April coughed violently, spitting blood and dirt. Sounds of confusion, shouts, and running footsteps filled the air around her. Broken glass ground into her palms and knees as she struggled to her feet.
"Angel, get down!"
It was Raphael's voice. His command wasn't addressed to April, but she immediately dropped to her belly. Seconds later, a crossbow bolt buried itself in the dirt only a few inches away.
Turning her head gingerly to the side, she could see Angel lying on the ground nearby. Her mask was gone and her face seethed with rage and pain. The feathered shaft of another bolt protruded from Angel's thigh.
"You're gonna pay for that, you sick bastard!" Raph continued yelling from somewhere behind her.
April crawled toward Angel. The air thickened with smoke; from the smell of it, one or more of the cars ringing the Cage had been set on fire.
On the plus side, maybe the smoke will screen us from whoever's shooting at us, April thought as she reached Angel's side.
"How do we get out of here, Angel? We have to move now."
Angel flopped onto her side and struggled to stand, then sunk back to the dirt with a moan. She didn't seem to notice April beside her. "Damn you, Leonardo…."
"Angel, listen—does Michelangelo have the only key to this cage?"
Angel squeezed her eyes shut and nodded; her hand flexed over the bloody dart sticking out of her leg as though she was about to rip it free. April grabbed her hand and peeled her fingers loose from the shaft.
"Do you want to bleed to death? Leave it alone! Mike will help, if we can just find him. Hold on."
"Don't you see that it's over, April? We're fighting each other. It's a coup. Just a house divided, as my grandma used to say. And you know what happens to a house divided? It falls. That's it." A coughing fit racked her body.
"Who, Angel? Who are the ringleaders? Who started this uprising?"
"Does it matter? From the look of it, whoever they are, they've won over at least half of my men. Our fight was such a joke." She touched the bloody arrow. "They were planning on assassinating me anyway."
The air was growing blacker and more noxious by the second. Were all the cars on fire? April couldn't see the fighters anymore, could only hear the shouts and deathcries of battle. Where the smoke was thinner she could see grey-clad Resistance members battling each other…and then, the official uniform and insignia of Shredder's infantry.
Good God, they've found us.
Bullets raked through the thick air, peppering brick and dirt, metal and flesh alike. Then smoke billowed again, and it was as though she and Angel were alone in a hellish limbo of iron bars and darkness.
April tried to call out Michelangelo's name. She was crouching as close to the ground as possible, away from the worst of the smoke, but still his name came out in a strangled, choking cough. There was no way he'd be able to hear her through the tumult of the battle.
Then she realized she had other problems. A small river of gasoline from one of the destroyed cars was flowing into their cage. April wondered what getting blown to bits felt like.
Suddenly, through the swirling smoke, Leo came into view, and April felt her hopes rise; but then he brought a crossbow up to shoulder-level—aimed it at Angel—
"Leonardo, NO!" April screamed hoarsely.
At that moment, another Leonardo launched himself at the first. April stared as the two identical turtles rolled together in the dust, watching in complete confusion until she remembered about Spader's disguise. It was Spader, not Leo, who had fired the crossbow at Angel. But why was Spades shooting at her?
Leo easily kicked Spader's weapon away, but his opponent responded by drawing a long knife and slashing at Leo's abdomen. April thought she saw her friend clutch at his belly for a brief moment before slicing at Spader's face with his sword, then slashing it across his body. There was a loud pop and crackle as Spader's mask was broken to pieces. His disguise shattered under Leonardo's attack and his familiar lanky form flew backwards, hitting the side of the cage hard. He was unconscious. April was suddenly distracted by wetness around her hands and knees: the gasoline.
"Leo, help!"
Leonardo ran toward her.
"April, you okay?" He pulled out a small blade and jammed it into the lock.
"Yes," she gasped. "But Spader—"
"—is a dead man," Leonardo finished for her grimly.
"Why did he…Angel's hurt badly, Leo."
"I'll have you out in a sec. Bring her over here if you can."
April crawled back to Angel's side. The sound of a nearby explosion caused her to drop to the ground before reaching out and shaking Angel's shoulder.
"C'mon, we've got to get out of here. Can you move at all?"
"A—a little." Angel sounded weak. April took a deep breath and gripped the other woman under the arms. The two half-crawled, half-slithered to where Leo was jimmying the lock.
"I've almost got it," he breathed.
"Don't go near him, Angel!" Raphael loomed out of the smoke.
Raph's leather bomber jacket was missing, revealing hard muscle and a scarred, battle-worn body. He reached back and tightened the knot of his red mask before drawing his sai.
"You shoot at Angel, Leo? You shoot at April? Then you have to deal with me, you sick fuck." With a flip of his wrist Raph beckoned with one sai.
"You moron—it wasn't me! I'm trying to help them!"
The smell of burning fuel hit April's nostrils as Raphael flew toward Leo, spinning a deadly blade toward his brother's neck. Leo ducked beneath the blow, delivering kicks to Raphael's belly and face before swinging his brother over the top of his shell and dumping him in the dirt. Raphael sprang to his feet and charged again. The two brothers clashed weapon to weapon, breathing heavily, feet digging into the dirt, neither willing to give any ground.
"Raphael, Leonardo, stop it!" Angel cried out weakly before collapsing again.
April couldn't wait any longer. She reached through the bars and desperately twisted Leo's dagger, still in the lock. "Come on…" she whispered. It wouldn't budge. A hand closed over hers, ice cold but still strong.
"Let me," came a shuddering voice.
April sat back on her heels as Captain Spader worked on the lock. Behind her the first of the fuel spills flared up, and in the yellow-red light the face of her former friend, her trusted Second, looked ghost-pale and far too old for his age. Then the lock clicked and the door swung open. Spader helped April drag Angel out of the fuel-soaked enclosure, which had become no more than an iron time bomb. Then he staggered, clutching his abdomen; he tried to smile as he fell to the dirt.
Beside him lay Angel, drifting into unconsciousness, her full lips pale with a slight streak of blood at the corner of her mouth.
It was too much: the bad air, her wounded Second, the fighting brothers, a dying enemy…and, from the sounds of it, the last fragments of the Resistance being thrashed by Shredder's street brigades. A few yards away, Leonardo fell as Raphael landed a well-placed punch.
"Raphael! Leonardo! Enough!" April yelled as Raphael dived on top of his brother, only to be launched away by a powerful defensive kick before Leo was back on his feet. Taking up Angel's discarded javelin, April dodged between the battling brothers. They paused, panting, and watched as she lifted the weapon in two hands and broke it over her knee.
"Do you see how useless your fighting is?" she screamed. "Do you see what you are doing? Raphael—take Angel and GO. Get out! Leonardo, go find Michelangelo and help him and the others! Shredder's troops are here and more are probably coming!"
Neither Raphael nor Leonardo moved a muscle. April reached out with the two halves of the javelin and smacked them both on their heads, simultaneously.
"I said go."
Leonardo snorted, stared at Raphael for a long moment, and left in a swirl of black leather. Raph rubbed his head where April had hit him. Then he seemed to notice Angel for the first time.
"Oh God, Angel," he moaned, running to her side.
Her eyes fluttered open as Raphael gently lifted her in his arms, careful not to jostle the deadly bolt in her leg.
"Baby, you'll be okay…you'll be okay," he repeated quietly. One pale hand rose to touch his cheek, and then dropped. April had never seen Raphael this terrified before. "April, get yourself out of here—get to the Vault, the Hospital, anywhere, just run. We'll rendezvous later."
"No," April said quietly. "I've got to help the others. Get Angel to safety, Raph. If you can return and help us, fine. If not—well, you've got your own life to live."
"I won't abandon you, April. Leo's the one who leaves people behind. Leo's the one who left Master Splinter to die, who shot Angel—"
April cut him off mid-rant. "Leonardo didn't shoot Angel, Captain Spader did. Don't let your girlfriend bleed to death tonight because of your stubbornness," she finished before her old friend could respond. Not waiting to see Raphael go, she turned back to Spader, who lay still by the cage.
By some miracle, the fuel-soaked ground hadn't ignited yet. April dropped to the wet dirt by Spader's side. A widening pool of darkness spread out from under his belly as the lifeblood drained away. She took him by the shoulders and gently turned him over, hoping—but Leonardo had done his work too well.
"Hey," he breathed. "Sorry."
"Where'd you learn to pick locks like that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light, but it was shaking badly. "You saved our lives."
"Eagle Scout," he slurred, eyes fluttering closed again. She realized she liked seeing his face without the mask. A lump started to rise in her throat.
"Spader, why? Why were you shooting at us?" Her voice was raw with hurt and betrayal, and then realization dawned. "You're Raph's leak, aren't you? You're one of Shredder's men: a double agent!" Her suspicions grew. "Did you throw that shuriken at me too?"
His breath grew shallower, and he coughed slightly at this—she realized he was laughing.
"No double agent. A lot of us agreed…Angel was—hurting the Movement—needed better leader. Needed to win the game." He gazed up at her with a face full of regret. "The shuriken was supposed to hit Angel. I fail as a ninja." Spades tried to laugh again but it came out as a wheeze. With a great deal of effort he brought his hand up and laid it on her shoulder. "It's your turn, April."
"C'mon, I've got to get you out of here," she murmured, trying to lift him by the shoulders.
"No." He was having great difficulty speaking. "Sword," he whispered. "Over there. It's time."
The soft sound of his last breath escaping him was lost as a fresh chorus of screams erupted in the alley beyond. April turned and saw Casey's discarded golf bag lying a few feet away, the dark hilt of the katana just visible inside. She lowered Spader's body gently to the ground before crawling to the bag and grabbing hold of the sword. Standing, she slung the golf bag over her shoulders and pulled the blade from its sheath.
"I'm sorry, friend," she whispered, before turning toward the battle beyond.
She did not turn around when she heard the roar of flames behind her. She didn't want to see his body taken that way.
Michelangelo came running toward her, coughing and choking in the toxic air. "April! Thank God!"
"Michelangelo, what's happening?"
"Back there, in the alley—half our force has been pinned down by an attachment of Shredder's troops. The Commandos got separated from the rest of us; I think they escaped to the river. The rest—the ones against Angel—deserted."
"Status of those in the alley?"
"Bad shape, most of 'em. Leo just came to help, told me you were here—I came to get you to safety."
Several rounds of automatic fire bit through the night air. Far away April could hear raid sirens…the Karai bots would be here any minute…
"I think it's time we hit the sewers again, Mikey. What do you say? Is there any way we can evacuate everyone down there?"
He thought for a moment. "There is an access point at the end of the alley. It could work, but only if we have a strong enough rearguard to give everyone enough time to get away. There are so many injured—"
"Leo and I can gather those healthy enough to fight; the rest will need you to guide them underground. Mike, it will be better if we disperse for a while—no one goes back to base until we make sure it's safe."
Michelangelo inclined his head slightly, twirling his nunchuck nervously. "What about Spades?"
April found she could only shake her head, feeling a pang in her stomach as Mike's face registered the news.
"Okay," he said quickly, passing his hand across his eyes. "Okay, we have to get back. They need us. They need you." Suddenly, in the midst of the blood and flames, he bowed low before April. "General."