The Turtle's Vixen Chapter 8: Guilt, Memories, and the Foot, a ninja turtles fanfic

A/N: Yee, I'm getting good responses with my turtle tale. You guys are awesome! :) I'm glad you guys enjoy reading my material, really I am. I hope you enjoy Shiho as a character, she's been a very important OC to me for a long time. Hehe, anyway! I'm still working on how to write fight sequences with the boys. It's getting there. And yes, it's another slight song chapter, bouncing back and forth between Leo and Shiho. Read and Review! :D

NOTICE: THIS STORY HAS OC CHARACTERS. IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE WHAT ANY OF THEM LOOK LIKE, PLEASE CHECK THE LINKS ON MY PROFILE FOR YOUR VISUAL AID.

Previously: With that, Leo's hope started to look up. From the start he was doubting that the fox was alive, she said that Marcus was trying to get rid of her the day they met. But, the one thing that conflicted Leo the most is why she lied, why she felt she had to hide the real origins of her Madness from him. He'd always been as honest as he could with her and just expected her to do the same. He thought of what she had said, that she was protecting him. The part that made him crazy was what was she protecting him from?

Leo decided he'd have his answers when he confronted Marcus, he wasn't sure if he was going to put an end to his existence yet or not. Leonardo wasn't the killing type of ninja, Raph might be able to do something that extreme, but definitely not Leo. He hoped it wouldn't come to that and they would spring Shiho free without much conflict. But of course, nothing was ever that easy. Getting her back was going to be risky and possibly life threatening with that clone thrown into the equation. But, he figured, if he could live through all the reappearances of The Shredder, aliens, and even that crazy scientist Baxter Stockman, he could handle one genetically altered girl. Or at least, that's what he was hoping for.

Like Donnie had said, the trip did take all day long as they went from one end of the state to the other, moving far inland. Further than they had ever been before. By now, it was just after 5 o'clock in the afternoon and the sun was receding below the horizon. The rays cast a warm orange glow through the front windows of the van as Leo sat with his shell against the back doors. He was trying his best to pass the time on his own laptop that April and Shiho had picked up for him a while back.

Raphael had been sitting behind April's seat and watched Leo, watched every smile he made at whatever it was he was looking at. Sometimes, the ninja was impossible to read and understand, but he was still Leo, his brother. It was clear as day just how torn up inside he was and Raph couldn't help but feel as though he contributed to the pain. If he hadn't taken off, she never would have run after him and probably wouldn't have been attacked by the clone. Leo probably never would have said what he had if Raph wasn't such a hothead jerk.

"Leo, you can't do this to yourself. It wasn't your fault," He looked up from the screen and minimized the window as Raph sat beside him to his left. Raph knew what he was going through, pictures that he and Shiho had taken together along with the rest of the family in the time she'd been around. "I know, waiting is the hard part. How I felt when Master Splinter went missing that time we took out the Shredder,"

Oh I had a lot to say was thinking on my time away
I missed you and things weren't the same

"Then why does it feel like my fault? I should have protected her, Raph. She was right there and I didn't grab her...I didn't trust her for something she didn't do...Didn't even give her the chance to explain about her DNA. Just..shut her out," With one of his knees bent up and the other stretched out, Raph rested the crook of his arm on the knee pad. Leo's guilt was something he could never defeat. Opening the window back up, they both went through the pictures.

Cause everything inside it never comes out right
And when I see you cry it makes me want to die

Shiho sat curled up with her knees tucked against her chest and her tail wrapped snuggly about herself in the corner of her plain room. Bruises, scratches, red burns, and track marks decorated her arms and legs from today. She wasn't even paying attention to the agony she felt physically; the personal anguish in her head is what was destroying her from the inside out.

'I don't love you,' His voice played on repeat in her head, her memory refusing to leave her alone. She could still see his face and the fury behind the blue mask.

I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry you're blue, I'm sorry about all things I said to you
And I know I can't take it back
I love how you kiss, I love all your sounds, and baby the way you make my world go round
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry:

Leo and Raph chuckled at a photo from a few weeks ago, of Mikey dead asleep on the couch and Shiho with a sharpie in her hand. She'd been grinning with a thumbs up as April snapped the memory in place. He remembered how hard Mikey had laughed when he woke up to a scribbled on mustache across his face between his nostrils and upper lip. The ninja had tackled the fox to the ground and drew on her face in revenge, giving her a curly mustache and angry sharp eyebrows.

Photos filled with Shiho and his brothers and Splinter made Leo sore in the chest. He shouldn't even be doing this but he just couldn't stop, it was the only way he could see her face.

This time I think I'm to blame

It's harder to get through the days
You get older and blame turns to shame

Cause everything inside it never comes out right
And when I see you cry it makes me want to die

Raph squeezed Leo's arm as he watched his brother clench his teeth and stare at the screen while going through picture after picture; one memory after another. He almost couldn't stand the guilt, the pictures had the face of Shiho when it was bright and etched with elation and what he perceived as pure happiness. But all that was burned into his head was the look on her face 3 nights ago.

Shiho leaned over to the side and wretched, her stomach was sour from all of the fluids she'd been injected with over the course of the day. How she wished she had been able to reach Leo's hand, to be pulled out of the danger zone and tucked away behind him. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, the fox leaned her head back against the wall with her legs starting to ease out in front of her. She just wanted to die already.

Dying seemed like a better option than being filled with chemicals that made her muscles ache and her stomach churn, eventually making her so sick she couldn't stand anymore. Of course, in the back of her mind, Shiho could hear a speech Leonardo would give her for giving up so easily. But she was tired; tired of being Marcus' lab rat and anything else he planned to use her for. She was tired of missing Leonardo so much that her chest ached and her throat closed around the lump that brought her close to sobbing. Giving up sounded so easy.

Every single day I think about how we came all this way
The sleepless nights and the tears you cried it's never too late to make it right
Oh yeah sorry!

By now the sun had disappeared and the van had grown dark inside. The only light was the stereo at the front of the van and Leonardo's laptop screen. His brothers had all woken up and were getting ready for just about anything. The last picture that he looked at was one Casey had taken, of Leo and Shiho after she jumped onto the back of his shell and smooched him on the cheek. His face was surprised and his cheeks were flushed but he was smiling and so was she.

I'm sorry, Baby

I'm sorry, Baby yeah

I'm sorry

"Leo, we're here," Donnie's voice made Leo snap shut the lid of his laptop and blink away the stupid tears that had made their way to the corners of his eyes. Looking out the windshield, Leo could tell they were in the middle of absolute nowhere. This was going to have to happen smoothly, any mishaps could leave them stranded with no way home. "Casey, park the van across the road behind that abandoned gas station. You got your headpiece?"

"Yeah," The van turned suddenly and came to rest behind an old, run down building that look like it had been vacant for decades. Quietly, all of them crawled out of the van and Donnie outfitted everyone with the necessary equipment they'd need to stay in contact while being stealthy. Leo felt his mind focus sharply on getting inside.

Across the road looked to be a distribution building where semis would filled up on cargo to take out all over the country, Leo could tell by the row of square doors elevated off the ground for the trailers to pull up to. A fence surrounded the entire perimeter, it looked electric which made him nervous. The building was long and stood at least ten stories high. Whatever this place was, getting inside wasn't going to be easy, he didn't even see any windows. Only the cargo doors and one set of double doors on the far right but it looked to be one of those doors you needed a passcode to open.

"Hey guys, take a look!" Casey whispered sharply as he looked from the other side of the gas station. The turtles, Splinter, and April all poked their heads out for a look to see what Casey was bugging them about. 3 figures were walking in a stiff fashion around the perimeter fence, dressed in black clothing and masks over their faces. "Uh…does anyone want to tell me why this place is being guarded by the Foot?"

"That doesn't make any sense…Master Splinter?" Donnie looked to his sensei for an answer, but the grey mentor rubbed the bottom of his muzzle inquisitively and hummed quietly to himself, perplexed.

"I do not know. I was sure we had seen the last of them; it seems there is more than meets the eye in this situation. My sons, we must proceed with the utmost caution," Raph growled and tightened his fists together before he sharply turned to gather up his sais and a few smoke pellets.

"Dudes…this is like déjà vu with the Foot. I'm so excited! Fear not, fair foxy dudette, your turtles are bringing major league butt-kicking back with a vengeance," Mikey chuckled and tucked his nun chucks into his belt with a grin. He felt insanely nostalgic; it had been years since any of them had seen a Foot ninja. "Let us go rescue the damsel babe from the tower and fight the dragon!"

"Shut up, Mikey! You're gonna blow our cover, Knucklehead," Raph punched his little brother in the arm as a warning.

"Ow! Hey!" All of them shushed the chucker; he crossed his arms and pouted. Donnie and Leo rolled their eyes as they went over a plan to breach the perimeter and track down Shiho. Donnie could see she was somewhere on the top floor in the middle of the building. The hard part was getting there.

"Using April and Casey as a diversion is going to be harder than I thought…"

"Just get me in there, Donnie." Leo sheathed his swords with a tight jaw and narrowed eyes. He was getting Shiho back tonight, he wasn't leaving without her.

"Daddy, are you sure those turtles are coming? Shiho doesn't seem too convinced," Magdalena joined Marcus in the dark room that overlooked Shiho's cell. He'd been watching her in her misery since he wrapped up his experiments for the day. He wondered just how long it was going to be before she broke and became the monster he made her to be.

"I'm sure they will, Angel. She wouldn't bother living if she weren't clinging to some hope. They had better come, I'll make them pay for stripping me of my fortune. The irony in the situation is appetizing, though, this should be entertaining," On the desk, the phone rang a few times before Marcus picked up impatiently.

"What is it?" He barked into the receiver. The guard on the other line informed him that they had some strange people in a van at the front gate and asking for directions. "Get them out of here, you idiot." The blonde's ears perked and opened when Marcus slammed the phone back down.

"What's going on, Daddy? Need me to take care of something?"

"No, no. It seems we might have visitors sooner than we anticipated. Though, you should keep an eye on your sister," A childish giggle spilled from her cherry lips in a spurt of excitement. Things were just about to get interesting, Shiho was going to destroy the turtles and that rat for all that she had done. Marcus would be rid of the brothers and Shiho would drown in her suffering.

In the darkness of her bare room, Marcus could see the bright, chemical glow of his creations eyes. They had fallen dim, he imagined her emotions were playing a roll in the chemical reactions that happened inside her body. A sharp smile came across his thin lips watching her misery, after all she had done, she was going to pay. They all were, especially those insufferable turtles. He couldn't wait to reveal what Shiho really was to them all, what she was built for; built to destroy them all.

"Alright, Casey and April have most of the guards distracted. That dark spot over there in the corner is our way in," Donnie whispered to his brothers as April and Casey put on a show for the Foot guards at the gate. They pretended to be in a domestic spat about Casey never stopping and asking for directions.

"But, Donnie…the fence?" Mikey pointed out, obviously afraid of being electrocuted. His older brothers all exchanged glances before throwing him up over the barbed wire to land in the dirt on the other side. "Not..cool!" He spat some dirt from between his teeth as the others gave each other a leg up and stuck to the shadows to get to the building. "You guys really suck, you know that? Jeez,"

"April, we're in," Leo whispered into his head piece. April caught the signal and slapped Casey as hard as she could.

"OW! April!"

"I knew I shouldn't have stuck around with you, my mother was right! You're a useless, stupid man with no sense of direction!" She screamed, trying to keep the gist up and the attention on them. Casey saw that one coming, he knew she wasn't acting when he saw her smirk.

"Oh yeah? Well…maybe your mother is just a crazy old bat with nothin' better to do but talk smack about Casey Jones!" The Foot guards, about 8 of them, stood by helplessly watching the couple banter back and forth. They passed confused glances amongst each other.

"How dare you!"

"Okay guys, there should be a fire escape around here somewhere…there!" Donnie pointed to a big grey door. It was outfitted with a fire alarm to sound off whenever it was opened. He cracked his knuckles and cracked open the circuit panel on the top of the door and disconnected the necessary wires. "Piece of cake,"

"Aw man…now I want cake…"

"Mikey, when DON'T you want food? Come on, Leo, you first," He didn't have to tell the leader twice as he silently dashed through the door and pressed his back against the wall. A security camera hung in the corner and scanned the hallway.

"Donnie, camera!" He whispered sharply. Into his shoulder bag, the ninja withdrew a can of black spraypaint and covered the lens of the camera to give them some concealment. "Alright guys, they're gonna notice the blacked out camera in a matter of minutes. We need to get upstairs without being noticed, so keep low and keep quiet,"

The brothers followed their brother in stealth, doing their best to avoid any Foot ninja that was coming their way, The last thing they needed was to be noticed, fighting a bunch of hired muscle was going to get them caught. Donnie listened on his headpiece as April chimed in.

"Donnie! Hurry up! They know you're there!" All of them heard her say it and collectively groaned. Getting upstairs was going to take a lifetime if they had to go up against ninjas on every level. Just as she had said it, Leo spotted a bunch of shadows being cast on a far away wall coming right for them

"Guys! We have company, let's move!" Both Raph and Mikey grinned and grasped their weapons. They'd been dying for some good action, rescuing Shiho and fighting ninjas? They had this in the bag. The only problem that settled among them all was what the heck a bunch of Foot ninja were doing in a laboratory.

Running down the hall, the boys came to a large lobby where the elevators and stairways were. At least here, they'd had the room to knock these guys out and take off without much of a struggle. Or so they hoped. The Foot were easy pickings, no problem, it was those Elite ninja that had them worried and hoping they wouldn't show their faces. The boys all stormed the ninjas that came running at them and clashed weapons and dodged kicks and punches.

Leo was in no mood today to waste him time with pesky ninjas and went at them with everything he had. He slashed his swords at another sword wielding Foot soldier over and over before clashing together with crossed blades. He clenched his teeth together and grinned, confusing his opponent enough to hesitate. Seeing his opportunity, Leo pulled his head back and slammed into the ninja's forehead to stun him. Drawing back is katana, Leo pushed the ninja back and kicked him once in the chest, jumped and sent a flying kick into his head and sent him flying into the wall. One down. 15 to go.

Mikey was having quite the time, purposely irritating the ninjas and bashing them in the head with his nun chucks. One in particular went at him with a scythe, swinging and hacking at the giggling turtle's feet trying to knock him down. When he swung again, Mikey jumped and landed on the blade with his feet before crouching and wagging his thick finger back and forth. "Ah-ahhh, not today!"

He jumped and flipped and knocked the Foot ninja under the chin, putting him in a daze. Mikey delicately stepped forward and pushed him over with his finger with an obnoxious laugh. "Hahahaaa, sleep tight, dude. Now, who's next?!"

Upstairs, Shiho was roused from her state of misery when an alarm started buzzing and blaring in her ears. Her headache hadn't subsided and the sound waves made her dizzy, too dizzy to stand on her feet. She hadn't eat in the last 4 days and was weaker than a newborn foal, complete with knocking knees and pathetically weak ankles. Over the loud speakers, she heard Marcus yell.

"Security breach, I want every man downstairs in that lobby! Bring those turtles to me alive!" Turtles? They were here? Shiho couldn't believe it, Leo came. The fox struggled to stand and used the wall as guiding support to bring her to her feet. The shackle around her neck was starting to rub burns into her skin every time she moved, making her wince from the shock of pain on the raw flesh. "You see, Shiho?! I told you they'd come. Now, you get to destroy those bothersome monsters for me, isn't that great?"

Marcus taunted her over the loudspeaker in her room. Her response was a loud growl and a sharp snap of her jaws. She was feisty in her defiance. The scientist flicked on all the lights in her room and instructed Magdalena to watch her as he left to fetch his prize. The blonde fox was all too eager to keep her eyes glued to her host, watching her try to regain what little strength she had left.

"How romantic, your boyfriend came to rescue you like a damsel in distress. Aren't you so happy to see him again?" Magdalena blurted into the speaker, she was pulling Shiho's strings like a puppet on stage. Poking at all the right exposed nerves to make her angry. Very angry. The result was Shiho pulling with all of her might on the shackles and chains, what she didn't know what they were wired. Her clone giggled as she pushed a button and sent bolts of electricity into Shiho by the neck and wrists. The fox howled and collapsed to her knees with her arms thrown around her middle.

"No, no, Big Sister. Mustn't break the chains. Daddy paid a lot of money for those! Sit tight, I'm sure Casanova will be here soon," Shiho could smell her burnt skin from where the shackles came in to contact with her wrists and neck. Slamming her palm against the wall, the fox fought to stand again and give another try at the chains, using her strong jaws and pulling with what little strength she had.

Again, Magdalena shocked her with more amusement than ever, watching her host scream and writhe in the pain was almost arousing. Over and over they played this game of pull and shock until Shiho hadn't the ability to even lift her head and laid on the floor of her room on her side. Heavily panting and twitching occasionally from the shocks, the fox prayed either for Leo to bust in the door any second or for death to just make its graceful appearance.

"Hehehehe, don't die just yet, silly. Leonardo isn't here! I want to play with him a little bit," That girl was more sadistic in her sanity than Shiho was in her Madness, because she chose to be that way. Tightly, Shiho clenched her teeth together and willed for Leo to find her. He had to, he was her only chance of getting out of her. But he was here, he was downstairs trying to get to her, which meant he still loved her, he had to. Or he wouldn't be risking his shell for a girl like her.

"Hurry, Leo.."

A/N: Alright! We be gettin on. Chugga chugga chugga! :) Haha, Next chapter is in the works, so stay tuned my lovely duckies The song used was Sorry by Buckcherry. I found it relevant to the moment in the story and thought, "Hey! Leo is super guilty! Let's make it worse!" :) Too mean? I dunno. Nah, I love Leo to pieces, it's ridiculous. WHY ISN'T HE REAL?!