Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the property of Viacom, Nickelodeon, Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and all organizations associated with said names. This is non-profit.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Exile
by BrownEyedBirdie
Author's Note: Happy New Year! It's a new year, time to begin a new arc. Each story is a stand alone, but there is a common theme. I think I was playing it safe in the last set of stories, just feeling you all out. But now, time to stretch my creative legs, as it were. Weiterlesen!
Chapter 6 – E.P.F.
The blizzard subsided but not the cold. It fell to Donnie to work out how to get firewood. The first break in the cold would have everyone collecting wood, but for the moment it would have to be on April and Casey, the only warm-blooded ones in the house. Casey readily agreed.
"Glad to do something besides grocery shopping," he said as he brought the axe down on log after log.
"I can take a turn, Casey," April said, "You're going to get tired out."
"It's cool, Red," Casey said, "Not tired at all."
And with swing after swing, April saw that Casey did not seem to get tired. She wondered if he was working out some things of his own, but she let him do as he pleased, although she continued to try and take her turn. Even Raph tried to take a turn but, being cold-blooded, found that he was useless. Instead, he sat in the kitchen while Mikey cooked up a batch of pizza cheese sandwiches and soup for dinner.
"Man, I'll be glad when we finally hit a day over 40 degrees," Raph grumped. Casey came in the kitchen and Raph shivered at the burst of cold air that followed him.
"Heh," Casey smirked, "Sorry, Raph, but we've got enough firewood now so you'll be all toasty warm."
"Can it, Jones," Raph said but without much spite. Casey sat down beside him and they punched each other good-naturedly.
"Donnie, do you want another bowl of pizza noodle soup, minus noodles, for Leo?" Mikey asked.
Donnie sat beside Leo, spooning soup into his mouth. Donnie had worried that he'd have to try and make a feeding tube for Leo, but the liquid seemed to go down well. So whatever could be liquefied, Mikey found a way to make it edible.
"This will probably be enough, Mikey," Donnie said, "I think Leo can move out of the kitchen into a more comfortable spot soon, but I think it's better to wait for a break in the cold."
"Oh my…Casey, guys, get in here!" April called. A quick glance around at each other and the boys raced out of the kitchen. April was in the living room and pointing at the television screen. On the television, a female newscaster, dressed in black clothes and a helmet was standing outside a familiar building.
"That's TCRI!" Casey shouted.
"Shh," everyone hissed.
"This is Pat Kailin," the woman said, "I'm standing outside TCRI, which the Earth Protection Force commanders believe may be a source of the alien invasion."
"No kidding," Raph said sarcastically.
"What's the Earth Protection Force?" April asked.
"Raph and I saw them while we were being chased by Kraang Prime," Casey said, "At least, we saw some soldiers and a few tanks. They managed to nail Kraang Prime a few pretty good hits."
"Everyone keep quiet," Donnie said. Pat Kailin was back again with a man. He was tall, lean and dressed in black as well. He had a dark blue flannel jacket that looked pretty beat up. His face was weather beaten and tan, but still had an old world structure to it. His closely shorn hair was flecked with gray and he work dark glasses.
"I'm standing here with Agent John Bishop," Pat said, "He is the on-site commander for the mission that is about to take place here at TCRI. Agent Bishop, would you mind if we asked you a few questions?"
"Anything to get you civilians out of this area," Bishop said. His voice was soft and spoke with an accent that suggested northern east coast, Maine or Rhode Island perhaps.
"Earth Protection Force has up to now been on the defense against the alien invasion," Pat said, "This appears to be more offensive. What do you hope to accomplish?"
"A great deal," Bishop said, "I can't say much at this point, but this attack is desgined to eliminate a source of the alien tech that has been used against us."
"What tech is that?" Pat asked.
"If you'll watch closely, you'll see," Bishop replied, "Stand by. All units, move forward."
Tanks rolled forward and soldiers fell into step beside them. Bishop nodded to a soldier.
"Aim for the base when the explosives go off," Bishop told him, "We'll have a counterattack to deal with most likely."
A series of explosions went off around the foundation of the building. Then the camera fell as Kraang robots and hover machines surged out. There was a squeak and a groan and the connection went dead. The picture focused back on an anchor at a national news desk, who sat looking nervously at the dead connection.
"Hopefully we'll regain our contact with Pat Kailin," the anchor said, "Please stand by." The station went to a commercial.
"E.P.F. looks pretty tough," Mikey said excitedly.
"E.P.F.?" Raph asked.
"Earth Protection Force," Mikey said, sounding smug, "E.P.F. I told you, naming stuff is my thing."
"They look like they're really metal," Casey crowed appreciatively.
"They'll be lucky to survive this," Donnie said, "The Kraang have an nearly impenetrable shield of technology eons ahead of our own. I wonder what they were trying to destroy in the building."
"Maybe the mutagen," April suggested, "There was a large amount stored in there."
"Oh, maybe they've got an army of zombies to eat up the brains because zombies totally eat brains!" Mikey said. Everyone stared at him.
"Well, it could happen," he pouted.
"Or maybe they're taking out some Kraang themselves," Casey said, "All holed up inside they'd be like sitting ducks."
"Casey could be right," Raph said, "The Kraang aren't unlimited in numbers, so maybe hitting the nest will make them easier to contain before they get to the rest of the country."
"They couldn't have gotten to the rest of the country anyway," Donnie said, "If E.P.F. has done one thing right, it's been to hold the Kraang in New York."
"What do you mean?" April asked.
"They need to turn our world into Dimension X to be able to live here," Donnie said, beginning to pace, "As long as E.P.F. continues to fight, Kraang Prime can't get out to the other cities."
"But couldn't they just open another portal?" April asked. Donnie shook his head.
"No, no," he said impatiently, "Not without an entry signal. That was Kraang Sub-prime's job as a spy. He anchored the signal to the Lair so that other portals could open. Without that, it would be like a regular assault on a city."
"And the other cities are probably getting prepared too," Casey said.
"I wish we could find out what other cities are doing to help," April said.
"We won't know anything if that camera crew doesn't get their act together," Raph said.
Everyone stared anxiously at the television. The next hour trickled by with painful awareness. Raph and Donnie moved Leo into the main room while Mikey finished dinner. He had just come back in the room when the news channel logo returned.
"Guys, guys," Mikey shouted, "The news dude is back!" He looked around to see all eyes glued to the screen.
"We see that, you dork," Raph said and poked him in the head. The anchor reappeared on the screen, looking harassed but still maintaining an attitude of control and calm.
"Thank you for your patience," the anchor said, "We still have no word yet from Pat Kailin but we are getting footage now from choppers and our satellite."
Suddenly the picture changed again to show a far aerial shot of the city. There was another portal opened, nearly as large as the one that the Technodrome had arrived in a year ago. But this portal seemed to be pulling in multiple objects toward it. Images of objects not anchored down flew into the portal, including huge numbers of Kraang. The screen flicked back to the anchorman.
"We're getting a signal from Pat again," he said excitedly, "Pat, we can hear you. Are you alright?"
"Just fine, Bill," Pat said, "I didn't realize my cameraman was…um…unprepared for the alien response after the attack on the building. But Vernon seems uninjured. However, he is not able to resume filming, so Bern is on point now."
"Thank goodness," Bill said, "What's happening out there?"
"Bill, the aliens are being pulled back through the portal," Pat answered, "And the mission is an E.P.F. victory!"
"See," Mikey said, "I told you it was a cool name."
"Agent Bishop," Pat shouted suddenly. The camera turned and focused on the striding form of Agent Bishop. He was covered in dust and was holding a cloth to his head to stem a flow of blood.
"Miss Kailin," Bishop said irritably, "I'm a bit busy at the moment."
"We just wanted to congratulate you," she said, "New York owes you a huge debt."
Bishop paused to look at the camera and removed his dark glasses. His eyes were a piercing blue. He looked directly into the camera at the television audience, who was undoubtedly starting transfixed at the man.
"It's not done," Bishop said, "But I imagine the aliens will be more cautious knowing we can reverse the polarity of the portal."
"They did what?" Donnie shouted.
"It's an incredible breakthrough," Bishop said, smiling slightly, "My scientists found this portal under the city several months ago, not long after those strange earthquakes. It was rebuilt and we were able to spend the last few months figuring the calculations to engineer the portal to work in reverse."
"An incredible feat of engineering and science," Pat Kailin said, "You should be proud of your team."
"They earned their paychecks today," Bishop said, "Now, please excuse me."
"You heard it here first," Pat Kailin said, "After months of work, training and preparation, the planet Earth can sleep a little easier tonight thanks to its protection force. Now back to you, Bill."
April shut the television off as everyone stared in outrage. Donnie was glaring hard at the blank screen.
"My brother did the same thing months ago," Mikey shouted, "And he did it in seconds."
"No, it's not a big deal, Mikey," Donnie said through gritted teeth.
"Don't worry," Raph said, "When we get back to New York, you'll think circles around those scientists."
"And you'll leave them spinning," April said. Donnie smiled faintly.
"Um, let's have some dinner," April said, "Despite it all, I feel like celebrating a victory."
Mikey and Casey followed her to fix dinner. Donnie turned the TV back on and watched as Bill the anchorman wrapped up the news.
"We'll be back at 9 tonight," Bill said, "With a special replay report of today's exciting attack against the alien invasion. We owe a lot to E.P.F. and Agent Bishop today. We know that the city will fight its way back."
Donnie frowned again. Although he knew that the attack had resulted in the removal of one piece of technology for use by the Kraang, as well as limiting their numbers again, Donnie felt a stab of jealousy that he knew was unjustified. He was a ninja, working in the shadows for the sake of a greater good.
"Rest well tonight, New York," Bill said, "And rest well, Agent Bishop. You and your team have earned it."
"So much for a non-biased reporting," Donnie said and turned the screen off with an angry click.
*()()()*
A few of you have asked about Leo in the last few chapters. You'll see a lot more of him in the chapters ahead. But he is asleep, so he's not going to do much in this story except be a foil for the others to interact off. And pizza cheese sandwiches are really delicious, so you should definitely try them.
Oh, have any of you found the pattern in these chapters yet? See you in the next one!