THE TRIAL OF THE LOST
Thank you for reading this chapter. And thank you dondena and EmoPrivateLuv for your review. I'm starting to get busy because of school and stuff, so I probably won't have much spare time. But I'll keep writing.
-Based on/inspired by 2003 TV series episode "Same as it never was".
-Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (Quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper from 'the Big Bang Theory': If I could, I should. But I can't, so I shan't.)
Chapter Five: Tactic
"Mistress Karai."
She heard the voice of the Foot ninja she had sent after Leonardo. He was reporting again.
"He went into an abandoned warehouse, Mistress Karai." The man whispered from the other side of the line.
"Send your location signal over here, N98." She said.
"Immediately, Mistress Karai." And then it was silent for a moment.
Karai sighed, frowning. She had wished that this whole incident could be avoided. She had wished that Leonardo would not come back at all. But now, since everything had already taken place, she must put an end to this.
The turtles were never her enemy—no, the turtles were always honorable and worthy enemy. She had to fight them due to her position and according to the loyalty to her father. She helped them before, and they helped her, too. She respected them. It would be great if they weren't enemy, but it was childish and useless to even think about that. However, Leonardo might consider about it, she thought. She had figured it out that Leonardo wanted to see the goodness in her, whatever that is. She smirked at that thought. He's right that she wasn't completely without honor, but that doesn't mean she would leave this matter unfinished. She would give him a little break, and then strike hard.
But she probably, just probably and secretly, wished they would make it out all right this time?
Raph heard a crack on the front gate outside the warehouse, and he sat up straight instantly. It's him.
He stood up, unsheathing his sai as he leaning forward to peep from the slightly ajar wooden door. The sunlight outside was of deep gold, too bright for a late autumn morning. Too bright for a future without hope.
There was a bulky man in ragged clothes slowly approaching. Wait. The man did not have his pants on. Raph narrowed his right eye—now he's sure his left one's not working anymore—and snickered.
The eldest turtle staggered toward the door; seeing Raph standing beside it, he smirked back.
Raph stared at his brother, noticing his left shoulder was covered in dark-reddish brown.
Leo stepped inside, setting the bags he had carried down against the wall. And he turned to face his brother, eyes questioning.
Raph looked away, avoiding Leo's gaze. He wanted to grab him by his coat and yell at his face. Why are you so late and do you even care about Mikey and where the hell have you been and HOW THE HELL DIDJA GET HURT?
But he did none of these. A lump suddenly stuck in his throat, and he could only utter:
"...Man, am I glad to see you back." And then he looked up, stiffly managing to press his lips into what could be called an amiable smile.
Leonardo gazed at his brother in astonishment.
"What? Any problem?" Raph snorted, but a smirk lingered on his face.
"No." Leo said, smiling weakly. "I'm glad to see you, too. Just can't believe this night is over."
"…ain't it the longest night ever."
Tell me about it, Leonardo thought to himself. He opened his mouth, trying to tell Raph that he had been to the lair, and Master Splinter was… but he hesitated, deciding not to tell him at this time. He could imagine Raph's reaction, and it was the last thing they needed now. He turned his face away from the corner where he had gently laid their father down. He thought tears would start to well up his eyes, but they did not. He only felt dry and coarse.
"What?" Raph's voice pulled him back to reality.
"How's Mikey?" He asked, sitting down by his still-unconscious brother.
"Still feverish, an' he hasn't woken up since last night. I think he's a bit delusional. Ya got a first-aid kit in there? And antibiotics?" Raph said.
"Of course." Leo reached for the bags and found what he needed. And he also took two bottles of water and some canned fish and beans out.
"Want some?" he grinned tiredly.
O-O-O
After the two elder turtles stuffed their stomachs with food and water, the blue-banded one brought the first-aid kit to Mikey's side.
"It's probably too late to clean it and disinfect it, but we still have to do it." Leo said.
"Ya also think it's infection that's causin' him fever and all this?"
"I guess so." Leo frowned. "Look at his arm here, it's swollen and inflamed and…"
There was a brief pause of silence, as the two of them glanced at each other in an uneasy and troubled manner.
"What are we gonna do?"
Leo thought for a moment. "We'll disinfect it first."
"And then we give him some antibiotics?"
O-O-O
They tried to tend Mikey's wound. It was an unpleasant job, because it just reminded them how bad the situation was. They made Mikey take the medicine and forced some water into his system, hoping it would help a little. They also tried in vain to wake him up.
"Alright," Leo sighed and collapsed beside Raph. "I think we have done everything we could. Now just wait and see if he's getting better."
Raph stared at his younger brother, his functioning eye full of concern. Leonardo glanced at Raph; it appeared that he was clearly thinking hard about something and was holding his question back. Leo took a deep breath.
"OK, Raph. Ask me whatever ya want."
Raph's fist clenched, his eyes closed for a moment. "All right Fearless One, so… where have ya been? Why did it take ya so long?" He tried to sound as casual as possible, but the quiver in his voice betrayed him and indicated the bitterness and accusation in his tone.
I won't tell him I've been to the lair and Sensei's dead. Leo frowned, "Some Foot Ninja ambushed me, and I blacked out for a while. That's all."
"Where were these Foot Ninjas?" Raph questioned, apparently not buying Leo's explanation. "And how come they injured ya? They were… let's just say incompetent."
"There were those Karai Legions." Leo said; that was true.
"Shouldn't ya be stealthy enough for them to not find ya?" Raph asked sarcastically.
"I was…not in my best shape, Raph." Leo said feebly. If Raph's gonna keep investigating like this, he feared that he would no longer be able to keep the secret.
"I know, I know. But I just find it hard ta believe it took ya a whole night just ta get us some groceries." Raph was still looking closely at him.
"Let it drop, okay? We got bigger problems, Raph." Leo retorted.
"Sure. The biggest issue we have now is I kinda find it hard ta trust my big brother, 'cause I think he's hiding somethin'. What da you say Leo?"
"I said, give it a rest, Raphael."
"After ya give me a good reason, LEONARDO."
Leo noticed that it was now impossible for him to hold back his impatience toward his brother. Raphael always did that, provoking him, irritating him, questioning him…
"Shut up, Ra…" He snapped but stopped all of a sudden as he heard a faint noise coming from outside.
"What? I—" Raph was all tensed up and about to shout at him, but Leo covered his mouth and shot him a warning glance.
"Listen." Leo whispered.
Now Raph heard it, too.
"Did someone follow ya here?" He hissed, his good eye burning with rage.
"It appears… yes." Leo sighed heavily. Karai had been lying. That… woman. GREAT.
"Geez, you're unbelievable!" Raph grunted through his teeth.
"Quiet! I need to come up with a plan, Raph." Leo pushed his enraged brother aside. "Get Mikey."
"I hope you're in shape for a plan, Fearless Leader." Raph remarked in a bitter, low voice, as he bent down to pick Mikey up.
"Oh shut up, Raph." Leo snapped back. They're coming, and Raph's just making things more complicated.
"Too bad we ain't human. If we're normal people we could just call the police or somethin'." Raph murmured.
Leo was about to hiss at Raph again, when something crossed his mind.
The police.
"Thanks Raph." Leo said in a surprised voice. And though it was faint, a smile accompanied by a little hope slightly lightened up his tired features.
They were well hidden behind the abandoned truck outside the warehouse.
"We saw the two of them, Mistress Karai."
"Good, where is the third one?"
"We haven't seen it. It's assumed to be inside the warehouse all the time. I remember from the report of our last battle, one of them was severely wounded."
"Very well-done. You will be rewarded, N98." Karai said motionlessly.
"Thank you, Mistress." The black-clad man whispered gratefully, disappearing from Karai's side.
"Ninja, prepare to enter." Karai commanded to the rest of men in tight black suit. "Eighth squad from behind, ninth squad from the front, and seventh squad with me, from the roof." As she spoke, two groups of men hurriedly rushed towards the warehouse without a sound.
"Seventh squad, come with me." Karai took the lead and ran to the side of the building, starting to climb the ladder leading to the rooftop. "Ninja, wait for my signal to enter." The men behind her nodded silently.
There were two black windows opened to the sky on the top of the building. Karai quietly lifted one open and looked down inside, but saw nothing. Inside the building was still, and dark.
"They must be here." She thought to herself. N98 clearly saw Leonardo went in there. She stepped back, motioned the ninjas behind her to enter. The men brought the ropes to the window.
She saw from the roof that other two squads were also ready to go. She raised one arm and they noticed her, pulling out their weapons as the sound of siren piercing through cold morning air.
The sound of siren.
Karai turned and looked down from the roof. Police cars, thankfully only two of them, were approaching. Maybe they were heading for somewhere else. Wait. No.
"Seventh squad, continue to enter." She whispered, and raised the other arm, motioning the other two squads to retreat. Hopefully they would drive the attention away, so she could focus on the task at hand. The turtles.
"Freeze!" The sound came from the speaker on one of the police car. "Drop your weapons!" Climbing into the building, Karai couldn't see what's going on outside now, but the ninjas out there were still on the move for there was a sound of gunfire; and she could not have cared less.
O-O-O
Leonardo carefully took out two smoke bombs from his waist pocket, waiting for the Foot ninjas. Once they were close enough, he would block their view and covered Raph and Mikey until they got out safely. He counted the number of their enemy. Five, …no, there were seven Foot ninjas. He took a mental note of the positions of them. Holding his one and now only katana in his left hand, he tossed the smoke bomb toward the Foot ninjas who had no idea he was only a few feet away from them.
"Go now, Raph." He whispered to his brother who had been hiding behind a pile of boxes. The next second, he threw himself into the grayness of the smoke. Wielding the sword, he took out the first ninja by slicing through his side, the next one by jabbing the throat; the third ninja was quick enough to evade his attack, so he swiftly turned to the fourth one. He bent one knee and swung the other, causing the fourth ninja fell off balance, his katana awaited for the fall.
Now there left only four of them. He went back to the third ninja, the one with the speed. Carefully keeping the distance, he refrained from striking out a blow. He knew his enemy couldn't see him in the smoke, but could somehow sense his presence. Hearing a noise from his left, Leonardo quickly backed off; however, he took a step forward immediately and successfully struck the man in his head.
On the other hand, Raph, with Mikey on his shell and a grocery bag in one arm, hobbled towards the back door through the heavy smoke. He knew the police strategy was working, so the force of their enemy was somehow reduced; but still, they were not fit to fight right now. Normally Raph would scold this kind of thought, but today, with Mikey's life at stake, he could not think about anything else but bringing Mikey to some place safe even it means that he must avoid any fight.
"Shell." He mumbled when a shadow emerged in front of him. These dirtbags aren't supposed ta see. Sure. Some o' them got some heat-sensor goggles or whatever that is. Donnie used to make this kind of gadgets for us.
"A'right, ya wanna fight? No problemo." He snorted, drawing one sai from his belt. The shadow slowly approached while he narrowed his good eye, trying to determine the distance between he and the Foot ninja. As he contracted the muscle on his right arm and prepared to attack, another shadow sprang out behind the first one, knocking it down.
"Go, Raph! We don't have much time." It was Leo; his voice filled with anxiety.
"Right. But this time don't play 'ditch yer brotha' shit with me." Raph snarled at the vague figure. "We ain't goin' without ya."
"I'm coming." Leo returned.
Raph kept his limping legs busy, moving towards the exit. This scene was so familiar and eerie like déjà vu. It was just like the fight back in the lair. Sensei said he would catch up with us. He told us to run. Leo told us to run. He found his legs trembling; the pain traveling down his thigh was slowing him down. Fortunate enough, he was finally at the door.
"LEO!" He shouted into the smoke behind him.
"Just go Raph. I'll catch up with you." He heard Leo shout back, eerie, and another voice cried, "Don't let them get away!"
"Geez, this day just keeps gettin' better an' better." He muttered to himself as he pushed the door open, only to discover one of the police wagons was still out there, parking outside the front gate. Greatest plan ever Leo. Now we have police on our side! Ain't it good? Wanna offer some help to greenish little freaky men?...
He blinked again, and suddenly realized the car was empty.
Alright.
-End of chapter five.