Chapter 18:

"Mikey!" Raphael yelled as he saw his brother fall into a dumpster from Hun's throw. He ran toward the fight as the lid shut tight over his younger brother. Three purple dragons surrounded him and stopped him before he could get to the dumpster. He smirked at their attempt to stop him and spun his sais, "Ready for a little payback, boys?"

Leonardo quickly followed once he saw the fight unfolding. He unsheathed his weapons and noticed that more purple dragons were beginning to file around Hun. It didn't look like they were actually looking for them. Maybe they ran into them while they were running yet another errand for their new boss.

"Out trying to get rid of more evidence, Hun?" Leonardo asked and jumped toward his head only to get knocked back by his large arm armor.

"Not the only thing we got planned for tonight, reptile," he smirked.

"What-?" Leonardo was caught off as the large wolf mutant jumped over Hun's head and straight into Leonardo's chest. He flew back and hit the opposite building. The monster stood over him and sniffed at his face.

It started to growl in a way that resembled smug laughter, "What do you think you could do against me?"

"More than you think," Leonardo said through gritted teeth.

Michelangelo pushed the top of the dumpster up and rubbed the back of his head that had hit the inside of the dumpster, "Does Hun have a license plate? 'Cause it felt like I got hit by the city bus."

He shook his head and flipped out of the dumpster. He saw Raphael finishing up with a few of the purple thugs while Hun overlooked a pinned down Leonardo and the wolfman going at it.

"That doesn't look fair," Michelangelo frowned and looked back at the dumpster he just got out of. He ran behind it and pushed it toward Hun, "Hey Hun! Special delivery just for you!"

"What?" Hun turned his head just in time to see a large dumpster hit him behind the legs and fell into the trash.

"Payback… it can be a bit trashy," Michelangelo smiled and then turned to the monster still holding down Leonardo. He jumped before he reached them and delivered a hit to the monster's face as it turned to him. It rolled off of Leonardo who rolled away quickly and got a better grip on his katanas. The monster turned quickly and surprised Michelangelo quick enough to bring him to the ground. It bit around his shell and began to shake his head which made Michelangelo swing back and forth like a rag doll. He tried to hit at its nose, but it had too good of a grip at the top of his shell.

Meanwhile, Raphael finished up with the last of the purple dragons that tried to stop him. He wiped his hands and turned to the dumpster that Michelangelo had hit Hun with. Hun suddenly burst from the dumpster with a loud yell. He looked at Raphael fueled with rage and began to charge. Raphael flipped over his head easily and landed on the other side of him as Hun hit a brick wall.

"Losing your touch, Hun," Raphael chuckled and walked toward him.

Hun's hand shot out and grabbed Raphael by his throat. He stood up and held Raphael over his head, "I should have ended your life when I had a chance. I guess tonight will have to do. We have something to finish."

Raphael stuck one of his sais into his arm which made him drop him back to the ground. He popped his neck and narrowed his eyes at Hun, "Boy, don't we."

Leonardo ran at the monster that held Michelangelo by his shell by the nape of the neck and sliced the monster's arm that held his brother. The mutant howled in pain and Leonardo helped Michelangelo gain his balance and coordination.

"Thanks for the help," Michelangelo clutched at his head and then gripped at his nunchakus, "I was starting to feel like a chew toy."

"You pretty much were," Leonardo looked at the mutant who began to recover from the cut to his arm, "You ready to go at him again?"

"Let's do it," Michelangelo nodded and they both rushed at it.

They both hit and sliced at the mutant until they had him up against the wall. It growled, snarled and howled at them as it tried to find a way to squeeze past them and into an open area. Being in a closed off area as he was, he didn't have the room to fight back. He was outmaneuvered and he hated the feeling. He was the predator, not these stupid, weak reptiles.

"We're more than what you think," Leonardo said to it as he barely grazed the creature's back leg.

"So am I and my associates," the monster growled and looked over their heads.

Michelangelo looked back just in time to see Raphael sail through the air and directly at him and Leonardo. Before he could move, Raphael hit them both, took them to the ground and then into the side of the building. They all fell into one pile on the ground in a mess of limbs and dead weight. On the other side of the fight Hun stood with an arm swung forward from him tossing Raphael. He stood up straight and began to wrap his arm where Raphael had stabbed him.

"Down again," Hun said as he walked over and looked at the three on the ground.

"Let's get this finished," the mutant growled, "Get them packed up. We have one more that we need to take care of."

Analise gasped loudly and gripped at her side where she felt a dull pain. She hissed and put pressure where the pain began to fade.

Deidra looked over at her friend as they crossed the middle of the campus back toward the Battleshell, "What's wrong?"

"Something…" she let go of her side and closed her eyes tightly. She tried to pinpoint what was wrong, why she was feeling such pain. She knew the feeling well enough to know it wasn't her own pain she was feeling. But the pain of someone she cared deeply for and made a connection to. She saw an alleyway. A very old alleyway with what looked like new blood. She saw weapons being thrown from the shadows and some very familiar nunchakus, "Something with the guys."

"They can handle themselves," Deidra said with a hand on her shoulder. Analise took a breath to continue, but the shell cell on Deidra's belt began to vibrate. She opened it up and looked down at a stressed looking Donatello, "What's up, Don?"

"Get back to the van, girls. Now," Donatello finished and then the screen went dark.

"That didn't leave room for any discussion," Deidra looked at her friend who had a determined look on her face.

"I told you something was wrong," she said before she began to run back toward the right parking lot. She knew there was something wrong with Michelangelo and she will do everything in her power to make it right.

"Donnie, what's wrong?" Analise asked as she opened the side of the Battleshell and jumped in with Deidra not too far behind. Deidra shut the door just in case anybody passing by may hear them.

Donatello held up a hand to tell the girls to be quiet for a moment, "Guys! Do you copy? What happened?"

Analise began to wring her own hands in worry and Deidra didn't like the picture in front of her. Donatello yelled a few more times into the head set until he sighed loudly and then looked at the girls to his side.

"What's going on, Don?" Deidra asked in a slow, but serious tone.

"Hun and the mutant caught the others in a trap," he took the headset off and placed it on the counter in front of him. He stood up and began to adjust his bo staff against his shell, "They need help and I'm going to do just that."

"Let's go then," Analise turned to the front of the Battleshell ready to drive wherever they may need to go.

"I'm going," he emphasized and then looked pointedly at both of the girls, "You take the Battleshell back to the lair. Tell Splinter what's going on and get a hold of April and Casey."

"But we can fight!" Deidra took a step toward him and put a hand to her chest. She frowned when he didn't respond and poked him in the shoulder, "When will you guys stop acting like we can't?"

Donatello sighed in a bit of aggravation, "Like Leo said, you two are a distraction. Pure and simple. The others aren't going to focus on getting home safe if you two are in danger out there."

Both girls looked at one another with a furrow to their brows and then looked back at Donatello.

"Get back to the lair," he added and put a smaller headset on, "I will be in touch with you through the whole thing. We will find them and bring them back home."

"You better," Analise said, "Because if we have to go out there and drag your sorry shells back home, I will not be as gentle of a nurse maid as Deidra was with Raph."

"And Hell knows I am not patching him back up if he is stupid enough to injure himself like that again," Deidra smirked and looked toward Donatello, "Tell him that, would ya?"

"I'd be happy to," he nodded and opened the side panel of the Battleshell, "I'm on channel three."

Deidra had to stop herself from following him. Her instinct said to go to the fight anyway. They were her friends, recently attained friends, but friends and fellow students as well. She wasn't going to turn her back on them.

As if she knew her way of thinking, Analise put her hand on Deidra's shoulder to stop her from going out the door, "Let's go. We can be more help back at the lair."

"How are we going to help them by sitting in the lair and twiddling our thumbs?" Deidra frowned as she turned to Analise.

"I don't know to tell you the truth. And I also have a huge urge to follow him to the others as well," she paused and got into the driver's seat as Deidra followed. They both put on their seat belts and Analise turned on the engine and began to get a feel for the vehicle.

"So what's stopping you?" Deidra asked when she noticed Analise's tension. She knew enough that it wasn't for driving the Battleshell for the first time.

"Donnie was right," she said simply and pulled out from the parking lot, "We would be more of a distraction than anything else. If they are going up against Hun and that mutant they don't need us out there grabbing their attention."

"How?"

"Because I know that you and Mikey would be first on my mind out there. Not myself. They probably have the same thoughts. Sure you two can take care of yourselves and I know that. But that wouldn't stop me from worrying."

"You girls hear me okay?" Donatello asked over the radio.

"Loud and clear," Deidra spoke into the mouth piece connected to the dashboard, "On our way to the lair now."

Donatello followed the last transmission with his brothers to the part of the neighborhood that they were in. He scanned the immediate area and then saw something in the entranceway of an alley. He ran over and saw one of Raphael's sais on the ground.

"Raph never lets these out of his sight," he said quietly and looked into the alley. He saw signs of a large fight. Blood and hair was scattered around the area, along with some pretty decent sized holes and cracks in the dumpsters and walls, "Where are they?"

Something shifted behind him and he turned to see the mutant had blocked his way out, "Find your brothers yet?"

"Where are they?" he pulled his bo staff off his back and stared down the mutant.

"You'll join them soon enough," he shrugged his shoulders.

Hun jumped down from one of the fire escapes and straight onto Donatello's back. He knocked the air out of him and then hit him in the back of the head. Donatello grunted and then fell face first into the street below him. Hun "humphed" and stood up with disappointment written on his face.

"You would think that it would have been more of a challenge."

"This is what happens when you get too connected to others," the mutant rolled his eyes, "You get soft and stupid. Let's get him with the others. They should all be up soon."

"That was one major throw," Michelangelo grunted and opened his eyes to find all three of his brothers. They too were waking up and rubbed their heads or necks to work out the kinks. Each one of them were in their own container set side by side so they could still see one another.

"How the hell did Hun get the drop on us?" Raphael growled and pushed himself off the ground and felt the side of the container he was trapped in.

"He teamed up with a mad scientist," Michelangelo felt it was up to him to answer his brother's question.

"Yeah, thanks," Raphael frowned and looked over to Donatello, "When do you join the party?"

"Not too long after you guys broke communication with me."

"Not really our choice," Leonardo explained.

"Not mine either, believe me", Donatello placed his hand against the container's side and then ran his hand across the surface, "The girls are probably going nuts."

"Where are they?" Michelangelo and Raphael both echoed one another.

"They drove the Battleshell back to the lair. And probably mad as all hell that I broke communication with them," he sighed and pulled his hand from the container side.

Leonardo got as close as he could to his brother, "What do you make of it, Donnie?"

"I think it's glass," he paused and looked at the corners.

"Then it can break," Raphael said and launched himself at one side of his unit. He hit the side hard and then bounced right back off and fell into the other side. He grunted at the impact and rubbed his arm that he knew would be having a new bruise to add to his growing collection.

"That went well," Michelangelo said unenthusiastically.

"You won't get out that easy," a small feminine voice said from the side of them. They all turned to see a large bed and a figure sitting on top of it. They knew that it was female and she held a sheet up to her. Light fur covered the pieces of the body that they did see. Her muzzle protruded out a little and quivered a little as she talked.

"Another mutant?" Donatello asked and pointed to her.

"A human…" she answered, "Or what's left of one."

"Miss Velmont?" Leonardo asked and pressed a hand against the glass.

She smiled a little in the fact that someone could still recognize her. Even if they seemed to be giant, walking, talking turtles. Her smiled automatically faltered and she looked down at the sheets she was clutching, "He will kill you, you know."

"Not if we have any say in it," Leonardo said and narrowed his eyes toward her.

"You don't," the mutant they fought earlier entered the room and looked toward the bed, "Sweetheart, don't talk with the experiments. You'll get attached too easily."

She shivered and leaned away from him.

"Experiments?" Leonardo asked and watched as the mutant walked calmly over to a small tray near their containments.

"Exactly," he smiled and picked up a large needle with some kind of purple substance in it, "Let's begin, shall we?"

Before anyone could answer a bed popped up out from below the floor and propelled Michelangelo into the air. Before he knew it he was strapped down to the bed by large leather straps that wound around his wrists, ankles and midsection. He struggled a little against them as his brothers pounded on the side of their containers.

"You are the one killing the girls," Donatello said and watched the mutant put the needle down only to don a lab coat, "You are the killer. The one who killed the real Alfred and took his identity."

"At your service."

"You turned yourself into a mutant?" Raphael asked and pointed to him.

"Only when I need it," it turned back to the tray and picked the needle back up again. He made sure to mutate his hands back into human ones to illustrate his power over his own structure, "It could be such a hard time trying to find prey when I look like this all the time. I need the human touch every once in a while."

"How?"

"With tests… lots and lots of tests," he said and walked toward Michelangelo's container once more, "Tragically I have been the only one strong enough to be in control of my own physical changes. No one else has made it back to human."

The mutant opened the side of his container easily and walked in toward him. He tapped the side of the needle and squeezed the plunger to shoot some of the solution into the air. He looked down at Michelangelo who was eyeing the needle.

"But it makes me wonder. If I can turn humans more animal…" he paused and wiped at a part of Michelangelo's shoulder, "…maybe I can turn you strong mutants into weaker beings."

"What?" Michelangelo's eyes grew as the needle came closer.

"Or have you die trying," the mutant shoved the needle into his arm.

Michelangelo screamed as the solution ran through his arm and burned every vein that it passed. The burning didn't stop until he passed out- his brothers yelling for him in his mind.