A/N: Sorry for the long wait, blame it on my professors.
A special thanks goes out to Devil's Shadows for their great suggestions! Everyone is welcome to give their own suggestions on stroy plots or characters they want to see or anything else you guys can think of. I will put those suggestions into my story if they don't interfere with my original plot line, which has already been written out. Please enjoy!
Chapter 4
The four teenage boys made their way back to the lair by way of the sewers. Richie refrained from commenting about the route they were taking. He figured it wouldn't do much for him to slight his new allies in that way. His instincts told him that he wasn't completely trusted yet. Richie couldn't really blame them though, he got the impression that not many people know of their existence, but Richie knows how to keep a secret and he will keep theirs if that's what they wish.
Leo scouted ahead, while Mikey and Raph took up the rear and Donnie walked along side their guest. Leo didn't think that this knew kid was a threat, but one could never be too careful, so he made sure to tell the others to keep a look out and make sure they weren't being followed. He led them the long way, taking an indirect route to the lair, just to be safe.
Donnie took this opportunity to…interview…their new friend.
"So, you're one of those Bang-Babies aren't you?"
Richie looked at him and gave a small friendly smile, "Yup" was his simple answer.
Don furrowed eyebrows in curiously, "What's your power?"
Richie's smiled wavered slightly at the question. The question was a valid one, but he has never liked to boast about his abilities.
"Uh, enhanced intelligence." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Behind them they heard Raph snort, "Great, another brainiac."
Donnie glared back at his cheeky brother and was going to say something about his rudeness when he noticed that Richie had become almost rigid.
"You okay?" Donnie asked, concern leaking into his voice, "Just ignore Raph, sometimes he can be a real…"
"No, it's not that, "Richie interrupted, "That name, brainiac, brought up some bad memories that I haven't gotten over yet."
A light bulb went off in Donnies' head, "Oh, I remember reading about that attack and how Brainiac, the Kryptonian super computer went on a rampage around five months ago and how the Justice League managed to stop it. You were involved?" He didn't remember reading anything about the lesser known hero.
Richie chuckled, but not humorously. "If by involved you mean getting my mind and body hijacked by a computer who used me to help it in almost destroying the Justice League, my own city and the whole planet, then yeah I was involved." By the end, he was almost on the verge of shouting, he was so angry. Luckily Richie had kept his voice low so only Donnie heard his tirade.
"Sorry," Richie apologized, "I still have some issues to work out." He felt horrible. He has never exploded like that before.
"Don't worry about it" Donnie assured him, "I went through something similar not too long ago. I contracted a synthetic virus that mutated me into a monster. I went out of control and nearly ate Mikey as well as almost infecting innocent people with the virus. If it wasn't for my brothers, I don't know what would have happened."
"Yeah, same goes for me. If it wasn't for Static…" Richie just left the thought die. He hated to think about what could have happened.
"How long has Static been missing?" Donnie asked changing the subject.
"Don't really know. He went on a mission with Batman Friday afternoon and was supposed to be home early today. He would have contacted me if he was going to be late."
"You two close?" Donnie asked.
"Very. We're, um…together." Richie felt his cheeks grow hot and he knew his face was a deep crimson by now. The color change was noticeable to Donatello even in the dim light.
Donnie was confused by the obvious embarrassed look on Richie's face but after a few seconds comprehension dawned, "oh"
"Are you okay with that?" Richie asked with no heat in his words. He just wanted to make sure he didn't make anyone feel uncomfortable.
"I have no problem. Who am I to say who you love?"
Richie gave a small smile of appreciation.
They reached the lair with no trouble and Richie got the 5 cent tour and met Master Splinter, who promised to recount their origins as soon as the problem at hand was resolved and left the five teens to work out their rescue mission strategy.
"This place is way better than our abandoned gas station of solitude." Richie whispered to himself as he was given the tour. The lair was amazing. Each turtle had there own bedroom (In various stages of tidiness), but they had to share one bathroom, which Richie surmised was difficult at times with four teens. The living area gave Richie the most admiration, for there was an entertainment center that would be the envy of any adolescent (and even some adults!). Multiple TV's, gaming systems and countless DVD's made up the bulk. In the corner was a small area dedicated to what looked like a single computer, built from a multitude of different computers, but expertly built and obviously the work of brilliance. A small kitchen, complete with a stove, refrigerator, and a microwave was also present. But what really amazed Richie was the space the turtles used for their training, a dojo they called it, was decorated in the Japanese style with all sorts of weaponry hanging on the walls. They told Richie that their master had trained them in the art of Ninjistu since they were young, so they could protect themselves from the world above and they had made it their own mission in life to protect those who could not protect themselves, keeping to the shadows, as was the way of a ninja.
After the tour was finished, they all gathered around the kitchen table to discuss the situation over pizza and pop. The turtles gave Richie the run-down on the Purple Dragons, the Foot Clan and the Shredder, and Richie told them how he tracked down Karai and Hun.
"So, why do you think the Shredder wants Static?" Richie asked.
"Power" replied Leo, "It's always about power with the Shredder."
"Okay, Shredder has Static and Static has a vast amount of power, so we can deduce that Shredder is looking to retrieve a massive quantity of power from Static. The question is what he plans to do with that power." Donnie supplied.
"Some kinda weapon no doubt" Raph added.
"I know how to find out" Richie said as a broad smile made its way onto his face. "Backpack" Richie called and the four turtles watched in amazement as the robot sprouted four legs and walked into the kitchen from the living room (where Richie had left it earlier).
"Sweet" Mikey stated, "Where can I get one?"
"Backpack here is a one-of-a-kind. I made it myself along with the rest of the gadgets Static and I use." Richie explained.
"Dude" Mikey said with definite awe in his voice, "Better watch out Donnie or you'll find yourself replaced."
WHACK
"OW!" Mikey glared at his red-banded brother while rubbing the new bump forming on the back of his head.
Richie watched the exchange between the two brothers and decided he was glad to be an only child.
"Backpack, run a search for weapons based on high electrical intensity." They waited in silence while the machine ran its search. It wasn't long before it beeped with success at finding something.
"Now what?" Leo asked, confused on how they would retrieve the needed information.
"Now I have to use the interface in my helmet to access the information that Backpack has found." Richie explained while he put on his helmet. The data raced across the visor of the helmet at an incredible speed but Richie's brain could process it at a rate that could rival any computer.
The turtles watched as Richie read through the results of the search. All of a sudden Richie paled under his helmet.
"What is it?" Leo asked, not unkindly but still with a sense of seriousness in his words.
"An electromagnetic pulse explosive devise" Richie answered barley in a whisper.
"A what now?" Mikey asked looking to Donnie.
Donnie gulped before he answered, "A bomb that can wipe out all equipment that runs on electricity."
"And with Static's added power the radius of the bomb can be extended to encompass the entire planet." All eyes turned to Richie after he gave that piece of information.
"How is that possible?" Leo asked Richie.
"Well, from what I've read, an electromagnetic pulse, or an EMP, works by the fabrication of a very short but intense electromagnetic pulse which propagates away from the source with diminishing intensity. This magnetic field is usually generated by a device called a Flux Compression Generator…"
"That device is capable of producing energy on the tens of MegaJoules in only hundreds of microseconds." Donnie exclaimed.
"In English please Einstein." Raph said in an irritated tone. He was really getting tired of all the technical talk.
Donnie sighed, "Basically it means that that devise is a thousand times more powerful than a bolt of lightning."
"Exactly," Richie concurred, "But since he has Static, he could supply energy on the level of millions of times greater than even that."
"I hadn't realized they had developed weapons capable of this kind of destruction yet." Donnie stated.
"Uh, they haven't, at least not officially." Confused expressions looked at Richie. "I sort of hacked into the U.S. Military's top secret files." Richie acknowledged, blushing slightly and smiling nervously.
During the silence that followed, Richie took off his helmet and replaced his glasses on their customary perch on the bridge of his nose. Leo broke the awkward silence with a clearing of the throat,
"Well, um, how much damage are we talking about here Donnie?"
The question snapped everyone back to the problem at hand.
"Colossal. Not only will it take out little things like cell phones, and television," Mikey gave an audible gasp at that last bit of information, Donnie continued as if he wasn't interrupted, "but also cars, medical equipment and all computers. Basically anything and everything that runs off of electricity will be rendered useless."
"Actually, it gets much worse than that." Richie added.
"Worse? How could it possibly get worse than no T.V.?" Mikey whined.
"Wait" Leo said, his eyes widening with apprehension, "aren't nuclear weapons controlled by computers?"
"Yes" Both Donnie and Richie answered.
"What would happen if those computers failed?" Raph asked
Donnie and Richie exchanged troubled glances, but it was Richie who answered Raphs question.
"They could misfire and the entire world would be thrown into a nuclear winter." He said grimly.
"Hey, you guys are forgetting something." Mikeys statement caused everyone to look at him with a mixture of confusion and hope, "Static is a hero and there's no way he would give up any of his power if it meant hurting innocent people."
"That don' mean it can't be taken by force." Raph supplied.
IIIIIIIIII
Batman was getting increasingly concerned. Virgil hadn't contacted him yet, that being the only stipulation of his being allowed to go home by himself. At the time, Batman was reluctant to let the teenage hero fly home alone only because he was exhausted and his powers were severely drained, but there was a crisis at Arkham that needed his immediate attention. He had offered for Robin or Alfred to accompany him on his journey, but Virgil had vehemently refused, assuring everyone he was fine and would find a place to recharge on the way home.
In hindsight Batman realized that he should have insisted, but now is not the time for what-if's. The fact of the matter is Virgil wasn't answering his communicator and he had no way of contacting Richie to see if Virgil had made it back safely.
"Still haven't heard from Static?" Inquired Dick. He had just come from the dressing room in his civilian clothes to find Batman pacing in front of the Bat-computer.
"No" was the reply.
"Huh, he probably just lost the communicator like he did last time." Dick commented. "Can't you contact Gear through his robot?"
Batman smirked inwardly. He hadn't actually thought of that. Half of him was very annoyed that he hadn't, but the other half was impressed with his young wards' initiative.
"It'll take several hours for me to hack into its system. In the mean time take the Batwing to Dakota. I have a feeling…"
Dick cut him off abruptly, "Ah man, whenever you get one of your 'feelings' we usually end up dangling over boiling acid or something." Dick moaned.
Batman looked at his ward and the slits in his mask narrowed into one of his infamous glares. A glare that said, quit-messing-around-and-get-moving. Used to his mentors' ways by now, Dick simply rolled his eyes at 'the look', "Fine I'm going." He said as he turned and headed back into the changing room. Not five minutes later Robin left in the Batwing and Batman began the arduous task of hacking into Backpacks systems.
Robin's first stop was the gas station Dakotas hero-duo used for headquarters. Finding it empty, he decided to check Virgils' house. He knew that Virgils' dad new of his sons superhero status, but he didn't want to worry him if it wasn't necessary.
Robin climbed quietly in through the unlocked window into Virgil's room. The room was fairly clean, well, as clean as a teenager usually keeps their room, meaning there were clothes lying all over and books, comics and dirty dishes cluttering up the floor.
Not finding any evidence that Virgil was home, Robin flew around town looking for any sign of Static or Gear while listening to the local police channel hoping to catch any activity involving the two heroes. He heard and saw nothing after making a full sweep of the city.
"This is not good." He commented to himself as he opened a communiqué to Batman.
Batmans' monotone voice answered, "Anything?" He asked.
"No. There's no sign of Static or Gear. Something's up." Robin replied, worry for his friends laced his voice.
"Come back to Gotham, I'm almost through Gears firewalls." Batman informed.
"Okay, see you in a few, Robin out." Robin closed the channel and proceeded at top speed back to Gotham. He had a bad feeling about this.
IIIIIIIIII
Richie paced the floor in Donatello's lab. He stayed behind, along with Donnie to gather any more information, while Leo, Raph and Mikey went on a reconnaissance mission to try and find out where Shredder is keeping Static.
Noticing the other teens worried features, Donnie tried to offer some comfort, "They'll be back soon." He said. "And Raph can be very convincing when wants to be, he'll get the information we're looking for."
"Yeah," Richie said giving a small smirk, "he reminds me someone." Richie commented thinking of a particular moody Black Knight. "Although, compared to him, Raph looks weak."
Don made a face reminiscent of one who just stuck a handful of sour candy into their mouth. This made Richie burst out laughing. Richie had just calmed down when the door to the lair opened. Donnie followed Richie when he left the lab to see what the others had found out.
"Got a classic good news/bad news situation for ya." Mikey said with enthusiasm.
WHACK
"Ow, Raph…"
"Now's not the time guys." Leo intervened before Mikey and Raph could get into one of their tumbles. The two settled for giving each other the 'glare of death'.
"You said you had good news?" Donnie prompted.
"Yeah," Leo answered, "We found out where they're hiding Static."
"So what's the bad news?" Richie asked, fearing the answer.
"He's bein' held in the Saki building." Raph replied.
"Saki? As in Oroku Saki? The renowned businessman?" Richie asked.
"Renowned my shell, he's the Shredder." Raph provided.
"Him?" Richie exclaimed with disbelief.
"The one an' only kid." Raph sardonically replied.
Donnie voiced a very important new obstacle, "How are we supposed to get in, find, Static and get out again without getting our shells waxed?"
But before they could start with the planning, Backpack started frantically beeping.
"Huh, Dude? Your backpack-thingy isn't gonna blow up on us is it?" Mikey asked, somewhat unnerved at the machines actions.
"No," Richie replied while he walked over to his robot, "but someone is hacking their way into its system." He said nonchalantly.
"You don't sound too concerned about that." Donnie said somewhat surprised.
Richie smiled, "That's because there is only one person, besides myself, capable of hacking into Backpacks systems." Richie said as he picked up his helmet.
"Who's that?" Leo asked.
"Richie put on his helmet before he answered, "Batman."
A/N: Don't forget to review!