Ch. 3-The Rescue

The Krang dragged Raph to the cell where the others were being held, tossing him roughly inside. Splinter and the others approached the fourth turtle as he sat up. Leo stared at his younger brother disappointedly. "Nice job, Raph. Great job storming this place without a plan and getting yourself caught!"

"I came here to rescue you."

"Yeah, well you did a lousy job! Now we're really trapped here!" The blue-banded turtle yelled in frustration.

All of a sudden the alarms went off in the Krang base and the bots that had been guarding the cell looked at each other and then there was an announcement throughout the ship "All Krang report to the south sector. That which is known as a breach has been reported."

Casey, April, Splinter and the turtles all stared at Raphael, who smirked from his seat on the floor. Their questioning gaze melted into one of shock and the temperamental turtle replied, "What?! Leo's the one who assumed we didn't have a plan!"

"Just what is this plan, my son?" Splinter asked.

Casey realized something and blurted out, "We? Who did you bring with you?"

Raph smirked. "You'll get your answers. But first, phase two should be commencing right…about…now." A boom echoed through the air and the entire ship began to shake.

"Whoa, nice counting bro!" Mikey stated enthusiastically as they all looked into the hall to try and see what was happening. When they turned back around Raph was gone. "Uh…Bro?" Then they saw him near the door, holding something small and thin in his hands. It was white and metallic, probably only about three inches long, and when he pressed a button it started cutting into the metal wall.

Raph pulled the compact laser from under his elbow pad and moved over to the left hand side of the cell door, using the laser to cut out a large chunk of the cell wall. He dug his fingers into the cut and yanked it off before casting it aside. "Raph? What are you doing?" Leo asked.

"What's it look like, Fearless? I'm breaking us out!"

The turtle's exchanged glances, and Leo whispered to Donatello. "Wouldn't it better if you tried to do it?"

"I don't think so, Leo. Raph knew exactly where to cut to the wall so he could get at the wires. This was probably all part of his plan." Leonardo nodded, still slightly nervous as he watched Raph fiddle with the lock.

The hotheaded turtle stared, all the different colored wires making his brain feel like it was about to explode. Just relax, Raph. You can do this. It's red, green and gray. Red, green and gray. You got this. He found the red and yanked it without hesitation. The green suffered the same fate, but when he got to the gray he had a problem. There were two gray wires, one on top of the other. Pulling the wrong wire will set the door's automatic lock. Mona's voice echoed in his head. Sweat ran down his brow as he grabbed the top wire and yanked it out with all his strength. The cell door went up and he sighed in relief. His eldest brother clapped him on the shoulder. "Good job, Raph. Come on let's go."

Four turtles, two humans and a rat ran out of the cell and to the right. They screeched to a halt when Raphael's voice came up from behind them. "Wrong way, guys."

"This is the way they took us in, Raph; it's the same way we're getting out!" Leo said frustrated by his need to escape the Krang ship.

"You're the one who likes plans, Leo, and the plan is we go this way!" The hot-headed turtle was slowly losing his cool and he pointed in the opposite direction.

"How do you know that we won't be walking right back into a trap?"

"You're just gonna have to trust me." He answered, his bright green eyes on fire.

"Fine. Let's go." Leo consented.

Raphael led them down the corridor, peeked around the corner cautiously and took a right. Two more rights and a left, and they heard the sound of a scuffle. The seven of them rounded the corner and, with the exception of Raph, stared in shock.

It was Mona! And she was fighting the Krang! She'd already taken down most of them, by the looks of it. But one of them had managed to restrain her and another was pointing a blaster at her head. The red-banded turtle jumped into the fray with a growl of fury, kicking the blaster-wielding Krang to the ground. The female mutant used the distraction to her advantage and reversed the Krang unit's hold on her, pinning it to the floor.

"You brought her here? Raph, that was incredibly stupid! She's the reason why they captured us in the first place!" The red-masked turtle ignored his older brother's scolding and went over to his girlfriend.

Raphael offered a hand to help her up, and the others exchanged glances. She accepted it and he pulled up. Then she whacked him on the upside of the head.

"Nice to see you too." He grumbled dryly. "Mind telling me what that was for?"

"You're late." She stated and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah by like thirty seconds." He muttered.

"And every second we waste decreases out chances." She said sternly.

"Well, I'm sorry, okay? I did the best I could given the circumstances." His brothers stared, Raph apologizing just like that? It just isn't possible… "So what's the best way out of here?"

"The West entrance where I set the bomb is probably swarming with Krang. Krang Prime is between here and the north exit, which means there will be extra guards down that way. Their safest bet would be the eastern entrance. From here head straight down the corridor. When you reach a dead end, turn right. Head for the release elevator." The lizard mutant bent down and yanked a head off one of the Krang droids. "Use this for the retinal recognition scanner. Take it to level 99. That will release you directly outside your sub."

"You got that, guys?" Raph asked and Donnie nodded.

"Wait, why are you telling us this? You'll be the one leading the…" The blue-masked turtle stopped when he realized what was going on.

"We're not going with you, Leo." Raph said softly. Master Splinter looked from his second son, to the young female mutant standing beside him and nodded in understanding.

"What are you going to do, bro?" The youngest turtle asked.

"You should go with your family, Raphael. It is obvious that they aren't comfortable with-"

"No." All eyes went to hot-headed turtle, "This was all part of our plan. We made an agreement, Mona Lisa. I'm not backing out now."

There was no use arguing. She could see the determination shining in those brilliant green eyes. "Time to put phase three into action. You know what to do." He nodded. The brunette lizard pulled his sais from her belt and handed them to him. Raphael spun them twice and stuck them in his belt. He was about to turn away when she called, "Heads up." She threw him something small and metallic. The red-masked turtle caught it and raised an eye-ridge. It was one of her miniature boomerangs. "For luck."

Raphael grinned. "Thanks. I'm gonna need it." He walked over to her and handed her a shuriken. "Figure I might as well return the gesture."

Both of them ignored the youngest as he murmured, "Aww, that is so adorable."

"Thanks for the gift." She replied sarcastically.

"Oh it ain't a gift, I'm gonna want it back as soon as this mission is over." The muscular turtle said with a grin.

"And Raph?" Mona Lisa said softly, prompting Raph to look her in the eyes. "Be careful."

"Aren't I always?" He said with a smirk.

Her face went blank and her lips pressed into a thin line, "No."

Raph grinned. "Touché."

Mona Lisa face-palmed dramatically and groaned, "You're impossible."

"But you like me that way." He retorted with a grin.

She sighed but didn't deny it and the red-banded turtle grinned. Mona turned her attention back to the others. "You seven, get out of here, take the sub. Raph and I are going to destroy the Technodrome."

"What?! But how are you going to get out of here?" Leo asked nervously.

Mona was about to answer when Raphael did it for her. "Hardcore style bro. We're gonna swim." He said excitedly smashing his fist into his palm.

"That's impossible the odds of you two surviving are-" Donatello began.

The lizard mutant cut him off, "Don't tell me the odds. We'll be fine, Don. I promise." There was a long silence.

Finally Leo nodded. "Donnie, you got the directions, lead the way."

They began to head off, but not before Casey went over to his best bud and clapped him on the shoulder. The human teenager didn't have to say anything. Raph could read the expression on his face. Mikey ran over to his older brother and gave him a one-way hug. "Get going, ya goofball." Raph muttered and with that he was gone.

The only remaining turtle turned to his lizard companion. "So, shall we?" Mona nodded. And they headed off in opposite directions.