Really, really wanted to update sooner, but had to work on this extremely long paper and then give a presentation on it. And now I'm done! So I'm really happy. :D Wanted to give you awesome readers an update about the delay, but that would most likely have meant an author's note, and aside from being against the rules those are pretty unfair. You think you're getting a new chapter and you aren't. So, sorry for the wait. Anyway, the story returns!
CHAPTER EIGHT
Donnie raced down the hallway, glancing down at his map and trying with all his will to ignore the alarming fact that no one was coming to investigate the "renovations" that had destroyed the window.
He was starting to regret coming to the building at all. If he hadn't tried being Raph, he wouldn't have run into the exo-suit, and he wouldn't have felt compelled to rescue his brothers right away.
"Alright, down this hallway," Don said to himself, turning left. This hallway was darker than the first one. It was as if someone had turned off the electricity in this whole section of the building.
As he ran down the new hallway, Don began reaching for the doors. He slid to a stop in front of the fifth one and fiddled with the electronic lock for a long time-about ten seconds-before he finally cracked the complicated code and opened the door.
"Dude, it's in the middle of the night!" Mikey complained, sounding fairly groggy.
"What do you want, Bishop?" Leo asked, sounding wide awake.
"To find the light switch," Donnie said, reaching along the inside wall.
"Donnie?" Leo asked, "Is that you?"
"Of course it's me. Who else would it be?" Donnie said, finding the light switch.
The other two turtles cried out in surprise as Donnie switched on the light. The room was cold, and the turtles in it looked tired, but overall Donatello was pleased to note that they seemed to be in good health.
"Donnie," said Mikey, watching Don come up to examine the chain linking him to the wall, "How'd you get here?"
"I'll explain everything later," said Donnie, "Leo, do you know where the keys are?"
"Just outside the door, third hook on the right." Leo said.
Mikey shot Leo a strange look, silently asking his brother how he knew that information. Leo didn't answer, but Donnie left the room and returned with the keys mere seconds later.
"Come on, we've got to get out of here," Donnie said, unlocking Leo first, "I ran into Bishop's exo-suit outside, and disrupting its neural system won't hold it back for long. Plus, we've got to find Raph. Do you guys know where he is?"
"No," said Leo, rubbing his hands that were finally free of the chains, "Bishop wouldn't tell us. So what's the plan, Don?"
"The plan? Find Raph and get out." Donnie said, unlocking Mikey next.
"That's it?" Mikey asked, rubbing his hands just like Leo had done, "Don't you usually come up with more complicated stuff than that?"
"That's just what Bishop was looking for," Donnie said, leading them out the door, "I had to find you guys and get in here without using computers or any technology."
"What?" Leo asked, "How did you do that?"
"And how'd you print off that map?" Mikey asked, pointing to the forgotten map in Donnie's hands.
"Um, I kinda had help," said Don, folding up the map and placing it in his belt, "And Leo, before I forget, I kinda made a deal with Karai."
"What kind of deal?" Leo asked, narrowing his eyes.
"She knew what room you were in," Donnie said, "She told me everything she knew in return for…"
"For what?" Leo asked. His eyes widened. "Not…oh no. Please, Donnie, tell me it wasn't the sword!"
"It was the sword." Donnie said abruptly.
"Donatello! How could you?" Leo asked, "You know how important that swo-"
"Um, guys, don't we have to hurry or something?" Mikey interrupted.
"Mikey's right," Donnie said, "We have to get out of here before-"
But Donnie was rudely interrupted as a dart dug itself into the wall behind him, just barely missed his face.
Turning around, all three turtles gasped.
"Before that," Donnie said.
At the other end of the hallway, the cyborg was slowly starting to walk towards them.
"You guys search the building for Raph," Leo said, "I'll hold him off!"
"Leo, wait!" Donnie said, "You don't have your weapons!"
Another dart shot through the air, once again just barely missing Donnie's face. He gasped, and the turtles all started running away from the maniac.
"What now?" Don asked Leo.
"We find a way out," Leo said, leading the way, "We regroup, find where they're keeping Raph, and come back."
"No one knows where he's being kept," Donnie said, "Not even Karai. Shell, Raph won't even tell me."
"What do you mean by that?" Mikey asked, "Have you talked to Raph?"
"Don, where is the way out?" Leo interrupted.
"I came in through a window, but to get there we'd have to get past the suit," Don said.
Don would have answered Mikey's question, but another dart shot by, just barely missing his arm.
"We have to hurry," Leo said, "This way!"
They raced towards a stairwell marked "exit," which ensured temporary freedom. Unfortunately, their freedom was cut short when a small bomb blasted the entrance, making it impassable.
"On second thought," Leo said, "This way!"
He continued them down the hallway, until a barrage of bullets from behind caused the roof just in front of them to cave into the hallway.
"The door!" Donnie , who was closest, grabbed at the nearest door. Surprisingly, it opened, and all three turtles burst into the room.
"Just great," said Leo, closing the door behind him, "It's a closet."
"These look familiar though," Mikey said, picking up Leo's swords off a bookshelf.
"My swords!" Leo said, taking them from Mikey.
"And your nunchucks, Mikey," Don said, handing his brother his weapons.
"My babies! I missed you," Mikey said, kissing his weapons.
"At least we'll have some kind of defense," Don said, "The suit will be here any second."
"Yeah, what's taking it so long? It looked faster earlier," Mikey said.
"That guard practically herded us here," Leo said, "He probably trapped us here on purpose to ambush us."
"With our weapons?" Mikey asked, "Doesn't that give us an advantage?"
"Unfortunately, even with our weapons it's still far too strong." Donnie paused. "Wait. Leo, did you just say 'he'?"
"Yeah. There's a guy in the suit, Donnie, Bishop said so." Mikey said, twirling his weapons.
"That doesn't make sense," Donnie said.
"What doesn't make sense?" Leo asked.
But before Don could answer, a fist punched through the door.
"Get back, Leo!" Mikey shouted.
Leo stepped back just as the door fell apart-on the cyborg. The suit stepped back, stumbling with the weight of the door. The metallic fist and a pair of feet were all that Leo, Don and Mikey could see of the exo-suit, the rest was blocked by the wooden door.
Taking advantage of the situation, all three turtles burst from the room into the hallway and began running. Donnie took the lead, heading them back towards the window that might be their only exit. A few bullets and darts hit the walls beside them, alerting them all to the fact that the enemy was up and moving again.
"Hurry, Donnie!" Leo shouted.
Another dart shot past them, barely missed hitting Donnie's hand.
"Um, guys," Mikey said, "Is it just me, or is that guy only targeting Don?"
"I'm guessing it was programmed only for me," Don said, avoiding another dart.
"You know," said Mikey, "That guy has really bad aim."
"Not the time Mikey," Leo said, not panting at all as he ran, "Don! Which way is out?"
"The window is just ahead," Donnie said, turning around the corner.
The three turtles raced through the hallway, running along the side of the walls every so often to try to arrive at their destination faster. At some point they lost their pursuer. Either that, or the suit was toying with them.
"That was my way in," Don said, pointing to the window.
"You blew up the window to get in the building? Cool!" Mikey said.
"Not exactly your style, but it works," Leo said.
They ran towards the window, intent on escaping before the cyborg could catch up to them. That is, until Donnie realized something.
"Wait!" Donnie said, stopping them with his arms just before they could jump out the window, "Something's wrong!"
"Huh?" Mikey asked.
"Don," said Leo.
"No, think about it," Donnie said, "If the suit has a person in it, why hasn't he hit us yet?"
"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.
"It's just a program," Donnie said, "Don't you see? It's not calibrated right, so it keeps missing us when it shoots."
"Don, Bishop said that one of his pals was in that suit," Mikey said.
"Bishop lied," Donnie said, "If that suit was one of Bishop's men, it wouldn't be missing us when it shoots. Think about it. Why would one of Bishop's people miss? You two get out of here, and I'll lead him off our trail. Alright?"
"There's no way we're leaving you here," Leo said.
"Do you want to get out of here before Bishop finds us?" Donnie asked, "Don't worry; I'll meet up with you later. That thing is only programmed to go after me, so it will be easy for me to lead it away from you."
"Sorry Don," Mikey said, "We're not going without you."
"Yes, you are," Donnie said, frowning.
At that moment, the suit came into view again.
"Sorry Don," Leo said, brandishing his swords, "Looks like no one is leaving after all!"
The suit raised its arms, and the three turtles tensed.
"Anybody got any bright ideas?" Leo asked.
"Ummm, don't get shot?" Mikey answered.
The suit surged forward, and Leo was the first to defend. However, the suit seemed to anticipate his every move. And after the first few seconds, Leo realized how strong the armor was.
"Um, guys, I might not be able to hold him off for long," Leo said, working his swords harder.
Suddenly, Donnie's shellcell rang.
"Man, April has some sense of timing," Mikey said, jumping in to help Leo.
"It's not April," Donnie said, answering the phone, "Bad timing Raph, can I call you back?"
"Raph?" Leo asked, frowning as his sword caused too little damage to the special armor. "Is that Raphael? Try to find out where he's being held, Donnie."
"Wasn't Raph's shellcell destroyed when he was captured, like ours were?" Mikey asked, attacking the suit from behind.
"Listen Donnie," Raph said over the phone, "Ya gotta listen to me, and do exactly as I say, alright?"
"Um, sure," Donnie said, "But I'm not at the Hotel right now."
Leo and Mikey paused the battle to briefly look at each other. They could only hear Donnie's part of the conversation.
"Hotel? What Hotel?" Mikey asked. But the suit grabbed him by the foot and swung him across the room, so his question would have to wait.
"I know that," Raph said, answering Donnie, "And by the way, sneaking in like that was real stupid of you. How are ya planning to get everyone out?"
"I wasn't! I was just taking your advice," Donnie said.
"Yeah, but not like that!" Raph practically shouted.
"Well how else was I supposed to take it?" Donnie asked, "You know what, don't answer that. I'm kinda in the middle of something. Call me in a few minutes, okay?"
"Don't hang up! It's important," Raph said.
"Raph," said Donnie, "Tell me what's happening."
"Can't."
"Why not?" Donnie asked, watching the suit battle his brothers. Mikey was back in the battle, trying to attack the head, and Leo had just lost one of his swords to the other end of the room.
"Can't tell you that either."
"Not helping, Raph."
"I've been tryin'!" Raph said, sounding frustrated, "It won't come out. I just can't say it."
"O-kay," said Donnie, watching as Leo lost his other sword and began fighting with hand-to-hand combat, "What do you want me to do?"
"I need ya to take care of something," Raph said, "Then stop the sss-uh, the thing by freezing it like ya did earlier."
"The…what?" Donnie asked, "Are you talking about the exo-suit?"
How did his brother know how he had defeated the suit?
"Yeah, that," said Raph, "Listen, I need ya to be quick alright?"
"Alright. But what do you want me to do?" Donnie asked.
"Take care of this," said Raph, "it might help."
"This?" Donnie asked.
"Yeah, this. Catch." said Raph.
The exo-suit broke its left arm free from Leo's hold and threw something at Donnie. Reflexively, Donnie caught it. It was a small piece of machinery, and it fit right into his hand.
He stared at the technology, and then at the exo-suit in front of him that his brothers were fighting. And Donnie's eyes went wide.