Well I hope you guys like cliffies cause this ones gonna be a doozy. lol
Raph's No. 1 Girl has been nothing but amazing for me! :) Be sure and check out her story, Deal with the Devil - a great story!
Well, here's the next chapter.
"Okay, guys, here's what we know." Don told the family later as they all gathered in the living room. Joey was still in with Suri and Sammy a day later. The teenage girl had woken up a bit before falling back asleep and Splinter allowed them to stay in Leonardo's room while they recovered. Leo doubted he'd be sleeping in that room until Raphael woke up anyway.
"Thankfully, Raph's leg wasn't as badly broken as it appeared to be," Don continued. "However, it's still in really bad shape and we all need to be careful around him not to bump it. It looks like he broke the largest bone in his leg, as well as his body, the femur bone. Being Raph, he'll want to move around a bit and the only way he'll be able to is in a wheelchair, which," Don tilted his head at April. "April has so graciously decided to lend us."
"Why can't he use crutches?" Mikey piped up.
"Because on crutches he'll be more likely to trip on, say, a stray skateboard or a remote controller," he gave Mikey a pointed look. The orange-banded turtle turned red under his gaze as he gave a nervous chuckle. "And he can accidentally hit it on a corner or something else. Remember, when you use crutches the leg can't just hang limp, it needs to be held either in front or behind you."
"So Donatello, how long will it be until Raphael will be able to walk unaided?" Splinter asked, sipping tea from a small teacup.
"If all goes well, I'd say…" he looked at April.
"Six to eight weeks." She finished. "By the end of those he'll need therapy to regain the strength and muscle he lost in that leg."
"And the rest of his injuries?"
Don shrugged. "Are minor compared to his leg. A few broken ribs that can be healed easily if the owner doesn't move around a lot; also another reason why he won't be allowed to have crutches. Besides that, he has some burns that will need to be kept wrapped and a few scratches that we'll have to watch closely for infection, but other than that, I'd say he got off lightly. He's very lucky."
"Lucky?" Mikey asked with disbelief in his voice. "Shell, if that's lucky I'd hate to see what unlucky is."
"People died, Mikey." Leo spoke up, the images of people dying or dead as he rushed in and out of the building to save people was all too fresh in his mind. "Raph is lucky to be alive, as are all the other people," he waved his hand in the direction of his room. "I'd say that was plenty lucky."
Murmurs of agreement filled the room. Mikey turned to Leo. "So what's next? And what about that thing or whatever Raph, uh, told us about? The Black Demons?"
"We don't even know what it is." Leo frowned. "Whatever that thing is, it seems to be after Raph. We need to wake Raph up so he can tell us."
"He won't have to." A voice spoke quietly from the doorway. Everyone whirled to see Joey leaning against the frame.
"How long have you been there, child?" Splinter growled. He didn't like it that he'd been listening in.
"Long enough." Joey walked into the room, seemingly oblivious to glares by Casey and Leo. He sat on a spare chair and looked up at them. "The Black Demons are a group of imposters."
"Imposters?" Mikey scoffed.
Joey leaned back, crossing his arms. "They go around the city, posing as different gangs. They do damage, get the gangs in trouble. One by one, the gangs either split, break up, or fight back."
"How does that work?" April asked the teen.
"Simple. They pose, do dirty work, get the police all huffed up and angry, the cops go and arrest the actual gang members, even though they didn't do anything. When they get the boys in blue mad enough to start arresting every gang member in sight, they stop posing and go find another gang to pose."
"So they guys and girl I saw over at the warehouse may not have been actual Purple Dragons?" Leo asked, astonished.
"Where was their tat at?" Joey leaned forward.
"The faces." Leo recalled, remembering his thought of whether or not he could slice it off.
Joey scoffed and leaned back. "Fakes." He announced.
"How do ya know?" Casey growled, angry that the Dragons he took down in the past may have been fakes.
"Easy. Only the leaders have dragon tats on their faces." Joey smirked. "That's the way they can be identified; if they wear a symbol on the faces, it's their way of saying who they really are. Ya see," he shifted. "Purple Dragons only have one leader at a time. They become leader by popular vote by the other Dragons. Then they go and get a dragon tattooed on their face to show off. That way they have two dragons on them; one on some part of their body and another on their faces."
"By why don't the real Dragons take down the fakes?" Don asked.
Joey shrugged. "With as many Dragons as there are in this town, some may not know who the real leader is. If they go and kill the real leader, they get killed themselves. And a leader don't become leader if he ain't mean; so if another questioned their leadership…" he drew one finger across his throat to prove his point. "Better ta ignore them than take a chance and question."
The lair was silent as they all absorbed the new information they just received from the kid.
"How do you know this, child?" Splinter sighed as he studied the teen.
Joey frowned. "It's just Joey." He insisted. "And living on the streets for as long as I have, I know what's what."
Splinter smiled. This young boy reminded him of Raphael. "Fine then, Joey."
Leo stood up, reaching for his swords. "Then I suggest we go and see if we can't have a friendly chat with one of these Black Demons." His eyes narrowed. "I want to know what he wants with Raph."
Casey whooped as he stood up. He started to reach for his bag filled with bats and hockey stick but a stick slapped against his hand stopped him. Splinter smirked as he wagged a finger in his face.
"No Mr. Jones. I insist you stay here with me and help with Raphael and the other children. No doubt when they wake, they will need a friendly human face to look at instead of a large rat such as myself." Splinter smiled as the vigilante slumped back, crossed his arms and pouted.
Mikey smirked. "Well you're looking in the wrong place if you're looking for a friendly face." His face lit up. "Hey, I'm a poet!" he laughed.
"That ain't fair." Casey whined.
April stood as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Life ain't fair, darling." She drawled as she gave him a grin. "Don't worry – you'll get over it."
"Wha-!" Casey jumped to his feet. "How come she gets ta go?"
Splinter somehow managed to stay serious. "Mr. Jones, I believe that has already been explained to you. Someone must stay and you have been chosen." He stood, whiskers flicking. "One more word and I'll have you doing back flips."
Mikey chuckled at the man as he, Don, Leo and April all began to head out the door. "Have fun, Case!" he called as the doors slammed shut behind him, grateful he couldn't hear the words Casey was shooting in the direction of the closed doors.
"So, Joey told us what to look for in the Black Demons," Leo spoke as they moved through the sewers to a specific manhole that would take them up in the more abandoned part of town. "We need to look for anyone with a purple dragon tattooed on their forehead."
"Should we split up?" Mikey asked. They could cover more ground that way.
"Are you nuts?" Leo hissed, oblivious to his brother's wince. "We're heading into gangster territory. Splitting up is not only dangerous and risky but will alert the others; word will spread. No," he said determinedly. "We stay together."
"So what's the plan then?"
"We go, stick to the shadows, wait and when one walks by, we grab him and force him to talk." Leo told them. That plan sounded good; it would keep them together and they had each other for back up. The plan was simple, easy and should be no problem for them to carry out.
He paused in his thoughts, waiting for a voice to speak up and diss his plans into next Tuesday. When he heard no voice, Leo felt a pain he had grown all too familiar with the past few weeks, shoot through his chest and right into his heart. The pain made him all the more determined to make sure this mission was a success.
"Here." Don said simply, pointing to an approaching ladder that led up to the manhole on their right after ten more minutes of walking in silence.
"Good," April muttered to herself as she followed Mikey up the ladder. "This smell is driving me nuts."
"It's because we're in this part of the town," Don told her as he followed her up. "The worse the town, the worse the sewers. It's as simple as that."
"Still gross." April whispered back.
"Shut it you two." Leo whispered sharply as hit the top. "From now on, total silence." He pointedly looked at Mikey.
Mikey narrowed his eyes at the eldest turtle removed the manhole lid. He peered around then jumped out, his eyes still alert for any signs of danger or people. Finally, he motioned the other three up.
"Mike," he whispered. "You take the roofs and signal us if you see anyone approaching from the left." He turned to April, "you take the right. Use our shell-cells or walkie-talkies if you see anyone. Everyone got it." At their nods, he gave the signal and they both took positions.
"What about me, Leo?" Don whispered tensely next to Leo as they took cover behind a large dumpster, crouching.
"You will help me take out the goons." Leo told him. "We only need one. While I grab one, it's up to you to take out however many there are left."
"How do you know which one to grab?"
"The one that's in front of the others and that does the most talking." Leo gave a grim smile. "I know thugs; the one who's the leader is the loudest and does most of the talking. He'll know more than the others."
"And if he doesn't?" Don really prayed Leo would snatch the right one.
"Then we'll tie him up for the cops and take the others." Leo looked over his shoulder at his younger brother. "One of them has to know something. Just, try not to knock them out too hard. If it comes down to that, we'll want them awake in a short period of time."
Don gave Leo a crooked smile. At least Leo didn't ask him to kill the others, just knock them out. He'd have no problem doing that; Splinter had trained him well enough to knock a man out and not leave a mark and also to kill without leaving one. He was a ninja after all, a trained killer. He just tried not to be.
As darkness seemed to descend on the city, the purple clad turtle pulled out his shell cell for what seemed like the twentieth time that evening. They'd been there, crouched in the cold weather, for almost four hours.
He shifted his legs, all muscles still tensed, and stared out of the dark alley. Despite a few people hurrying home from work, the roads seemed bare. Donnie readjusted his grip on his Bo, hoping for some action soon.
"Nothing yet?" he whispered to Leo. The blue clad turtle had remained frozen the whole time, not a muscle twitching. His hands rested on his sword handles, fingers barely brushing the rough blue fabric. The only movement was an occasional blink and the gentle sway of his bandana tails.
"No." His head finally moved to stare at his brother from over his shoulder. "Call Splinter and see how Raph is doing."
Donnie nodded and flipped open his shell cell, punching the small numbered buttons that would reach his sensei's phone. He waited three rings before a voice picked up.
"Donatello, my son." Splinter warmly greeted him.
"Sensei, you answered quickly." Don was impressed. It usually took his sensei around twenty rings before he hit the right button and still he was punching buttons, unaware that he had already answered the phone. And he knew who it was, another point on his part.
"Yes, my son." Splinter chuckled. "How are things?"
Don glanced up at the two staked on the roof. Nothing.
"Still nothing yet, sensei. How's Raph holding up?"
"Raphael has yet to awaken, although, uh, Joey is in there with him, along with that darling child."
"Sammy, father."
"Ah, Sammy." Splinter sighed. "She is beautiful and has taken a liking to me I believe."
"That's good." Don had been afraid that the small five-year-old would have been terrified of the elderly rat. "Has Suri woken up yet?"
"She has woken long enough for Joey to assure her of where she was, and then she promptly fell back to sleep." Splinter answered. "Raphael is doing better; I was able to remove the breathing mask without trouble and his breath is normal and steady. His leg has not been touched at all since you've been absent, since I believe that was part of your main unease."
Don breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes master, thank you." He was about to voice his next thought when a barely audible sound of sword against leather hit his ears. Don glanced up at Leo removed his second sword, his eyes fixed to the left.
"Go to go, sensei." Don quickly hung up, dropping it back into the small pouch in his leather belt. Drawing his staff, he took his place beside Leo, weapon at the ready.
"Ya hear about that killing Macy and the guys pulled off?" a male voice snickered to his companion. He sounded young, in his twenties by Don's estimation.
His partner answered. His voice was really deep and had an Australian accent to it. "Yeah. I also heard they all kicked the bucket doing it."
"Good thing too; Macy was really starting to drive us crazy."
"I heard they were after some freaky lizard or something." The Australian guy laughed. "Heard they had to blow up a warehouse full of homeless people ta get to it."
Leo waited until he could clearly hear their footsteps before revealing himself. Don stayed in the shadows, his Bo clutched in both hands, waiting for his signal. He had to admit that if he hadn't seen Leo reveal himself from the shadows before, he would have been creeped out as well. It was like a shadow suddenly took form and started breathing. A shadow became a living thing that could hurt and help, build and destroy, love and hate. The shadow came to life.
"Yes, and lives were taken to get to my brother." Leo hissed while his eyes narrowed dangerously behind his blue mask.
"What the…" the youngest guy took a nervous step back while the older man did a wonderful impression of "deer caught in the headlights". "It's one of those lizard things!" he blurted out.
Leo raised one of his swords and gave it a few practiced swings through the air. The moon glowed on the blade, giving its normally dangerous look a whole other meaning. Danger was too weak a word.
"Which one of you knows about the explosion that happened last night?" Leo asked, his tone low.
The youngest man hurriedly pushed his companion forward. "He does." He stammered as he staggered back. "He was gonna go if one of the others backed down."
That was all Don needed to hear. Like another shadow come alive, he brought his Bo staff down hard on the boy's head. With a groan, he sank to his knees, then to the ground.
The older man twisted his head, panic growing inside of him as Mikey joined the group. All three held weapons in his direction.
"Tell me what you know about it." Leo growled as he took a threatening step forward, raising his katana to show he was serious. "Now."
"We were just supposed to take out the frea – I mean lizard, man." He stammered.
"Turtle." Mikey snarled. He didn't know what was more annoying: the fact that they were referred to as lizards or the fact that even in the face of them, he still was about to call them freaks.
"Our boss, Ladle, just told us to plant a bomb wherever the lizard, I mean turtle, was." He whimpered. "Please don't kill me."
"Ladle?" Mikey raised an eyebrow in Don's direction. "How come all our villains have to be named after kitchen appliances?"
Don gave a small smirk as he shrugged at his youngest brother. How come they had to have people trying to kill them crossed his mind as well.
"Okay boy, here's what I'll do," Leo now stood in front of the boy, his sword inches from his quivering throat. "I'll let you live if you give me directions to where this Ladle lives."
"I can't!" the man looked ready to cry, he was so scared. "He'll kill me!"
Leo softened at the man. He stepped back and lowered his swords. "Look," he sighed. "I've had enough violence to last me awhile. You go into hiding for a few weeks, preferably out of state, while we deal with this guy. If you return in a month, the problem will be gone and you'll be safe from Ladle and his goons. I'll let you walk away from here, you and your buddy, if you tell me. I won't breathe a word to your boss if and only if you leave and you get a real job and no more gangs." He bowed. "Ninja honor."
The man relaxed an inch. "Ya promise?" his lip quivered and his eyes held a desperate hope that he might walk away from the mutants alive.
Leo nodded, trying to look as sincere as possible. "When I give promises, I keep them, no matter what. However, after a month, you're safety relies on you."
The man nodded eagerly. For some reason, he trusted this turtle. "Okay, his normal hangout is the empty warehouse across from the police station. About two buildings down to the right, there's a secret passage that leads underground and to the hideout."
"And how do we find this passageway?" Leo asked.
The man lowered his voice. "First room, eleven doors in. There's a rug with a big wolf on it. There's also a code that you need to remember. It's one, three, five, two, and four. As soon as the rug is lifted and you set the numbers in, you have to wait ten whole seconds before you put in the numbers again backwards. If you don't a silent alarm will go off."
Leo bowed again to the man. "Thank you again. I believe you should leave tonight if possible."
The man hurriedly nodded before dropping to the floor by his companion. "I'm Duke by the way." He told Leo.
Leo paused, turning back around to stare at the man. A smile tinted his face. "Leonardo."
"Thank you Leonardo." Duke told him sincerely. "I have one question before you leave though."
Leo stopped again. "Yes?"
"Why?"
It was simple, one word question. Leo wished he could respond the same way back in one simple word. "Because I was raised to protect those who could not and to believe in second chances."
Duke's eyes widened. "A second chance?"
"A second chance." Leo said. "You've had one chance at life, only one way to live. Now I'm opening up a second path, one that may be harder but I guarantee you the reward at the end will be much more filling. But only you can choose which path. The road may be hard, but does that not make the prize all that much more at the end?"
Duke closed his eyes, savoring the wise words of the blue masked turtle. When he opened them again, he looked to same spot the turtle had been standing in only seconds before. Now only an empty street greeted him.
"Yes," he whispered as he looked at the full moon that gave light to the dark city. "Yes, it does."
"Dang Leo." Mikey shot a grin at his eldest brother as they scaled the rooftops. "You got a little deep there, bro."
"Was that wise to just let him go?" Donnie asked worriedly. He was never one for killing, but if it came down to him or his family…
"Yes." Leo told them as he leapt, defying gravity once more. He landed effortlessly on the next building, his stride never breaking. He'd just sent a very reluctant April home. "He was just one more lost soul. I gave him a reason to think and realize what he's doing and a chance to change. Tell me, Don," he turned his gaze at his brother, still moving at the same speed. "Don't they all deserve a second chance at life? Especially if they're willing to change?"
"I guess so." Don mumbled. "I'm just saying that he could alert the gang that we're coming."
"He could," Leo agreed. "But he won't. He already revealed some information to us that should never have even entered his mind while he was at our mercy. He goes back, he admits to a flaw. How many gangs can afford weak members?"
"None." Don grinned sheepishly. "I get it, Leo."
Mikey voiced his thoughts. "What kind of a gang would have his hideout right in front of the police?"
"The kind who doesn't want to be found." Don explained. "The best place to hide something is in plain sight."
Leo nodded, though his thoughts and concerns were on the mission. He really hadn't planned this far ahead – he hadn't thought he was going to get information this quickly – but he couldn't back down now. Not until his brother was avenged.
Sure enough, they found the trapdoor in the warehouse, entered the code and soon found themselves in a long passageway carved from the earth. Support beams had been stationed everywhere and lanterns hung from the ceiling, giving off an eerie glow to the cave. Water dripped from the ceiling, startling Mikey when a large droplet landed on his nose ridge.
"Yikes!" he gave off a girly scream, jumping back and nearly colliding with Donny, who caught him, whilst giving him a dirty look.
"Quiet." He hissed. "These people tried to blow up a place full of innocent people to get to Raph; I'd hate to see what they would do to us if they caught us here." He shoved the youngest turtle off.
"Come on." Leo urgently waved his hand towards the wooden door at the end. The two youngest turtles darted forward, peering out.
"Holy shell." Don cursed as his eyes landed on crates filled with animal skins, bones, and remains of animals. "This is a black market."
"Quite right, my dear turtle," a voice chuckled from the shadows. They all whirled around, weapons drawn and ready when a man stepped from behind a support beam. Dirty brown hair was shoved to the side, revealing bright brown eyes.
"Hey isn't that…?" Mikey began to blurt, struggling for the right name. His eyes suddenly narrowed as the name hit him and he clutched his chucks tighter. "You're--"
The man chuckled again. "That's correct." He straightened, and men surged around him and the turtles. "Shaun."
*Runs from mad mob*
I'll update chapter 19 on thursday, as always.
REVIEW PLEASE! You make me happy. Also, be sure to vote on my poll for my story, Combined Terror, if you haven't already. Also, on my page is a list of stories that I might do sometime in the near future. Please let me know if u have any interest in writing one or more yourself. Right now I'm crammed full and really shouldn't start another one. (grins sheepishly).
So just let me know thought a review or PM me. Thanks!
