Chapter 17

Rai led April from the battle shell and up to the back door of the warehouse he was sure the Foot had the others stashed in. There were too many Foot ninjas around for this not to be the right one. A patrol of about half a dozen of them had just moments ago walked past this door. So they only had a few minutes before those ninjas would be back again. Just a few minutes to bypass the security and slip inside. Piece of cake.

Yeah right. That only worked that fast in the movies.

Rai slipped out a sai and began to carefully inspect the right side of the door.

April traced the door's left side for indication of the security on that side. She pointed at the top left corner.

Rai looked more closely and saw a metal wire running to a magnet. He pulled a metal object from his pocket and slipped it between the two conductors. After getting the small piece of metal wedge in, he pulled one side of the security alarm off and tacked it up above the door. Next he dug his sai into the lock of the door, jiggled it, and pulled the door open. He quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind April, just as he saw the patrol coming back. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to inspect where they were.

It was an empty hall. And nothing could be seen from the right or the left.

"Which way?" April whispered softly.

Rai shrugged. He pulled out his shell cell and slipped off the headset, putting it on and slipping the cell back into his coat. "Let's split up and have a look around. Will you be ok?"

April slipped on her own headset and gave a thumbs up. "I'll be fine. Let's go find the guys."

Rai nodded and pointed left. After watching her go left, he went right. Sneaking down the hall very slowly and quietly. He had to be right about the others being here. If they were, there had to be a lot of ninjas in here. And if that was the case there had to be a way to get out and take care of them without much fighting. He and April wouldn't last long against a large squad of ninjas. Not with having to help the others get out if they were hurt. And as much as he hated to admit it, he knew they were. The Foot never held back.

An idea popped into his head out of no where. It would be risky, but if they could at least get the others and make it to the door it would work. A grin worked itself across his face. A few of his explosive charges would blow this place sky high. And take out a lot of ninjas. Some days he loved being a bounty hunter.

He pulled out a charge and tacked it up above the first door he got to, then cracked the door open and looked in.

All clear.

Rai closed it and tiptoed to the next one. Cracked it open.

Clear.

He checked all the rooms on his side of the hall and nothing. Not even a single lone ninja. Or any guards either for that matter. He frowned. That was not good. It meant something was up. With the others being here, there were more ninjas here than at the park. A lump started forming in his stomach, but he willfully pushed away his uneasiness. He had a job to do. He had to be clear headed to get the others, April, and himself out of here.

Rai turned down the next hall, placing his little bombs every few feet. Everything was still all clear. The ninjas had to be guarding the others. Which meant he was most likely heading the right direction. Or so he hoped. He turned left and met up with April.

She shook her head. "Nothing. It's empty. Maybe this isn't the right one," she whispered.

Rai shrugged. "Maybe." His eyes narrowed. "Or maybe not." He quickly pulled April into the empty room on the left and shut the door quietly.

April waited and watched him quietly. The look in her eyes told him she knew what was going on.

Rai put his ear to the door and listened for the ninja's footsteps. They thumped past their door and padded on down the hallway. Within a few minutes it was once again quiet. "We're getting close."

He eased the door open and darted left, going down the hall the ninja had come from. He made sure April was behind him and turned down a series of hallways, continuing to place his charges. April gave him a look, but didn't ask. He didn't tell her either. He was afraid the faintest whisper would alert the ninjas now. They were up ahead. He could feel it. He swallowed and stopped. He couldn't lead April straight into a horde of Foot ninja. He pointed right, down another hall.

April nodded and thankfully snuck off.

Rai watched her go. If he was right, that would take her around the long way. By his reasoning, they had been going almost straight through the warehouse. She would be safer. And he could go faster.

He continued on down the hall, ducking into rooms three more times before getting to a hallway blocked by a sea of black ninjas. Rai stopped at the corner he was at and thought. There had to be a way around them. There was no way he could get through that. Or get the others through that once he got to them. He back tracked to another hallway and headed left, hopefully going around that hall full of ninjas.

Rai tiptoed along and soon had the feeling that he wasn't alone anymore. He peaked behind him and saw nothing. He shook his head and continued on taking a right. After a few hundred feet, he decided that he had passed the sea of Foot ninja hall and snuck down the hall to his right. Back on track, he increased his pace. Then suddenly stopped.

Someone was behind him.

He spun around.

Nothing.

Rai spun again, heart rate increasing. Still nothing.

He took a deep breath. There was no one here. He listened closely. No. There was someone here. Foot tech?

Arms circled around him. "Hello Raison."

Rai gripped at the arms that circled around his throat, choking off his airway. He pulled, not having any effect on the strong arms. He desperately started to claw at the arms, digging his claws into the guy as he saw his vision starting to fade from lack of oxygen.

The guy growled lowly.

Rai lifted his foot and stomped down hard on his attacker's foot.

The guy stifled a shout then tightened his hold. "You can't win that easily," the voice sneered.

Keith.

Rai clawed harder, scratching against Keith's arms. How could he have made it back from the park already? Unless they had Raph and Casey here too. He gasped for air. This wasn't good. He was on his own now. Rai let himself become dead weight and brought Keith down to the floor with him.

Keith grunted, holding on a little tighter. "That won't work. You'll black out soon enough."

Rai coughed, sputtering for air. He wrapped his tail around Keith's waist and pulled, but his strength was getting weaker. His tugging tail barely did anything.

"You may have escaped the park, but you won't escape this warehouse," Keith whispered harshly.

Rai slowly stopped struggling, his vision blacking out, and his body going lax in Keith's grip. A haunting laugh rang in his ears.