Chapter 9
The Foot's Involvement
Moving swiftly through the shadows, the dozen or so Foot ninja made their way toward their intended victims, unsheathing their weapons when they were close enough. A sneak attack would easily take down the two mutants, and with the mutants busy talking, that wouldn't be difficult to pull off.
And it would have worked, had it not been for a pigeon's nest, hidden behind one of the small air intakes. As the ninja moved towards the mutants, they startled the birds, which flew away.
Hearing the flapping wings, Michelangelo and Kate immediately turned towards the sound and saw the Foot ninja, now rushing towards them.
"Shit! Where did they come from!?" Michelangelo cried out, as he and Kate drew their weapons.
"That's what I get for wishing for a fight!" said Kate, avoiding a slash from a katana by jumping to the side. She quickly followed up with a swift lash of her whip, striking the wrist of the man's sword arm. Sharp pain shoot through the hand, causing the ninja to cry out in pain and drop his katana, giving Kate the opportunity she needed to knock him out with a well placed punch.
But that was only one ninja, there were still at least another ten, and even if the mutants were skilled, the odds were not in their favour, something Michelangelo knew, as he kept striking out with his nunchaku at some of the Foot ninja. Doing a wide swipe with his weapons to force the ninja back, he quickly reached for his shell-cell and pressed the emergency button, signalling the others that he was in trouble. However he had barely activated the tracking-beacon, when a pair of shuriken struck his shell-cell, rendering it useless.
"Hey! I needed that!" he protested.
Jumping over a couple of ninja to avoid another, he did a split-kick and knocked them on their backs. When he landed, yet another ninja stood in his way, armed with a kama. But before any of them could do anything, there was a loud crack, and the ninja cried out in pain. Michelangelo quickly kicked the ninja in the stomach and then hit him on the head. Standing behind the fallen ninja, was Kate, she had struck him across the back with her whip, leaving a painful mark on the skin. Her skill with the whip was impressive, as she was able to keep the ninja at bay, but it was far from a lethal weapon, so while the hits stung like hell, that was about it.
Still, the two mutants fought back-to-back, Michelangelo striking hands and heads, and Kate using her whip to stun them and even snatch the weapons from some ninja, giving the Foot ninja a good beating, but despite their good efforts, they were still outnumbered. And more ninja arrived on the scene, further decreasing the mutants' odds, but they kept fighting as best they could, with both weapons, hand and feet, taking down a few more ninja.
Suddenly, they all heard a loud roar south of them, causing them all to stop fighting and look in that direction. All the Foot ninja became very nervous and started to back away, they all knew that roar, and of the one it belonged to.
Another roar, this time closer, and the combatants could see something in the sky, moving towards them.
"The dragon!" one ninja yelled in terror, remembering the slaughter that had happened last time the Foot and the dragon clashed. Moments later, Tyroth landed with Donatello in his arms, letting the purple-masked turtle down before drawing his sword, Ryujin. Setting his eyes on the scared Foot ninja, he started to glow red, as did his sword, only for the blade to burst into flames.
"Screw this! I'm out of here!" one ninja yelled and fled the field.
"Cowards and cretins got five seconds to leave before I slaughter you all!" the dragon half-roared. "Five! Four!"
The ninja knew that he wasn't joking, and that they didn't stand a chance against both him and three other mutants. As they was given the opportunity to escape with their lives, they quickly collected their unconscious comrades and left as fast as they could, not even noticing that Tyroth had stopped counting. A very short while later, the ninja were out of sight.
"Wimps." Tyroth growled, then turned to Michelangelo and Kate. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah, thanks a lot, Big T. But, how did you find us? They wrecked my shell-cell." said Michelangelo.
"Thank Donnie for that, he activated the locator in Kate's shell-cell and tracked you here."
"Thanks bro."
"WHAT?" Donatello yelled, holding his hand by his ear.
"He can't hear a thing at the moment. I failed to warn him of the roar, so his hearing is gone for the moment. Sorry about that, Donnie." said Tyroth.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! I CAN SEE THAT YOU'RE SAYING SOMETHING, BUT I CAN'T HEAR WHAT!"
"Is he gonna be fine?" Kate asked.
"I think so, though it will take a while."
"No kidding. You got some serious pipes, Tyroth. I still remember when we fled from those creepy cave elves, and you almost brought down the cave just by roaring at them."
"Yeah, I remember it too. But let's get out of here, I don't think anyone failed to notice my entrance."
On their way back, the met up with the others and quickly headed down into the sewers, Michelangelo telling them all, with the exception of the still temporary hearing impaired Donatello, what had happened.
"They snuck up on us, but we still held them off real good, and we would have beaten them too, if they hadn't gotten reinforcements. Good thing we got some of our own when we did."
"We got lucky, and so were those fuckers. Next time I see them, they'll taste my venom." said Kate.
"At least no one was harmed." said Leonardo.
"WHAT? SPEAK UP, I THINK MY HEARING'S COMING BACK!" Donatello shouted.
"Well, almost no one." said Sephie, covering her ear on the side towards Donatello.
"I'm rather worried of why there were so many Foot ninja in one place all of a sudden." said Monalisa. "They've been rather quiet for a while."
"That they're quiet is never a good sign to start with." said Leonardo. "But knowing that Tyroth is back in town might keep them calm, considering how their last encounter ended."
"Yeah, after that battle, they were left rather short on ninja." said Raphael. "I can't see them trying to pull anything like what they did that time again, at least not any time soon."
"Still, we'd best be careful and keep our eyes and ears open. Arashi and Arden are always up to something." said Leonardo.
A little while later, in the Foot Headquarters, the group of ninja had returned to deliver their report to Arashi, a task that none of them were looking forward to. In fact, they were so afraid of his reaction, that they drew straws on who would have the 'pleasure' of telling him.
Nervously, the poor 'winner' entered the throne room alone, and approached his lord.
"M-my lord Arashi, I bring you a report." the ninja said, kneeling in front of the throne.
Arashi put down his cup of sake and looked at the man. It was clear that something significant had happened, something that wasn't in favour of the Foot, or at least the squad of ninja that had returned.
"Speak." Arashi said coldly, his gaze never leaving the ninja.
"We encountered two of the freaks while on our mission, we engaged them, but... failed to either capture or kill any of them."
"You failed?" Arashi repeated in an upset tone. "You are aware of how failures are dealt with, are you not?" he asked, his hand now resting on the handle of his new sword.
"Yes. But it was not our fault, master. The dragon arrived and aided them."
"He's back again?"
"He is, my lord, and against such a monster, we wouldn't have stood a chance, so we chose to retreat."
Arashi didn't say anything as he remembered his last encounter with the powerful mutant, especially how much his possibly magical powers had grown since the time before that. He fully understood the reason behind the retreat, he would have done the same. One does not engage the dragon without a plan, and even then it's risky to say the least.
"I see, that puts things in a different perspective. Very well, you will not be punished, this time."
"Thank you, master." the ninja said, feeling very relieved. "But there is one more thing, my lord. The mutants we found, one was one of the turtles, the one with the orange mask, but the other one was a female reptile that we have never seen before."
"A new mutant? You are certain that you did mistake one of the lizard whores for this 'new' one."
"Positive, my lord, she looked completely different, the scales were not green, but sand coloured. We do not know what reptile she might be, but she fought alongside the turtle, with a whip."
"A whip, you say? Interesting, but it matters not at the moment. You are dismissed."
The ninja bowed and quickly left the throne room, leaving Arashi to think about the recent events.
'So there is a new mutant, that is very interesting. It is unfortunate that the dragon would return now of all times though, after the death of his sister, he must be out for vengeance.' Arashi thought, remembering Arden's words, that Jennifer would perish without her regular treatments after her modifications by the hands of the doctor.
'Regardless, we will continue with the plan, and be prepared for the possibility that the dragon attacks us again.'
That was a close call for Mikey and Kate, but the timely arrival of their dragon friend sent the Foot running, as the still fear the dragon, and with all right. But it seems like Arashi has something planned, just like Leonardo suspects.
Also, bonus points to those that can find a certain reference in this chapter.