Merry Christmas! I hope all you readers had a great day today! Wow, sorry this chapter took so long. School and work took up all my time, and instead of writing stories I was writing essays. So here is the last chapter. I am planning an epilogue to tie up a few loose ends, and give me a chance to correct potential grammer mistakes within this chapter. Thank you all you readers/reviewers/favoriters! Over 100 reviews! Completely made my day :D
And, because I apparently didn't say it enough and it needs to be said again, Merry Christmas!
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"No," said Bishop, watching the building as it slowly burned to the ground, "No, no, no! This can't be happening!"
"All our projects, down the drain," one of Bishop's men sighed, "Worse, there's no sign of the only operating exosuit. The guard was in the building at the time of the explosion…"
"It appears to have been caused by an overload of the Utrom power source," one of Bishop's people said sadly, looking through his computer, "Probably caused by Donatello. That's means we've lost all means of creating anything with Utrom technology, including exosuits."
"Wait, those things were made with Utrom tech?" Leo asked, surveying the building from his position, a safe distance away from Bishop. Mikey looked equally surprised, but didn't say anything.
"I can't believe it," Leo continued, "You're willing to experiment with Utrom technology on your own guards?"
"Dude, very bad idea," Mikey said, tsking.
"Not quite," Bishop smirked, "It is certainly not without its advantages."
"What do you mean by that?" Mikey asked.
"You'll soon find out," Bishop said, listening to the sound of sirens that was slowly filling the air, "Fall back, men, to our secondary headquarters. We'll obtain the last two turtles later."
As firetrucks reached the nearby burning building, Bishop's crew on the roof began running towards the fire escape.
"See you soon, turtles," Bishop taunted, "Remember, I have eyes all over the city. And it won't be so difficult to find you, now that I only have to keep track of two turtles."
"Huh?" Mikey asked.
Bishop outright laughed. "Are you really that naïve?" He said, "I happen to know that both your brothers were in that building." With that parting remark, Bishop disappeared down the side of the building.
Mikey moved to run after him, but Leo stopped him with one hand on his shoulder.
"Leo," Mikey said, turning to look at his brother over his shoulder, "Shouldn't we go after him?"
"No," said Leo, "Don and Raph might need our help..." He looked towards the burning building.
"Oh man…" Mikey began, his eyes widening, "We've got to make sure they're alright!"
"That won't be necessary, guys," said a new voice.
"Donatello!" Leo said, turning around.
"Dude," Mikey said, reaching his brother before Leo did, "Are you alright? Is Raph alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine," said Donnie, taking deep breaths, "Raph isn't in there anymore. And I'm just… a little winded, that's all."
"What did you do?" Leo asked.
"Ran up all the…stairs in this building to avoid Bishop. Did you know this place is as tall as-? You know what, nevermind. Ran all the way up. And before that I…kinda blew up that building over there," Donnie grinned, gesturing to the burning building that had previously been Bishop's headquarters.
"Whoa," Mikey said, looking at the burning building.
"Don, don't scare us like that," said Leo, "First running away from us in the middle of the night, then disappearing like that on the roof-"
"Listen, we don't have time for this," Donnie interrupted, "Raph and I have a plan to get Bishop out of the city. For good. Or at least, a really long time. But we need your help. We originally had you in the plan, but things happened, and we had to start it without you. Now we need your help to finish it."
"Donnie, isn't Raph a prisoner? Shouldn't we rescue him before we take care of Bishop?" Mikey asked.
"Don't worry, this is better," Donnie said, "Raph is in the perfect position right now. He's going to walk you through this. I can't explain everything, there isn't time. In fact, I've got to go right now if we want this thing to work."
"What thing?" Mikey asked.
"The plan!" Donnie said, sounding exasperated, "Raph and I came up with a plan, remember? Phase four was originally planned with the two of you in the picture. There's no time for me to explain, just trust us."
Donnie reached forward and shook Leo's hand. "Remember," he cautioned, "The sewers aren't safe. Bishop's guys are crawling all over the city, so be careful. He wants all of us, so don't get caught again."
Donnie retracted his hand. Leo frowned in confusion, glancing at the shellcell Don had left in his palm.
"You're leaving us your shellcell?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Donnie, "Yours was taken, remember? Don't worry, I'll be careful. I know what I'm doing."
"What are we supposed to be doing?" Mikey asked.
"Answer the phone," Donatello said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world, "Raph knows the plan. I've got to go now, guys. Good luck."
Donnie then raced down the fire escape, leaving his brothers confused on the roof.
"Uh," said Mikey, "What jus-"
The shellcell rang. Leonardo quickly answered it.
"Talk to me," he said.
"Alright, here's the plan," said Raph, "We need ya to get Bishop to that ol' warehouse on fifth and distract him until Donnie can get there."
"There's just one problem, Dude," said Mikey, "Bishop already took off."
"I know," said Raph, "I'm tracking him."
"Wait, you're tracking him?" Leo asked, confused.
"Yeah," said Raph, "Didn't Donnie tell ya? I got me a supercomputer. I can see everything Bishop knows, and more than that."
"No, Donnie didn't tell us this," Leo said, obviously confused, "Where exactly are you, anyway?"
"No time," Raph said, "Ya gotta go after Bishop. He's on foot near April's, at that street where the pizza place is. The good pizza place, not the one Mikey likes."
"Hey!" Mikey complained.
"So go after him. I'll help ya out as best I can, if ya keep this shellcell open."
"Got it," Leo said, placing the open shellcell in his belt, "Come on, Mikey! Let's go."
"Come on, come on, come on…" Donnie repeated to himself as he ran, "It's around here somewhere…I think…"
He slid to a stop next to the manhole he had been searching for, and cautiously took something out of his belt.
"Alright, Donatello. You only have one shot at this," he said to himself, "Without any backup to…back you up. Or a shellcell…alright, focus. You can do this. Just get it right…"
He slowly took the manhole cover off, spotting a certain trigger device. He had been expecting that.
"That's it…just go slowly…pretend that you have all the time in the world…" he said to himself, unscrewing the device with the tool in his hand.
"There!" He said, as the device came apart in his hand. He took the manhole cover off the whole way and slowly slipped into the sewers.
"Now, if only the rest of the trip to the lair was this easy…" he mumbled to himself.
"Six o'clock, Mikey!" Raph shouted, the voice carrying over the shellcell's speaker.
"Got it!" Mikey said, turning around and kicking the goon to the ground. "Ya know, it's really weird how you can see them coming, Raph."
"That the last one?" Leo asked.
"Almost," Raph responded, "Bishop is still on foot, and ya still need to head 'im off at the warehouse."
"But that's on the other side of town right now," Leo said. Their fight with Bishop and his men had brought them far off course. "If we try heading him back where we came from, he'll know that we're trying to bring him there."
"Hey Raph, you said the sewers aren't safe, right?" Mikey asked.
"Right," Raph said.
"But what about the subway?" Mikey continued.
"What do you have in mind?" Raph asked.
"Simple," Mikey said, "We lead the guy to the subway, and we get him on the train that is closest to the warehouse. We get off the train, and voila! We're right where we need to be."
"Sounds great, but you're forgetting something," Leo said, "The line that goes to that part of town doesn't exactly lead every second. For your plan to work, we'd have to get him on the train the very second before it leaves, or he'll figure it out. And it has to be heading in the right direction."
"Leave that to me," Raph said, "I'll hack into the subway switchboard and take over one of the trains. You just make sure that-"
"Whoa, whoa, hold the phone," Leo said, unconsciously grabbing the shellcell from his belt and holding it up to his mouth, "You're going to do what?"
"Chill, Leo, I know what I'm doing," Raph replied.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time I checked you couldn't figure out how to play solitaire on the computer. Master Splinter had to teach you. Master Splinter." Leo reasoned.
"What can I say? I'm a fast learner." Raphael said, "How do you think I've been able to help you out when you were fighting Bishop's goons? I've been using this computer monitoring satellites, store cameras and thermal imaging this entire time."
"Dude, how do you even know what that is?" Mikey asked.
"Ya know what? Nevermind. Just get Bishop before he gets too far away. He's three blocks down on the left."
"I'll get in front of him, Leo," Mikey shouted, starting to run down the street, "And I'll send him your way. Get ready for when he turns around, alright?"
"Got it," Leo said, slowing his pace, "Wait a sec! Take the shellcell."
"Right," Mikey said, grabbing the shellcell as it was thrown towards him, "Guess you're stuck with me, Raphie boy!" He shouted as he ran.
"Joy," Raph responded tonelessly. "If you even think about telling the joke about the tree one more-"
There was silence on the other end of the shellcell.
"Raph?" Mikey asked, slowing down, "Raphael? You okay?"
"I'm fine…Listen, keep running. I'll let you know if Bishop changes direction on you."
Donatello tapped his foot and stared at his watch. They should be here by now.
"Ugh," he said, fiddling with the mechanical instrument standing next to him, "What is taking them so long? If I had the shellcell I would be calling them right about now."
He tapped his foot one more time and stared at his watch for the sixth time in the last two minutes, when finally the warehouse door opened up. Mikey held it open as Leonardo rushed inside, brandishing both swords. Leo just barely reached a decent spot to hold his ground when Bishop rushed inside and tackled him at the same time that Mikey closed the warehouse door.
"It's about time!" Donatello shouted, "Where have you been?"
"What!" Bishop cried, pausing his attempts to strangle Leo, "You're supposed to be a goner. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, nothing much," Donnie said, leaning against the machine, "After the building exploded I decided to bring a little something from home. You know, to brighten this place up a bit."
Bishop stared at the machine next to Donatello, and his face blanched when he recognized the Tunneler. Leonardo and Mikey recognized it as well, but judging by the looks on Bishop and Donatello's faces, the familiar machine held a far greater, albeit unknown significance. But perhaps that was because they hadn't fully realized what else was in that warehouse.
"You wouldn't dare," Bishop stated.
"Watch me," Donnie smiled, fingering a small black control box.
Bishop scowled, and abandoned Leonardo in favor of attacking Donatello. With more speed than could be accounted for, he darted half-way across the room and knocked the control box straight out of Donatello's hands.
"Donnie!" Mikey shouted, a little too late to warn his brother.
Bishop turned to attack Donatello, and that was when Leo went into action. With a growl, he launched himself at the man attacking his brother.
"Leo!" Mikey cried out, and began twirling his nunchucks, ready to join the battle.
"Mikey, wait!" Raph said, causing the turtle to halt mid-step. He had forgotten that the shellcell was still on. "Let Bishop have the box, and get out of the way."
"The way? What way?" Mikey asked, confused.
"Get out of the way!" Raph shouted, "Duck and cover!"
At that order, Michelangelo crouched down low to the ground, just in time. The closed warehouse door exploded inwards, and the shrapnel flew over Mikey's head.
"Mikey, quick, the shellcell!" Donatello cried out. He was spread out on the ground next to the Tunneler, and wasn't the least bit fazed by the random explosion. Or the large amount of smoke that had entered the building with it.
Mikey reached for the cell. "Uh oh," he said, "Back news, guys. I think I kinda lost it…"
"You what?" Leo asked, clashing his sword against the floor just seconds after Bishop moved away from the spot.
"The explosion!" Mikey shouted, and rapidly tried to search through the rubble that had previously been the warehouse door. The feat was a little difficult, since smoke was still heavily present in the area.
"Never mind, don't worry about it!" Donatello shouted, "Listen carefully! Red wire, command fire, alpha-pyro, 24351!"
"Care to repeat that, Donnie?" Leo asked, pinning Bishop to the ground.
"That won't be necessary," Donnie replied, smirking.
"Idiot! You just told me the command code," Bishop smirked, reaching for the small black box which had been knocked out of his hands.
"No," Donatello corrected, "I told him the command code."
It seemed as if no one could help it; they all automatically looked in the direction Donnie had indicated. There, standing in the middle of the smoke that was slowly clearing out of the building, was Bishop's Guard in the exosuit.
"WHAT? No!" Bishop exclaimed, "You were supposed to be dead. You were-nevermind. Guard, kill them! Waste them all!"
He grabbed the small black box and pressed the button. With the exception of the Guard and Donatello, everyone in the room tensed. But nothing happened. Nothing, that is, until Donatello started laughing.
"That, my friend, is the perfect example of a painted wooden box!" Donnie explained.
Bishop growled, angry that he had been so easily tricked. But before he could do anything, the Guard pummeled him. Bishop was knocked to the ground, but just as soon as he stood up again he realized that he had not been the target. The guard had practically bounced off of him and jumped into the Tunneler, the door of which had been kindly held open by Donatello.
"No!" Bishop cried, but he knew he was too late. After all, Donatello had already given Raphael the passwords.
The engine of the giant machine started up.
"You all might want to stand back," Donatello warned.
Bishop didn't need to be told twice.
"I'll be back," he growled, before he decided to make a run for it.
No one stopped him as he left the warehouse, abandoning all the government-sanctioned alien projects within it to the wrath of the Tunneler.
He flipped a switch on his watch, and began talking through it.
"We're leaving town," he explained, "If you receive any calls from the Feds, ignore them."
"Um, Donnie, what was that all about?" Leo asked as soon as he was certain that Bishop was gone, "The Tunneler doesn't have a passcode to make it work."
"Yup, but Bishop doesn't know that," Donnie grinned, watching as the Tunneler made short work of the boxes within the warehouse, "In case he ever gets his hands on it, I don't want to let him know how to work the Tunneler."
"And just what is this all accomplishing, Don?" Leo asked, pointing to the destruction.
"And how did you know the guard was on our side?" Mikey asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"One at a time!" Donnie laughed, watching the Tunneler work, "Have you noticed what's in this warehouse? It's the failed projects that Bishop had been doing with government funding. He told the feds that they had all been destroyed, but apparently he lied, because Raph found out that they were being kept here. We sent the government a…special email alerting them to this warehouse, and by now they've already sent out a warrant for Bishop's arrest. Since we were at it, we thought we'd also destroy all this stuff before it got into the wrong hands."
"Wow," said Leo, "So, care to explain the guard?"
"Yeah, about that," Donnie said sheepishly, "I'll let Raph do the explaining."
"Speaking of which," Leo said, reaching into his belt, "I found the shellcell on the ground. You still there, Raph?"
"Almost done, guys." Raph said through the phone, as if he hadn't even noticed that the shellcell had been left abandoned on the ground.
"Great," Donatello said, "Oh, looks like you missed a spot."
"Thanks," said Raph, and a large amount of boxes were suddenly turned to rubble.
"Wait a second," Leo said as realization caught up with him. Still staring at the Tunneler, he spoke into the shellcell. "Raphael, is that you?"
"Sure is, bro," Raph said, "I'll be with you in a sec."
"No way," Mikey said, taking a startled step back, "Bishop is nuts!"
"You're tellin' me," Raph said.
"You took care of his goons, right?" Donnie asked.
"Yup. Hacked his website, too. Left a few surprises for him. For example, I gave the police his forwarding address. All twelve of 'em. Will be kinda hard for him to hide anywhere now."
The Tunneler pulled up to them, stopped, and out stepped the guard-er, their brother.
"I can only talk through the phone," he explained through the shellcell, still on speaker, "Can we go now?"
"Sure thing, Raphael," Donnie said, high fiving his brother, "I'll get that suit off as soon as possible."
"Good," said Raphael, stepping towards Mikey. The two high-fived, before Raph turned to Leo. And promptly stopped.
"Um, Raph?" Leo asked, his hand outstretched. "Don't leave me hanging here."
"Are you alright?" Mikey asked.
"Just peachy," Raph said, finally moving to high-five his brother.
"I was afraid of this," Donnie said, "The suit is slowly draining you, isn't it?"
"Doesn't matter," Raphael said, rubbing his helmet as if he had a headache, "It'll be off soon anyway."
"You know, I think you should keep it on," Mikey said, "Who knows? It might come in handy!"
His three brothers, one of them completely covered by an exosuit, exchanged glances. Then, one by one, they each took a turn smacking him upside the head.
"Ow!" Mikey exclaimed as his brothers silently entered the Tunneler. "Not fair, guys! It was a great idea! Seriously, think about it Raph. You'd never have to take any baths! OW! Hey!"
Slowly but surely, the Tunneler backed out of the broken warehouse and made its way down the street, heading back to the sewers.