A/N: Yes I'm still here, I haven't gone anywhere. This is a belated Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza (and any other holidays) present to all my loyal readers!! Enjoy!
Chapter 11
As he was being guided through the halls once again, Leonardo kept vigilant for any opening for escape. So far, a successful opportunity has not presented itself. The fact that a half dozen Foot Soldiers had joined their precession didn't tip the odds in his favor either.
The same soldier that escorted him to the Shredder's chambers had a very firm grip on Leo's arm as they walked. With his free hand he held his unsheathed katana, ready for use, and Leo knew he had no qualms about using it on him if he tried anything.
Leo recognized the hallway, as they rounded a corner ,as the one where his brothers cell was located. The door was wide open and the room was empty. Leo smiled. He knew his brothers would find a way to escape.
His escort trembled with fury and Leo's smile grew a little more. Suddenly, Leo was thrown against the wall so forcefully that his head was whipped back and banged against it. He was slightly dazed from the impact but his head cleared quickly when he felt the sharpness of a blade pressed to his neck.
"Your brothers may have found a way out of their cell, but I doubt they would leave the premises with out you. Yes, they will try to rescue you first." His voice was dripping with delight and was not lost on the blue-banded turtle.
"But first they need to find you, don't they?" Leonardo glared at his captor, he had a bad feeling. "What do you say we have a little fun while we let them know exactly where you are?"
"You have me, let them go." Leo beseeched.
"Ha! Now why would I do that?" The ninja asked.
"Shredder said that he only needed one of us. If you let them go, I'll cooperate with whatever he has planned."
"Isn't that touching? Willing to sacrifice yourself for them, but no. I have orders to bring them in and bring them in I shall. Besides, who said that you were the one who could provide what the Master needs?"
Leo's eyes widened slightly. That could only mean that the Shredder needs one of his brothers.
This was his worst fear come to life. He was going to be used to lure his brothers into a trap and he knew that they will walk into it willingly because he would do the same for them in a heart beat.
"Enough talk, time to have a reunion." The ninja stated.
He kept the katana to Leo's throat as he pulled out a dagger with his free hand.
"Since I know you won't willingly call out to your brothers, I'll just have to force it out of you."
He brought the dagger to the turtles left shoulder and slowly pressed it in and just as slowly dragged it down the length of his arm until it reached his elbow, slicing through skin and muscle. Leo managed to refrain from making any sound other than a soft grunt from the pain.
Leo gasped as the blade was pulled out. He was sweating and breathing hard from the intense pain in his arm. He didn't get any respite before the blade was plunged into the sensitive nerves of the upper thigh. The first wound was to soften him up and lower his tolerance. It worked like a charm. Leo couldn't hold back the scream that tore from his throat as the dagger was twisted in his leg.
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The three were silent as they made their way through the halls. Donatello was in the lead, his senses sharp for anyone coming their way. Michelangelo was second and still feeling weak from the shocks but keeping up with his brothers despite it. Raph took up the rear, shifting his burden from time to time for easier carrying. He was regretting the decision to bring him along. He didn't know how they would complete their mission with him and he would only hinder their escape if they got into a fight, but he couldn't go back now, so he followed his brothers, keeping an eye on their shells.
They found their way out of the cell block and into an area with lower security, the doors had regular locks which were easily broken by the strong turtles. They explored a couple of rooms looking for anything useful like weapons or a computer that Donnie could use to find Leo or Static. They had no such luck. The rooms were all your basic laboratories, with nothing of use inside.
They were about to round another corner when Donnie stopped their precession.
"Someone's coming!" He whispered back to them,
"The room across the hall." Mikey said just as softly.
Donnie broke the lock with little effort and they all got inside and closed the door before they were discovered. Raph carefully set Richie's body down the thought that he was still warm was in the back of his head. 'Shouldn't he be getting' cold by now?'
After Raph set him down he put his ear to the door and listened as several people walked past. He could hear them talking, but their voices were muffled so he couldn't tell what they were talking about. When it was once again silent, Raph relaxed.
"All clear" he told his brothers.
"Now what?" Mikey asked, still keeping his voice low as he sat down on a short stack of boxes.
Apparently they had taken refuge in a storage room.
"What do ya mean, now what?" Raph asked.
"I mean what do we do first, find Leo or finish our original mission?" Mikey clarified.
"Well," Donnie said, going into his analytical mode, "we don't know where they're holding Static but we do know that where ever they've taken Leo, the Shredder will be there. Either way our chances of success are slim."
"Well that sounds optimistic." Mikey sarcastically replied.
Donnie narrowed his eyes in a show of uncharacteristic anger,
"Richie is dead, Leo is probably being tortured by the Shredder and our back up plan hasn't shown themselves, so I'm sorry if my analysis of this situation is sounding pessimistic to you!" Donnie snapped.
Mikey winced at his brothers harsh words but bounced back with a small smile.
"Feel better?" He asked.
Donnie deflated immediately, "Yeah but I still don't have a clue as to what we should do."
Raph gave a small smirk that his brothers didn't seem to notice. Mikey always knew what to say or do to make them feel better. He kept them sane.
The brothers sat in silent contemplation for a few minutes.
"If we go up against the Shred-head first, we probably won't have a chance to look for Static, right?" Mikey said.
Raph knew what Mikey was thinking and he hated to admit it but he agreed with him. They came this far and he didn't want their sacrifices to be in vain.
"It's Static first then." Raph said and the others nodded in agreement.
"I think we should leave Richie here." Don said before Raph could put that same thought into words. "Hopefully we'll be able to come back and get him." He didn't sound to hopeful though.
"We'll do our best Don." Raph promised as he laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Donnie nodded his acknowledgement of the promise.
"We better get going then." Donnie said.
They filed out into the hallway, letting Raph take the lead.
"Raph mat not have seen the spasms but don't think that I didn't." Don said at a volume so that only Mikey could hear.
Mikey gave a defeated sigh. He knew better than to try and hide things from his brothers, especially Donatello.
"Are they getting better?" Donnie asked.
After a slight hesitation, Mikey shook his head. Donnie couldn't hide the worried expression that made its way onto his face.
"Don't worry 'bout me Donnie, I'll be ok." Mikey whispered, giving a reassured smile before returning his attention to what they were doing.
Donnie decided to leave it alone for now but he Mikey better than that. He didn't say 'I'm fine' or 'Leave the mother hen act for Leo' which is what he usually says when he's been injured. He always plays up his injuries with the whining and wanting attention. This brush off means that Mikey is far from being ok.
Donnie's brain was reeling with what could be wrong when an agonizing scream pierced the silence.
They all knew who that scream belonged to.
"Leo!" Mikey and Donnie exclaimed in worried voices while Raph growled in anger.
They knew it was probably a trap, but they ran as fast as they could towards their brother anyway.
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He smiled with sadistic pleasure beneath his mask at the creatures pain. He pulled out the knife and traced the tip along Leonardo's sensitive side between his shell and plastron.
"I wonder how many screams it will take for your brothers to find us?" He wondered out loud.
He drew the knife back, ready to draw more blood, when a fellow Foot Soldier crashed into the wall beside them.
"Now comes the fun part." He whispered to the blue-clad turtle, grabbing him by his injured arm and spun around so Leo was in front of him, with the bloodied knife at his throat.
The rest of the turtle freaks were not ten feet from him in fighting stances. Even without their weapons he was sure they could do serious damage before they could be subdued.
"Ya better let our brotha' go right now or-"
"Or what?" He asked cutting off the red banded turtles threat, "You have no weapons and are surrounded." At that moment several Foot Tech Ninja appeared behind them. "I clearly have the advantage here." He said as he pressed the blade harder against Leo's neck.
Raph squeezed his fists so tight his normally dark green knuckles paled to almost white, but he didn't dare move a muscle. Donnie was desperately trying to think of a way for them all to escape unscathed but he kept coming up short. Mikey was trying to hold himself together but his body was betraying him as sweat was staring to bead on his brow and he struggled to keep his breathing normal.
"What do you want?" Raph asked. He knew of course but he wanted to keep the ninja talking and distracted. Maybe they could find a way out of this if they had more time, but his voice was tinged with resignation of the situation. Only his brothers could pick that out over the interlaced growl though.
"I know you are more intelligent than that mutant." The Ninja replied. "Now are we going to do this the easy way," he squeezed Leo's injured arm eliciting a sharp hiss of pain from the turtle, "or the hard way?"
"Don't-" Leo tried to warn his brothers.
"No one gave you permission to speak freak!" The Ninja hissed as the knife pierced his skin and drew blood.
"STOP!" Raph roared, "We surrender." Raph looked into Leo's eyes and silently apologized.
"You turtles are so predictable." The ninja chuckled. "Restrain them!" He ordered while he held his position to ensure their cooperation.
Raph, Don and Mikey didn't resist as they each had their hands cuffed in front of their plastrons. They also had manacles attached to their ankles. A metal collar with spikes was placed around their necks, the spikes digging painfully into their skin. A single chain attached to each ankle, up to their wrists and to the collar completed their bondage. By the time they were fully contained, their overall movement was severely restricted. They would be able to manage small steps. Anything bigger would pull on their wrists down and tighten the collar. Then it was Leo's turn. When a ninja used more force than necessary in putting the collar on, Raph gave a threatening growl.
"Huh uh ah, " the lead Ninja tisked, "we can't be having any of that, or talking amongst yourselves for that matter." He snapped his fingers and muzzles were brought out.
Raph was furious! He wanted to bite the ninjas fingers off as he slipped the muzzle over his beak, but he knew that would get him no where and maybe cause retaliation on one of his brothers. So he settled for the fiercest glare he could muster.
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"All four turtles have been apprehended sir." Saki heard his communicator roar to life.
"Excellent. Put them in with out other guests." Saki put the communicator down and turned to Stockman,
"Time to move forward Stockman, but proceed with the backup plan."
"But Master, my superlative weapon-" Stockman started to complain
"But nothing!" Saki roared. "You have your orders Stockman. If you fail me, you know the consequence. Now leave!" Saki ordered, pointing to the doors.
Stockman left without needing further encouragement.
IIIIIIIIII
"They took my lock picks from my gloves. How about you?" Robin asked his partner.
They had both managed to bring their cuffed wrists from behind their backs and to the front which was slightly more comfortable.
"Yes" Batman replied in a seemingly uninterested sort of voice.
"Your boot set?"
"Yes"
"Well they just thought of everything didn't they?" Robin said with a huff.
"They're ninjas." Batman said matter-of-factly, as if that explained everything.
It only confused his young partner, but Robin knew from his long association with Batman when to quit. So he shut up, hunkered down and prepared to wait as long as it took for a plan of escape to come to his mentor.
Robin didn't know how much time had gone by but it was spent in silence.
"I'm bored" He finally admitted.
"Being bored is better than when the Doc comes for one of his visits." Virgil responded.
Neither hero said anything, waiting to see if their young friend would elaborate. Which he did after a moments hesitation.
"He said his Master wanted my power for some stupid weapon but he had to test them first." A pained look crossed his face at the memories of those tests. Virgil continued his story before he lost the courage.
"I had no control. They put this chip," Virgil reached up and pulled up his hair so his friends could see, "on my neck. They control when I absorb or release my power, or they can turn them off completely. That's the most painful 'cause-"
"You feel the sting of electricity as if you were a normal human." Batman finished.
"Yeah, but there's something else you should know. It's a different kind of electricity."
"Different kind?" Robin asked sounding confused. "Like a higher voltage?"
"No, like it didn't come from here, it felt…alien and yet familiar at the same time."
It was quiet for quite some time after Virgil's statement.
Batman's mind was reeling with the possibilities this bring. He knew Static's power was greater than even the teen hero knew, but did Saki know?
Their silent contemplation was interrupted when the door to their room was opened. From the corner of his eye, Batman noticed Virgil flinch and then school his features into that of indifference. His reaction made the Dark Night feel great sympathy for what he's had to endure the past couple days, but it also impressed him. For one to overlook their own fear and face the unexpected, despite knowing you will get hurt or worse, was the true essence of courage. Anyone who could do this has earned his respect, something that the Batman didn't give out easily.
But who walked through that door was far from who Virgil was expecting.
The first thing he noticed was how cruelly the four new prisoners were restrained. They were barely able to move and the two guards each had on either side were prodding them forward like cattle. But they weren't animals, were they? They definitely weren't human. Short, green and….was that a shell on their backs?
Virgil knew he was gawking with his chin practically hitting the floor, but when the one in the red bandana gave him the most unnerving glare he had ever received, he quickly closed his mouth.
The one in the lead wore blue and looked pretty bad off, with blood streaking from wounds on its arm and leg and was trying to walk without a limp. The next, with orange, had its head slightly bowed, it's eyes focused on the shell of the one in front of him. It looked like it was trying hard to concentrate on something. The third was the one with the red mask that now had his fierce stare aimed at the guards. The last one, in purple, was looking around the room with a nervous glint in his eye. Were these some unknown Metahumans that left Dakota after the Big Bang? They kind of looked like turtles. What were they doing here?
Virgil wisely kept his mouth shut while the latest 'guests' were escorted behind the two tube prisons containing the three heroes, where four posts stood in a line with about three feet between each post. The posts came up to the waist of the prisoners. Each turtle was secured to its own post by the cuffs on their wrists. They would have to stand, for if they tried to sit, the wicked look collar they all sported would cut deeper into their necks. Rage was now seeping from Virgil as he watched the guards leave without a word to anyone. Even the lowliest animal didn't deserve this kind of treatment.
One guard lagged behind the others and flicked the red one on the head and laughed as its collar tightened about its neck when it tried to lunge after its tormentor.
Once the door closed behind the last guard all the creatures visibly relaxed as much as their restraints would let them.
"Damn, are you guys ok?" Robin asked, real concern apparent in his voice.
They all gave a thumbs up to show their relative well being.
Two light bulbs went off in Virgil's head right then. One, these creatures were intelligent enough to understand what was said and two, Robin was obviously familiar with them.
"You know them? What are-" Orange and purple flinched when he said what, which made Virgil grimace at his poor wording "who are they? What the hell is going on??!!" Virgil didn't know he was yelling until he had stopped ranting and was out of breath.
"I'm sorry." He apologized to everyone in the room. "I've been…through a lot and I don't know why. But you do, don't you?" He asked Batman.
Batman regarded the young hero and then looked over to Leonardo. Leo gave his permission for Batman to reveal their part in this endeavor with a small nod,
"Where do you want me to begin?"
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A/N: I want to finish this story up in the next two chapters. So that means that I have to figure out a way for them all to escape. Any ideas are welcome!!