Chapter 5: Operation: Get the Heck Out Of There!
Leaving the lab and the mutant turtles behind them in a cloud of smoke, Bradford and Xever followed by the dozens of remaining Foot Soldiers, leapt down the tall skyscraper one by one, hanging by a rope tied from above as they abseiled down the side of the building. They landed on their feet at the bottom of the building, and the two men shared a smug grin. "Mission accomplished," Bradford smirked, gazing down at the glowing canister of ooze in the palm of his hand like a trophy.
Xever let out a snort of triumph, folding his arms over his chest. "I have to admit, those turtles were better than they looked, but no matter. We beat them anyhow," he smirked. "And now that we have the ooze and Dr. Falco, there will be nothing that can stop us."
"And I'd bet my honor if those blasted turtles make it out of that building without being spotted by the security guards once those fools wake up," Bradford sneered.
Suddenly, security alarms began to blare out from inside the building, nearly making the two men jump at the sound as they turned back to the complex. It appeared that the guards had finally come to, and realized they'd been infiltrated. The Foot were safely out of the building now, so all they would find would be four, helpless mutant turtles, ready to be captured and caged for later experimentation, just where they belonged.
Bradford and Xever looked to each other. "…thirty bucks says they'll make out of there." Xever challenged.
Bradford considered it for a moment. "…Thirty bucks says they won't."
"Deal."
They quickly shook on it, and then left the scene without a sound, leaving TCRI and the unfortunate turtles behind. The Foot soldiers dragged an unconscious Dr. Falco with them as they retreated back to 'The Dome', ready to present their gift to their awaiting master, who was sure to be pleased with the results.
Still inside the lab, the turtles started to panic as the alarms blared out, the lab now blinking red from the security lights that shone above them. They were very lucky that there were no security cameras on this floor, or at least in this laboratory, otherwise they would be in really big trouble. Eyes wide as they darted around the room for any other source of escape, Raphael turned to his leader. "What now, chief?!" he exclaimed.
Leonardo tried to remain calm, attempting to block out the sounds of the sirens as he gazed about the lab, looking for any possible escape like Raph had done, but came up with nothing. "Uhhh…apart from going back the way we came, I've got nothing…unless anyone wants to try jumping off the roof?" he stuttered.
Raph's mouth formed a very thin line, and he was seconds away from launching a fist into his brothers' face when suddenly they all heard a voice blare out on the speakers on repeat. "Intruder alert. Intruder alert. All staff must evacuate the building. Security must report to the top level immediately."
The four boys all shared a terrified glance, their eyes widening and their hearts sinking in their chests. "Uh oh…" they whimpered in unison. This was conceivably one of the worst situations the four mutant turtles could've ever found themselves in. Imagine if the security guards found the four talking ninja turtles inside a laboratory, of all places. One could only imagine the number of experiments the scientists would want to pull on them, once they threw them in cages and locked them away forever that is.
This was the very reason Master Splinter had kept the four of them down in the sewers for so long, and why he'd wanted to keep them down there for as long as he could. He was trying to protect them not only from the Foot and The Shredder, but from the very humans that they were trying to protect.
If they didn't get out of here, one of their greatest fears would soon become a horrible reality.
Snapping out of his distressed trance, Leo beckoned his team forwards. "C'mon, let's start moving! The longer we stay here, the more chance we have of getting caught!" he called as he led his brothers back out of the doors to the large lab, running back down the hallway from which they'd come.
As they ran, Donnie couldn't help but spare a final glace at the lab, sighing a little. If only he'd been able to take at least a single scrap of their technology with him to take apart and study. Still, it was better to go now before he was taken apart and studied.
"I think this operation should be called, 'Operation: Get the Heck Out of Here'!" Mikey cried as he ran alongside his brothers.
"No argument on that one!" Donnie panted in agreement alongside him.
The once dark maze of hallways was now blinking with bright red security lights as the sirens continued to roar out, resounding loudly like the taunting laughter of the devil himself as it echoed through their ears, which only pushed them to move faster. Stealth was no longer an option as they bolted down the warren, trying to retrace their steps to the elevator shaft, which was when a thought hit Raph. "Leo! We can't use the elevators, remember? And going down the stairs ain't an option either!" Raph argued as they ran, "So what do we do?!"
"Just keep going! I'll think of something!" Leo replied, not breaking his stride for a second.
Raph rolled his eyes and growled. Some leader he was.
"Move your shells, guys, go!" Leo shouted over the noise of the blaring alarm bells as they turned a sharp corner. Unable to control his speed due to nerves, Mikey swerved too hard to the left and smacked hard into a wall instead, bumping his head and slipping to the floor. By the time he shook his head to clear the light-headedness, he realized with blue eyes the size of dinner plates that his brothers had already run off ahead of him, not realizing that he'd been left behind.
"Hey! Guys! Wait for me!" he cried as he ran in the direction he'd last seen his brothers charge off into, but of course without a map or any memory whatsoever of how they'd weaved their way through the office complex beforehand upon their infiltration, he got lost within seconds.
Mikey skidded to a stop. This place was like a labyrinth, and he'd managed to get lost in it.
"Oh man…" he whimpered.
The walls suddenly seemed to close in around him, almost as if they were trying to squeeze the very life out of him, suffocate him. He took a few wary steps backwards, the noise of the alarm bells ringing louder and louder in his ears even as he covered them with his hands, trying to block it out as best as he could. His eyes went wide as his heart beat faster, thumping hard and painful against his chest.
Mikey hated being left alone. He hated isolation. He was completely lost, had no idea where to go, and he was truly very scared.
Shaking his head, Mikey snapped himself out of his daze and took a few more steps backwards. "Okay, Mikey, c'mon! Keep it together! You can do this! Just focus!" he told himself, forcing him to slow his breathing down and think. Focus on breathing slowly, in, out, in, out. "Come on, Mikey, think! What would Donnie do? What would Leo do?" he murmured to himself.
Mikey's thoughts drew to a startling halt when he suddenly collided with a solid bulk standing directly behind him. He gasped with fright as he spun around to find a tall, stone faced man staring coldly down at him. He leapt away from the human with a loud yelp. Who was he? When did he get here? And how come Mikey didn't hear him coming? Oh, this was so bad! Now he was probably going to scream and call for backup and take him away…
But the longer they stared at each other, the more Mikey began to wonder. The man appeared to be alone, and he had no visible weapons on his person. In fact, he looked just like any other office person, completely harmless. But like he'd been told by Leo earlier, appearances could be deceiving.
Swallowing the fear, Mikey squared his shoulders and flipped out his nunchaku. "You think you're tough, huh?!" he challenged bravely. "You think you're tough enough to stand up to my Hot Nunchuck Fury?!" He spun his nunchaku back and forth expertly to prove his point, before he launched himself at the man and attacked, kicking and whacking the man hard several times with his weapon. But to his surprise, the man remained stock still, not even flinching once or crying out in pain.
The man suddenly caught the weapon as Mikey swung it again, and effortlessly tugged it out of the young turtles' grip.
Mikey blinked once in shock. "…I see," he said simply, "well then…"
He then screamed and spun on his heel, bolting down the hallway. The emotionless husk of a man followed closely behind him.
Mikey turned his head and screamed again; the guy was right behind him! How was this guy so fast?! Better yet, why wasn't Mikey running faster?!
Letting out a panicked yelp, Mikey kept running, darting around sharp corners and leaping over overturned furniture. Looks like The Foot weren't all that great at covering their tracks; and he though he and his brothers were the messy ones. He flipped one desk over in hopes of slowing the guy down, but to his horror, the man only charged straight through it, snapping the wooden desk in half. "What?! Are you kidding me?!" Mikey squawked.
Just who was this guy? Why was he chasing him?
Mikey turned another corner, thankfully not slipping this time, only to find himself face to face with a large door. He tugged and pushed on the handle, desperately trying to open it, but to his despair it wouldn't budge. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Please don't be locked!" he wailed helplessly.
A large shadow fell upon him. Before he could react, the man rushed toward him and grabbed him by the left arm. Mikey cried out as he felt his steel like grip nearly crush his arm, even as he tried to tug it out of the mans' grasp, but to no avail. He was caught.
"The one that is called turtle shall prove useful in the experimentation that shall be commencing in a time that is soon coming," the human said in a dark monotone.
Mikey's eyes widened, his face turning pale. Experiments?!
Desperate and afraid, Mikey struggled fiercely in his grip as he used his free arm to whip out his kusarigama blade. "No! Let me go! STAY BACK!" he screamed as he slashed the man's face in a frantic attempt to free himself. The man released his hold and staggered backwards, pressing a hand to his sliced face. Mikey squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see the blood pouring out of the wound. But out of pure curiosity, he cracked his eyes open again to find the man lying limp on the floor.
No blood was seen – only neon blue sparks of electricity.
"What the -?!" Mikey exclaimed as he cautiously walked over to the body, and pushed it onto its back with his foot. The face was torn like rubber, revealing a blue robotic body hidden underneath. "That is all kinds of wrong!" he cried, flinching away from the fake human.
This guy was a robot? No wonder he was so freaking strong!
And as if things couldn't get any more bizarre, the body's chest burst open to reveal a snarling, pink, green eyed creature. Its appearance resembled that of a human brain, aside from the pink tentacles that suddenly lashed out and wrapped itself around Mikey's head.
"GYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Mikey shrieked as the brain creature latched itself onto his face, muffling his screams of terror.
Leo, Raph and Donnie continued to run down the red blinking hallways, their fear only slightly quenched by determined resolve to escape this place. But they drew to a halt as they heard the many footsteps of the security guards approaching, the bobbing of the lights of flashlights guiding their path.
"I think I saw something move! Over there!" one cried to his comrades behind him as he led them down the hallway. To his surprise, they found nothing. Must have been his imagination.
"I thought no one was allowed up here," one pointed out. "Wasn't this entire top third bought by some other company a few years back?"
"Yeah, ain't this private property or somethin'?" another agreed.
The first guy shrugged. "Yeah, but those guys don't seem to be up here. Besides, we have a job to do! Let's move it!"
With that, the security guards moved further down the twisted hallways in search for the trespassers. However, if they had bothered to glance up, they would have found the three large turtles clung to the rafters in the ceiling. But New Yorkers hardly ever looked up, and they were totally fine with that.
Letting out the breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding all this time, the turtles leapt down silently to the floor again, and prepared to continue onwards to find their escape, when Raph suddenly realized something that hit him like a slap in the face. "Hey, wait a minute!" he shouted, making his two brothers snap their startled gazes to him as his face paled. "Where's Mikey?!"
Realization dawning, the remaining brothers spun around in search for their youngest brother, but found no trace of him. How, after all this time, had they not noticed he was gone?!
"Where did he...when did...Mikey?!" Leo called out as loud as he dared. No one answered his call. The three remaining turtles felt fear rising in their chests once again.
"Great!" Raph snarled, slapping a hand over his face. "Mikey's lost inside a freaking science lab. Of all the places he decided to wander off into, it just had to be here! What could possibly go wrong now?!"
"Oh my god!" someone cried farther down in the hallway, making the turtle instantly reach for their weapons, but stopped halfway when they heard what the security guard said next…
"Hey guys, check this out! It looks like some kinda giant turtle!"
The turtle's blood ran colder, their heart missing a beat. "Oh no..." Donnie whispered in horror, echoing his older brothers' thoughts.
In the next instant, the three boys were sprinting down the hallway to where the voice had come from, praying to whoever was listening that their baby brother was okay. Slowing to a stop as they reached the source, they hid and peered from behind a corner that led to a dead-end. Their eyes went wide at what they saw.
Michelangelo lay unconscious in the center of several large security guards, the same ones that they'd managed to evade.
One of them lowered their flashlight and poked Mikey's head with it. "Well I'll be damned...it is a turtle," he breathed, eyes wide with disbelief. "You sure you didn't kill it?"
"Nope," the other answered. "It was lying here when I found it. What do you guys make of it?"
The one who poked him straightened up, humming in thought as he tapped the flashlight against his chin. "Well, it looks like these guys must have been doing illegal experiments up here...we could turn them in for animal testing and send this thing to the zoo or something..." he mused.
"Or we could sell this little monster to another lab, and get a load of hard cash for it!" another said, grinning from ear to ear at the thought of it.
Nodding slowly, the flashlight guy began to chortle sadistically. "Yeah, you're right! I mean, who has ever seen a freak like this before? No one!"
"And think of all the press we'd get from this! We wouldn't need this job anymore! We'd be famous!"
"We'd be filthy stinking rich!"
They began to laugh collectively, bending down and grabbing Mikey by his arms and legs as they began to carry him away. However, before they could move any farther, three large dark figures suddenly appeared before them and blocked their path, the whites of their eyes glowing almost menacingly as they glared at the guards. The men felt shivers run down their spines at the sight as they dropped Mikey to the floor.
"What in the name of -?" Flashlight guy exclaimed, reaching for the gun in his belt, but before he could even drag it out, the three dark figures were upon them, beating them into the ground with little effort, but with brutal force, and making sure they didn't touch the younger turtle again. As soon as they were all down for the count, with no chances of getting up again anytime soon, the three turtles sheathed their weapons and crowded around their younger brother.
Leo propped him up in his arms and gently shook him. "Mikey? Mikey! Wake up!" he called worriedly.
After a moment of silence, Mikey finally moved, groaning softly as his eyes flickered open. He glanced around him as his vision blurred back into focus, where he found three green faces looking down at him…green faces he recognized. He offered them a weak smile. "...hey guys…" he said tiredly.
His brothers let out a sigh of relief as their shoulders sagged. He was going to be okay.
"Mikey, dude, what the heck happened to you?! We thought we were gonna lose you, you idiot!" Raph barked as he folded his arms over his chest with a scowl, trying to mask his fear and relief with his usual agitation, which failed badly.
Shaking his head with a grateful smile to the heavens, Leo helped Mikey to his feet, who wobbled unsteadily. "We'll worry about that later, Raph. Right now, we've gotta get outta here before these guys get up," he ordered. Donnie and Raph nodded as they rounded the corner and took off. Leo supported Mikey with one arm draped over his shoulder, since he was still far too disorientated to walk by himself.
"Mikey, are you gonna be okay?" he probed. Whatever had happened to him, he was obviously still very dazed and dizzy.
Blinking rapidly to keep himself awake, Mikey nodded numbly. "…yeah…I'm good…" he managed to mumble, which did very little to ease his older brothers' concern; in fact it only fuelled it further. Stepping over the unconscious bodies of the humans beneath them, Leo nearly growled out loud at the thought of those so-called 'security guards' laying another hand on his baby brother.
If they ever called any member of his family a freak or a monster again, he would show them what a real monster looked like.
The eldest turtle was snapped out of his violent thoughts when as he rounded the next corner, careful to not jostle Mikey too much, he heard Donnie's shout. "Leo! I found the elevator! And it's clear! Let's go now before they shut it down again!" the taller turtle called as they finally found the elevator again at the very end of the next hallway. Against their better judgment, and due to the fact that their youngest brother was still too disorientated to do much else other than walk, the four turtles climbed into the elevator and punched the bottom floor button. They held their breath as the elevator doors closed and lowered them back down to the first floor, watching the numbers slowly and agonizingly count down.
What would happen when they reached it? Would they be spotted by dozens of humans? Would they be captured and spend the rest of the rest of their lives in cages or labs, separated from each other forever…or worse?
They nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard Leo's phone ring again, and he fumbled around in order to pick the thing up without dropping it. "H-hello?" Leo answered clumsily.
"Leo, its April," the girl cried on the other line, "what are you guys doing in the freaking elevator?! The other guards know you're in there and they've sent back up! They don't know what you look like, thank goodness, but they will if you don't get the heck outta there! They're waiting for you at the bottom floor!"
The boys froze, their eyes widening. April was right; what were they thinking? Were they really that dumb enough to take the elevator, where dozens of possibly armed men were waiting for them?
"What now, boss?" Mikey whimpered, clinging to Raph's arm like a lifeline. Without a word, Raph squeezed his little brothers' hand supportively.
Leo remained as calm as he could manage at this point as he hung up the phone, wracking his brain for an idea. How were they supposed to get past all those guards, possibly armed and waiting for them to…
Suddenly, it hit him. "Wait…I think I've got it!" he grinned, "but we'll have to work fast!"
The elevator went 'ding!' as it finally hit its destination on the bottom floor. Outside, about five armed men stood by as they waited for the doors to open, guns raised and at the ready. "Alright boys, we move in on my signal," the commander ordered. "If these suspects try to make an escape, gun them down!"
The guards stood by. An overwrought silence filled the room.
The finally doors opened.
"GO!"
With united shouts, the guards then charged in all at once, ready to apprehend the intruders. However, there was no one to be found. The elevator was utterly vacant, apart from them of course. Lowering their guns, the guards all shared a stunned look, clouded with confusion.
"What the devil is going on here?" the commander blared, "You told me that Chris told you that they left in the elevator!"
"Yeah, he did," a guard explained, just as baffled as his comrades, "but I don't understand –"
He was interrupted when a loud thump was heard as something landed just outside the doors. All heads turned to the entrance, guns raised again. And then their eyes went wide as all jaws hit the floor, as well as the guns as they slipped from their hands.
Two giant green skinned turtles, one armed with two swords strapped to a belt on its shell and a blue bandana tied over its eyes, and the other shorter one with a red bandana both stared at them expressionlessly with their arms folded.
No one moved or spoke for what seemed like hours as the humans gawked at what they were seeing.
The two turtles tilted their heads to look at the floor buttons on the wall. Their eyes looked up to meet the stunned ones of the guards, who still couldn't move from where they stood glued to the ground. Then in a sudden flurry of movement, the turtles reached out and quickly pressed all the buttons on the wall. Then they both took a step back with enormous grins on their faces and waved at the guards.
"Byyyye!" they laughed in unison just as the elevator doors shut before the guards could squeeze themselves out.
Practically stumping over their own two feet, Leonardo and Raphael ran out of the building to meet up with Donatello and Michelangelo, unable to stop their laughter. "I've always wanted to do that!" Raph crowed as he and Leo shared a high three. Despite what little time they had, Leonardo's plan had worked like a charm; they managed to stop the elevator just as it hit the second floor, allowing Donnie to carry Mikey out and head towards a window. The drop from the window to the street wasn't too far, so the two younger turtles were able to land safely at the bottom and hide by the dumpster around the side of the building. Leo and Raph had stayed inside the elevator, hiding up on the ceiling until the guards came in, where they slipped out as they came flooding in. From there, they just decided to have a little fun.
Still chuckling amongst themselves, they rounded the corner to meet up with Donnie, who was sat on the floor supporting an unconscious Mikey behind a large dumpster. Upon seeing the younger turtle, Leo's smile faded instantly, and he knelt down beside them. "Is he okay?" he asked.
Nodding, Donnie looked down to Mikey, who was resting on his left shoulder. "He passed out again after we hid back here, but he'll be just fine," he reassured, "He's just really tired. By the way, nice plan Leo," he grinned at his older brother. "How did the whole 'trapping the guards' thing go?"
Raph began to chuckle again at the memory. "Donnie, you have no idea…" he smirked, earning one from Leo as well.
Shrugging his shoulders, Leo turned back to Donnie. "Well, let's just say they'll be riding that thing for a little while longer," he joked. "Come on, we'd better get out of here before the ride's over."
But before they could get moving, a white van suddenly appeared, and came speeding down the street and swerved down the alleyway, not until it screeched to a stop right beside them. The turtles tensed. "What the –?" Raph barked as he reached for his Sais, his two remaining brothers following suit. Had the guards called for backup?
The doors to the back of the van swung wide open, startling the turtles as a tall, dark hooded figure stepped out of the vehicle, armed with some form of gun in their hands. He aimed it directly at them, and pulled the trigger. But instead of bullets, the gun spouted thick, green gas.
"Poison gas!" Leo cried out in warning, but was too late as the turtles hacked at the foul odour that filled their lungs, numbing their senses and becoming intoxicated as their bodies began to fail them. Soon, they all collapsed in an unconscious heap, weapons clattering uselessly to the ground beside them.
The tall dark figure, now accompanied by another, loomed over their helpless sleeping forms, tapping one of them with his foot to make sure they were fully asleep. Nodding to each other, they reached out and grabbed the mutant turtles, dragging them towards the van and hauling them inside…
The security guards had finally been able to escape their elevator prison, and ran outside to the entrance of the building, where they were sure those strange creatures had fled out of. They scanned the darkened streets, but found no sign of giant talking turtles.
However, they did see a white van driving just past the building, looking as if the driver was in a hurry. "Hey, stop there! Police!" the commander called, stepping out to stop the van. The van driver obeyed and pulled over, parking directly in front of the guard as he stepped to the window. "Wind down that window," he ordered.
The window lowered down and the driver's head poked out. "Hey there officers, nice night, ain't it?" Casey Jones greeted with a friendly smile. "What can I do for you fine gentlemen?"
Unfazed by the boys' somewhat polite greeting, the commander folded his arms. "You see any strange looking fellows in big suits walking around here?" he probed.
Raising a brow, Casey hummed in thought. "Ummmm...what kind of suits?"
The guard looked a little uncertain, or to put it bluntly, very embarrassed, to answer. "Uuuh...guys in giant turtle suits?" he stammered.
Casey nearly laughed out loud. "Turtle suits, dude? Are you serious? Hah! Never seen anything like that around here!" he replied with a gapped toothed grin. "Well, if that's all then, I bid you sir's good –"
"Hold on! What's in the van?" the guard probed suspiciously.
Smiling, Casey continued to appear casual, though his insides were twisting nervously. "This is me and my wife's Pest Control van. All the good stuff is in there. Trust me, you don't wanna go back there!" he laughed, "That thing smells like mouldy cheese in the summer!"
The chief quirked a brow. "Aren't you a little young to be a married pest control guy, kid?" he asked.
Casey shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, it's a free country, man. Well, I'll be seeing you! G'night!" With that, Casey waved kindly at the cops and rolled up the window again, driving away and leaving the security guards stood dumbfounded at the TCRI entrance.
The guards watched the van disappear into the streets. "Maybe we were tripping or something?" one of the guards mused aloud.
"Yeah..." nodded the commander, "…that must be it..."
Well, that was the last time he was drinking after work ever again.
As soon as they turned the corner and were out of sight, Casey let out a long sigh of relief. He thought that they would've checked the back of the van. If they had, they would've been in big trouble. Luckily, they seemed to have bought his little lie about the smell, though in truth, one of his friends could use a bath every once in a while, though if he ever said that out loud he'd lose another tooth. He turned to look in the back of the van. "Everything okay back there, red?" he asked.
Sat on the floor of the van, April O'Neil looked up at him and nodded. "They're just fine," she answered, "they're stirring now."
Letting out another sigh of relief, Casey nodded as he turned to look back on the road, though there was no real traffic out tonight. "Good. I still don't get why we had to knock 'em out, though," he mused. "Wouldn't it have just been easier just to –"
"...uuuuugh...did someone catch the number on that van...?" said a slurred voice.
Blinking in surprise, April looked down to find Leonardo groaning from where he lay on the floor of the van. Raphael was propped on his side in the far right corner, Michelangelo was lying on top of Leo's shell, and Donatello's head was resting on April's lap. The four turtles were finally being dragged slowly back into the waking world as they all moaned in exhaustion, though all of them looked slightly nauseated. April winced in sympathy; maybe they'd used too much gas?
"Uggh…where...where are we?" Raph slurred, bringing up a numbed hand to rub at his weary eyes. Why did he feel as though he was about to throw up on the spot?
"Welcome back from the dead, Raphie boy!" Casey laughed from the drivers' seat, keeping his eyes on the traffic. "How you doing back there, buddy?"
"…like I gotta puke," the red turtle replied honestly. Casey fought back a smirk.
"…Casey? April?" Leo muttered tiredly, still not yet fully awake as he tried to get up, but found that Mikey was still lying on him. "W-where are we? When did you guys get here?"
April smiled apologetically, inwardly beating herself up for this. "Sorry guys. We had to make it look as if we poisoned you in front of the security cameras, like we were taking out vermin," she explained, "otherwise we wouldn't have had to knock you out with Donnie's 'Knockout Gas Gun' that he made a while back. Don't worry, the stuff's not poisonous. You'll all be fine again within a few minutes. "
Raph pouted sourly as he fully recollected himself from his lethargy. "Oh, thanks guys. Next time, do you think you could, I dunno, warn us on the phone first?!" he barked crossly.
"Hey, Leo hung up on me before I could tell him!" April argued, sending an annoyed glance at the blue turtle.
Still on the floor, Leo shrugged sheepishly. "Um...oops?" he laughed nervously. "Look, we were under pressure! What else was I supposed to do?"
On the girls' lap, Donnie began to stir as his eyes flickered open. "Uggh...what happened...?" he muttered drowsily. His weary gaze wandered upwards, and then his eyes widened to the size of saucers at the sight of the young red haired woman staring down at him. "A-April?!" he cried. What was she doing here? And…was he lying on her lap? Was this a beautiful dream, or had he died and gone to heaven?
"Hey, Donnie. Welcome back to the waking world. Are you okay?" April asked as she smiled down at him.
Blinking rapidly, Donnie grinned like an utter fool as he gazed up at her beautiful, rosy cheeked face. "Is this what heaven is like?" he breathed dreamily.
Raph and Leo both smirked. "Um, Donnie," Raph chortled, "we're not dead, numb-nuts."
Donnie's eyes widened again in realization, and a deep blush coated his olive green face. "Oh...right...heh heh, sorry..." he laughed nervously as he got off of April's lap, setting himself into a seated position as he attempted to hide his face, totally embarrassed.
'Real smooth, Donnie,' he scolded inwardly, 'Reeeeaaal smooth…'
It was then that Mikey finally decided to wake up as he blinked several times, groaning and rubbing his aching head. However, his eyes widened as he shot up from his position on Leo's back and yelped. "AAH! ALIEN ROBOTS!" he shrieked.
From the front seat, Casey raised a brow whilst the others glanced at the younger turtle and at each other in confusion.
"Ummm, what?" Raph shrugged.
Sitting up, Mikey started to panic. "Guys, there was this guy and he tried to kill me and he had a freaky weird alien brain thing in his chest!" he cried, his breathing coming out in quick, panicked huffs. "You've gotta believe me! H-he said that he wanted to experiment on me and then I –"
Leo saw that his baby brother, though he sounded delirious, was truly frightened. Sitting up from the floor, he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Mikey. You were probably just having a nightmare. There are no such things as Alien Robots," he reassured calmly.
Mikey looked to his older brother, still very hesitant and afraid as he tried to calm himself down. "B-but, I remember that thing leaping onto me and then trying to suck off my face, but then I passed out..." he trailed off as he looked down at the floor of the van, his brows creased together in thought. During that time, Mikey was already panicking due to the fact that he'd been left behind. Maybe it was his fear that made him hallucinate; make his brain show him things that drove him off the deep end until he passed out with fear. "…huh, maybe I was just dreaming..." he mumbled.
Leo smiled and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders, drawing him close. "Don't worry, Mikey. We made it out of there together," he said, turning to the two humans and smiling. "Thanks to April and Casey. Again."
April looked at each of them and smiled. From the front, Casey gave them a thumbs up. "Yep! That's what we're here for; saving the asses of the so-called 'skilled ninja warriors' when they get stomped!" he teased.
The red head only rolled her eyes, before frowning as a thought returned to her. "Guys, what about the ooze?" she asked. "Did you manage to find out where it was?"
Earlier teasing attitude fading, Casey glanced behind him momentarily in curiosity.
The four brothers shared a disconcerted glance at one another, and then lowered their heads in shame. "Ummm...it's a long story..." Leo sighed.
Of course as soon as they arrived back to the lair, Master Splinter was both glad that his sons and their adoptive sister had returned safely, but worried to find them all looking worn out to the pointed where he feared they found faint on the spot, and slightly bruised. In fact, Leonardo had a nasty scar on his left shoulder, possibly caused with a blade. The old rats' heart sank in his chest. "My sons, what happened?" he asked, his expression firm, but his voice held a tint of worry that as a father, he just could not hide.
Passing through the turnstiles, the turtles approached their father and stood in a line before him, all holding dejected looks on their faces. Casey and April remained behind them, looking upon their mutant friends sympathetically.
"We…we ran into the Foot Clan, Sensei," Leonardo explained, unable to look his master in the eye. "They took the last canister of ooze and...we couldn't get it back." Bowing his head lowly before his Sensei, as did Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, he shut his eyes and sighed heavily. "We failed our mission, and may have endangered the entire city again. We're sorry, Sensei…"
Splinter's brow creased with worry. Just as he feared, the Foot Clan had returned, and now they too were after the mutagen. The purpose as to why that was remained unknown, but in the hands of the Foot, the mutagen would prove to be a very dangerous weapon. But his sons had tried their hardest, that he was sure of. Shaking his head, Splinter reached and rested a hand on his eldest sons' shoulder. Leonardo glanced up at him sadly, making the rats' heart ache with sympathy. "Do not fear, my son," he reassured. "Failure is a possibility every leader must face, Leonardo. And it is clear that you and your brothers did what you could. However, now we must tend to yours injuries. It has been a long night, so we will discuss what will happen next in the morning."
Leonardo nodded, though he was still not convinced by his Sensei's words. "Hai, Sensei," they all replied in unison.
However, as everyone retreated for the night, Leo couldn't help but feel something horrible in the pit of his stomach as he lay in his bed. They'd let the Foot get away with the mutagen, a dangerous substance that if used improperly could create serious problems for the entire city, let alone his entire family.
It appeared that the young leader would get no sleep that night.
A/N: Sorry for the delay! This one was kinda interesting to, but it took a little while! I hope you like!