Chapter Eighteen- Rescue and Investigations
"I gave you exact orders! Yet you chose to ignore them and go your own path! Why the heck would you do that?"
"Are you done shouting?" Raph sassed, earning him a smack on the head.
"Mikey was the only one that listened to my orders and tried to follow through with them." Kuro looked to the orange clad turtle. "I thank for that, and for fighting so bravely against this Moon Shadow to find me."
"No problemo." Mikey smiled.
Kuro glared at the remaining three turtles. "As for you three, I made it very clear that we were to stick together through this thing. Perhaps if you had listened to me, April would have her father back!"
"You can't possibly be that arrogant!" Leo scoffed.
"It's not arrogance, it's leadership!" Kuro countered. "I can understand if you're upset or maybe even jealous that you lost your leadership to me, but I am the leader. You said that your word was law, so why treat my word differently?"
"I didn't think it was logical to just wait around for you who got captured!" Leo snapped.
"I wasn't captured." Kuro reminded him. "You're not the leader anymore, Leo! Get used to it!"
"You wanna prove you're a leader?" Leo suddenly jumped to his feet. "How about coming up with better ideas?"
"You wanna prove you're a ninja?" Kuro countered, unsheathing her claws. "Learn to follow orders you pathetic little boy."
Leo growled and drew his katanas. "You think that—"
"Enough!" Splinter shouted as he stepped up. Kuro and Leo sheathed their weapons and bowed to their sensei, still glaring at each other. "Kuro, you must understand that not every battle will result with you and your team as victors. Do not dwell on your loss, but rather learn from it."
"Hai, Sensei." Kuro nodded.
"As for you, Leonardo." Splinter frowned. "You challenged Kuro and wagered your leadership. You lost; accept it and move on."
"Hai...Sensei." Leo murmured.
"You boys must learn how to act when the leader is present and absent." Splinter explained. "But if Kuro had specific orders, you should have obeyed them."
"Hai Sensei." The boys said solemnly.
"And you, Kuro, please leave the berating of my sons to me." Splinter requested.
"Hai Sensei." Kuro bowed.
"And one more thing for all of you." Splinter made sure everyone had their eyes on him. "You are not to tell April about this incident."
"Why not?" Donnie asked.
"Because the very mentioning of her father hurts April." Splinter said. "This incident will only cause more pain."
"You're asking us to lie to April?" Mikey asked.
"I'm asking you to consider April's feelings." Splinter said before turning and walking off. Kuro turned sharply on her heel and stomped off to the kitchen. The boys sighed simultaneously.
"Could tonight have been any worse?" Leo slumped down onto the couch.
"April could've been listening." Mikey suggested, setting himself down beside his brother.
"Hey guys!" April called as she came through the turntables.
The boys jumped and stared at the redhead. "April!" Donnie gulped a little. "Uh...how much did you hear?"
"I heard something about me listening to something." April shrugged. "Are you guys hiding something from me?"
"Nothing to worry about." Raph waved him off.
April nodded. "Well, I just came back for my phone. I left it here after the challenge."
Mikey spied the phone and picked it up. "Think fast!" He threw the phone like a football, sending it spiraling towards April who caught it skillfully.
"Thanks guys." April said gratefully. "I'll see ya tomorrow?"
"Sure." Leo nodded. "You sure you don't wanna stick around?"
"My aunt needs my help in the office tomorrow." April said. "But I'll check in while you guys are on patrol. See ya!" She jogged off, disappearing into the sewer tunnels. She sighed in relief, hoping the boys didn't see through her lies. She heard their entire conversation, and her thoughts became clouded with nostalgic memories of her father. She missed him more than anything, and it hurt to think that she came so close to getting him back only to have the chance slip through her fingers. April stuffed her hands in her pocket, but stopped when she felt something in her palm. She pulled out her fist and uncurled her fingers, staring sadly at the picture of her and her dad having a picnic at Central Park. She gently touched her father's face, blinking back tears. She kept walking through the sewers, hugging the picture to her chest.
"I miss you, Daddy." April sighed
Kuro breathed evenly, calmly, though she was not asleep. Her sensitive ears listened for every sound around her: the rumbling of subways somewhere in the sewers, squeaking of rats, and (a little closer) the soft snores coming from Raph's room. Kuro's eyes opened and she rose from her blanket nest. Her silent footsteps carried her down the hallway to each of the boys' rooms. She peered inside each one, making sure each turtle inside rested peacefully. She even checked Splinter, thankful for her father's stealth training. But everyone in the lair slept soundly, allowing Kuro to change into her Moon Shadow uniform and dart into the tunnels. She pulled on her mask to cover all but her eyes and strapped her katana to her back. Now fully Moon Shadow, she quickened her pace and slipped up to the surface. When she finally reached the top of an apartment, she paused to pull out her phone. She punched in a few things and a map popped up on her screen. A red dot blinked on the map, and she smirked under her mask.
I'm coming for you. She stowed away her phone and sprinted off, leaping over buildings and reaching her destination in minutes. She hid in the shadows as she approached a dark building, guarded heavily by many identical men in black suits, carrying guns. Moon Shadow easily slipped past them and got inside. However, she found very few shadows to hide in as she moved through the hallways. She stuck to the corners, always peering around each one before moving on. If I were to hold someone prisoner, where would I hide them? She wondered. Curious, she opened the closest door and stepped inside. Three Kraang suddenly spun around to face her. With a few quick and simple swipes, the three droids lay in a heap and the brain aliens inside thrown into a closet. Moon Shadow sheathed her blade.
"Pathetic." She scoffed. She turned to the advanced computers and started typing away at one. She found some security camera feeds and noticed one that stood out: a video of Dr. O'Neil inside a holding cell. Moon Shadow's eyes caught the words in the upper right corner of the screen: cell block 1. Moon Shadow turned as a Kraang passed. But she ducked behind a corner and waited for the Kraang to enter before stabbing the droid and forcing it to power down. She grabbed the brain alien and threw him into the closet with his brethren. She picked up the robot and smiled craftily. She lifted the robot and opened up a video chat screen on one of the computers. She stabbed her sword through the robot to make it stand up and looped a length of rope around its neck, tilting it up so the droid didn't slouch.
Another Kraang popped up on the video monitor. "What is the reason Kraang is calling, Kraang?"
Moon Shadow cleared her throat and threw out her best Kraang impersonation. "Kraang wants to know it what place Kraang is holding the scientist that Kraang is holding...in this...place...that Kraang is...holding...the scientist...known as...Dr. O'Neil...uh..." So much for that, you doofus.
"The scientist known as Dr. O'Neil is being held in the place known as cell block 1." The other Kraang reported. "The place known as cell block 1 is near the place known in human terms as the cafeteria."
"Kraang thanks you for providing the information that Kraang has provided to Kraang." Moon Shadow quickly shut off the computer and took back her sword and rope. "That was almost too weird." She sighed before darting off into the hallway again. She sped away as fast as she could, occasionally forced to jump up to the ceiling to hide from incoming Kraang. Somehow, she managed to reach the cell blocks and found the one holding Dr. O'Neil. She inspected the complicated-looking lock for a moment before taking her sword and stabbing it a few times. The door opened and Moon Shadow sheathed her sword. She stepped inside as Dr. O'Neil jumped to his feet. His movements were slow and a little sluggish, most likely from malnutrition.
"Who are you?" Dr. O'Neil demanded. "What are you doing here?"
Moon Shadow didn't respond. She looked around for any Kraang before gesturing for Dr. O'Neil to follow her. When he didn't come at first, she grabbed his wrist and practically dragged him behind her. Dr. O'Neil yelped a little but cautiously followed the ninja out and through the hallways. Moon Shadow constantly shoved him back behind corners as Kraang droids passed by.
"You mind telling me who you are and what you want?" Dr. O'Neil whispered as they hid.
"My name is Moon Shadow." The ninja introduced, talking in a low voice that Dr. O'Neil almost couldn't hear properly. "And if you want to live to see your daughter again, you'll do exactly as I say. Got it?"
"What have you done with April?" Dr. O'Neil nearly shouted.
Moon Shadow slapped a hand over his mouth. "SHHHHH!"
Too late. Some Kraang passing by whipped around and started firing their weapons at the pair. Moon Shadow launched herself into the air and sliced through the two droids with her katana, landing softly on the ground behind them as the now-broken robots hit the ground.
"Come on, Dr. Loudmouth." Moon Shadow growled, grabbing the redhead's hand as she ran. "Now we gotta run for it."
Dr. O'Neil hardly complained, almost tripping over his own feet as Moon Shadow dragged him along. Every time they ran into some Kraang droids, Moon Shadow would dispatch them in seconds, not allowing them any time to react and/or shoot them. Dr. O'Neil struggled to keep up with Moon Shadow as she ran through the building, cutting down Kraang mercilessly and smashing the robots into walls. Finally, Moon Shadow herded him into a room and slammed the door shut, locking it by shoving a pipe into the handles.
"Now what?" Dr. O'Neil demanded, noting the room they were in had no windows and only computers. Moon Shadow didn't answer at first; she inspected the computers and ignored the Kraang trying to break down the door. After a minute, she seemed to find what she was looking for and opened a hatch to the wiring under a counter.
"Stay close to me and don't let go of my hand." Moon Shadow instructed, taking Dr. O'Neil's hand in hers. When the Kraang droids, finally burst through the door, Moon Shadow sliced through the wiring behind the hatch. The entire building's power went out, casting everyone into the darkness. Dr. O'Neil kept a tight grip on Moon Shadow's hand, feeling her pull him along as she moved through the darkness. Moon Shadow allowed her other senses to guide her; she listened, felt around, and even sniffed the air to find her way through the halls and out the door. She quickened her pace, hurrying Dr. O'Neil out to the city. She didn't stop until the Kraang building disappeared from view.
"Don't hate me for this." Moon Shadow requested. She spun around and pinched a nerve in Dr. O'Neil's neck, forcing him to fall unconscious to the floor. She lifted him up and carried him on her back as she continued her trek, travelling through the shadows to her old apartment. It was just as she left it, even the front door (which had been fixed soon after Dogpound broke it). Moon Shadow walked off the guest room and plopped Dr. O'Neil down on the bed. She made sure the window was properly locked (from the outside) and covered the redhead scientist with a blanket. She found some paper and a pencil and scribbled a quick note.
You will stay here until I come for you tonight. I will leave you some food, but you are not to try and escape. Do as I say, and I promise your safety. You must trust me. –Moon Shadow
Moon Shadow left the note on the nightstand and ran off to the kitchen to grab some food and left it in a Tupperware container under the note. She slipped off, locking the door to the guest room and hiding the key in a cookie jar. She hurried out the door, leaping across rooftops back to the lair.
Phase One: done. Moon Shadow thought. Soon, I can move on to Phase Two. For now, rest well Dr. O'Neil. You and April will be reunited soon.
Breakfast the next morning was quiet and tense. After the fight last night, nobody could even look at each other without glaring or casting dirty looks. Kuro was just glad that she could still function properly on so little sleep; it took a few minutes to fall asleep after her little incident last night with the Kraang. She hated to think about what Dr. O'Neil would do, locked up and confused about the recent events. But she refused to give any hints about what happened or her true intentions. Leo, Raph, and Donnie were clearly still upset over Splinter's scolding for not obeying Kuro. Mikey tried to lighten the mood, chatting away and telling jokes. But no laughter replied to his mirth, so he eventually trudged off to watch some cartoons. Raph started beating the stuffing from a punching bag. Donnie did some research on his laptop, mostly messing around online. Kuro simply watched some cartoons with Mikey and Leo walked off to train. The rest of the morning and well into the afternoon remained quiet and eventless until…
"Hey guys, check this out." Donnie announced, showing everyone his laptop. Raph, Mikey, and Kuro gathered around the purple masked turtle as he pulled up some pictures on the screen. "These are pictures from the abandoned apartment we were at last night. The police and firemen blocked it off since most of it was destroyed by the fire, but if you look here—" He pointed to a picture of the apartment window with a Kraang droid passing by inside. "—the Kraang are still inside. I think they're doing some scavenging."
"Maybe they left something in there they didn't want to forget." Raph suggested. "Or they want to erase their footprints."
"Either way, we should check it out tonight." Donnie said.
"We should go now." Kuro urged. "If those guys are there now, then they could wipe away all the evidence by tonight."
"But it's daytime." Raph reminded her. "We can't go out unless it's night out."
"And we're not sending April in there." Donnie said firmly.
"Then I'll go." Kuro offered, standing and moving to her bag.
"But you—" Raph started to protest.
"I'm not going to risk losing a chance like this." Kuro said firmly, grabbing a pair of jeans and her T-shirt. "I'll dress in normal clothes and hide my gauntlets under my sweatshirt sleeves. But there's no way I'm going to pass up an opportunity just because of the time of day."
"Are you sure you wanna go alone?" Mikey asked worriedly.
Kuro smiled at Mikey's kindness. "I'll be fine, guys. Really."
Kuro changed quickly and hurried from the lair, occasionally fiddling with her gauntlets hidden under her sleeves. She arrived at the half-burned apartment building without trouble, but found it crawling with police officers, determined to keep everyone away from it. Kuro climbed the fire escape of the building beside it and to the roof, staring straight ahead at the apartment. She pulled a length of black ribbon from her pocket and tied back her hair, keeping it from her face. Then she crouched to the ground, digging the ball of her shoe into the cement. After a moment, she took off across the roof, leaped from the edge, and landed softly on the ruined apartment. No sooner had she touched the ground, however, did the spot she stood on caved in, sending her tumbling down two levels and crashing into a pile of ash and an old mattress.
"Well," Kuro coughed from the ash. "Some landing."
After brushing off the soot and getting to her feet, Kuro began her search. She journeyed from room to room, occasionally ducking down to hide from a Kraang droid. But she saw few things that truly held any interest to her or the Kraang. She only got to search a few floors before the sounds of battle reached her ears. She heard the Kraang firing their guns and the cries of effort that Kuro could identify anywhere.
"Leo." She breathed. "No!"
Leo slashed his katanas, taking down as many Kraang as he could to keep them from hurting/killing him. But no matter how many Kraang he struck down, more came to take their place. He panted a little, but continued to fight and destroy the robots. He jumped when a robot suddenly slammed into the wall beside him. He turned and saw Kuro, claws out and ready for battle, staring at him angrily.
"Whatever happened to 'we don't come out during the daytime'?" Kuro snapped, slashing away at the Kraang droids. Suddenly, one of the Kraang fired their gun, and the laser beam slashed through Kuro's sleeve. She gasped, clutching her bicep. Kuro jumped away as the Kraang advanced, grabbing one robot and throwing him into another. A couple Kraang grabbed a large cannon and aimed it for Leo, but Kuro jumped up and kicked the barrel down to the floor. Unfortunately, the cannon fired, and the shockwave from the blast made the floor crumble beneath everyone's feet. Kuro grabbed the piping on the ceiling and extended her hand towards Leo. The blue masked turtle jumped up and took her hand, holding on tight while the floor and the Kraang fell down to the level below them. There was a moment of stillness and silence before the entire building began to shake.
"Is it an earthquake?" Leo asked worriedly.
Kuro grit her teeth in frustration and pain. "No. It's worse."
Before Leo could ask how, the pipes suddenly broke loose from the ceiling. Leo and Kuro shouted in surprise as they tumbled down, a mountain of debris following them.
Then, everything went dark.