saw Tyroth's limp body he temporarily froze with horror. He quickly came to his senses and rushed over to his friend.
"Donnie! We need medical help here! Hurry!" Leo yelled as he took over from Jennifer, not even giving her as much as a glance. She was a bit shocked over that there were more then one mutant turtle, but didn't think more of it at the moment.
Leo's call for help didn't go unnoticed. Everyone in the lair heard it and became very worried, Mona most of all. Having seen Tyroth's healing ability first hand, the only one that could be injured enough to need medical attention would be her beloved mate, Raphael. Sephie followed Mona to the entrance so she could comfort her if need be. Little did the two lizards know, that the roles would become reversed.
As soon as Sephie laid eyes on the injured mutant she loved, she paled. Shortly after she tried to run over to him only to stopped by Mona and Mikey, who had to snap out of their shock to be able to do so. Donnie was already on his way to the medical room with Leo and Raph carrying Tyroth there. During this scene, Jennifer kept to herself in a corner near the now closed entrance. She prayed that her brother would make it.
After leaving the med-room Raph was pretty much surrounded by his family and a very upset Sephie, all wondering the same thing.
"What happened, my son?" Splinter asked.
Looking over to Sephie, Raph saw that her eyes were filled with tears, and a feeling of guilt formed in his stomach. Taking a deep breath, he started to explain the ambush they experienced. There were still a few unanswered questions, but they had to wait for later. Splinter turned around to the corner where Jennifer was sort of hiding.
"You can come out, child. No one is going to hurt you." he said with a gentle voice. Jennifer couldn't say why, but she felt that she could trust the old rat with anything. Slowly she walked over to the mutants, still cautious.
Just before she got within a meter of Splinter, Donnie came out of the med-room with a tired look on his face, causing the others to turn towards him.
"How is he doing, Donnie?" Raph asked.
"He's stable," the purple-masked turtle sighed "which is surprising considering his injuries. The hole goes straight through his right lung and almost every bone in his body is either broken or fractured."
"I doubt any of us would be much better shape if we fell of a fifty meter tall building." said Leo.
"I doubt that we would even survive." Donnie clarified "Either way, I can't do anything for him, luckily I don't have to. He's already recovering, give it a few days and he'll be as good as new."
A sense of relief spread amongst the gathered.
"He'll survive?" asked Jennifer shyly.
"Yes. Though I wish I could give him something for the pain."
"Painkillers not working?" Mona asked.
"Only for a few moments, at most." Donnie answered "His immune system treats them as foreign elements and neutralize them."
"But why isn't he healing as fast as he used to?" Leo asked.
"First, his entire body is in need of healing so it will take longer due to his 'repair cells' being spread thin. And second, it seems that his body doesn't produce much adrenaline when he's unconscious. Don' know why."
"Is there anything we can do for him at all?" asked a concerned Sephie.
"Well, we could give him some food with lots of protein and calcium, so his body has more material to heal itself with. Milk-based ice cream would do nicely."
"Um.. he likes chocolate ice cream the best." said Jennifer, still very shyly.
"I think I saw some in the back of the freezer. I'll fetch it when he wakes up." said Mikey.
"A good idea, my son." said Splinter. He then turned to Jennifer "Now, maybe we can introduce ourselves to our new guest."
The mutants took turn in telling Jennifer their names, as well as a few words about them selves. Eventually it was Sephie's turn, she had mixed emotions about meeting Jennifer again. Back when she was human, the two got along quite well, but now she was a bit nervous. Still, what was the worst that could happen?
"And you are?" Jennifer asked, snapping Sephie out of her thoughts.
"Hmm... oh, sorry. My mind wandered. Anyway, you can call me Sephie."
"Sephie? Okay." Jennifer paused for a moment. "There is something familiar about your voice, like I've heard it somewhere before."
"Well, you and I have actually met before, Jennie."
"Wait, don't tell me that... Oh my gosh! Liz? Is that really you?"
"So your old name is Liz?" Mona asked Sephie.
"It's short for Elisabeth, but I'm not too fond of the nicknames." she answered.
"My brother said that you were in a... similar situation, but I still didn't expect you to look like that." said Jennifer. "Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but you actually look good in green."
"I can vouch for that." a voice said from behind the group, who turned around and saw Tyroth leaning against the wall by the med-room, covering the hole in his chest with his left hand. He was breathing rather troubled, and could barely move his right arm.
"What are you doing up?" said Donnie "You should be resting."
"It's a little hard to sleep when there's so much chatter out here. But don't worry, I'll be back in bed shortly, just wanted to see what's going on."
"Well, now you've seen it, so back to bed you go." said Donnie as he helped Tyroth back to bed. "And I thought that Leo was a difficult patient."
Ten minutes later, Tyroth was half sitting in the bed in the med-room, eating a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Donnie had put bandages around the hole in Tyroth's chest, not that it needed it as it was healing well, but due to the fact that you could see straight through, which was quite creepy. Sephie was sitting next to Tyroth on a chair, gently scolding him for making her worry.
"Uhm... may I come in?" asked a shy voice from outside the room.
Donnie looked over and saw Jennifer. "Sure." he said.
"Hey, sis. How are you holding up?" Tyroth said as he motioned for her to come closer.
"Quite well, all things considered. I'm still a bit overwhelmed though." she said before looking at the bandages. "Does it hurt a lot?"
"Like hell, but I'll manage. I should be out of here in a few days, maybe less. That is, if the good 'doctor' allows it." he said smirking.
Donnie just shook his head in annoyance. "I'll leave the three of you alone. I'm guessing that you have some catching up to do." As he left, Jennifer was about to say something but was interrupted when she yawned.
"Tired?" asked Sephie, to which Jennifer nodded. "Not surprising. It is quite late in the night."
"Then why aren't you as tired as me?"
"You see, we mutants often change our habits to be nocturnal. It's easier to move topside in the dark of the night." Sephie answered.
"Speaking of mutants," Jennifer said "how did you become what you are?"
"Well, I did promise to tell you our story, and now is as good a time as any. If you can stay awake that is." said Tyroth.
"Try me." she said as she sat down on a chair.
Meanwhile in the kitchen the others were gathered to discuss the new threat.
"Do you think the Foot is behind that thing?" said Leo.
"Maybe. But according to Raph, the only form of symbol or crest was the number on the chest. And the Foot always put their crest on their things." Donnie answered.
"What about the Purple Dragons?" Mikey asked.
"Come on, Mikey." Mona cut in. "They are even more fanatical with their symbol. And it sounds like the tech is to advanced for them."
"Then perhaps, we are facing a new foe, who is of unknown capabilities." said Splinter. "We must all be more observant and careful from now on."
At that very moment, at the southern docks of Manhattan, in what from the outside looks like a normal warehouse, but that is in fact one of the Foot's hidden bases.
"It seems that your toy has failed us, 'Overlord'."
"Looks can be deceiving, something one schooled in ninjustu should know. And this was but a test, mister Izo. Regardless of how a test ends, it always ends with a result, and a result consists of information."
"And what, pray tell, did that information tell us?" said Arashi very annoyed with Overlord's attitude.
"That one on one, my creations can only match the mutants if we catch them in an ambush. But it seems highly doubtful that the mutants would be able to cause any real damage with their standard weapons. So the solution to this minor setback, as you would call it, is to have my creations outnumber the mutants. Three to one should suffice, yes."
Tyroth survived and Jennifer gets the whole story, while Arashi and Overlord schemes to produce more of the steel-clad warriors. This builds up for an upcoming battle between the two groups. Next time the team attempts to get more information on the new enemy.