As the turtles steadily took down more and more of the Foot, the soldiers started backing away.
"Quick!" Leo shouted. "Someone get April!"
"Already handled it."
Everyone looked up to see April emerge from the back of the truck. She flashed her bladed fan at them with a grin.
"Hey, go April!" Mikey cheered, before turning and pursuing another soldier.
From somewhere in the mass of Foot someone ordered a retreat. All at once the men stopped fighting and ran off in all directions, some piling into the huge truck.
"Hey, I wasn't done with you yet!" Raph yelled after them. He groaned as the truck sped away, leaving them behind. "Wimps." He muttered after them.
Donnie went to April's side.
"You okay?" He asked her. She nodded.
"I'm fine." She said. Donnie put a hand on her shoulder.
Leo turned to Kasey. "You?" He asked him.
Kasey rubbed his head, wincing. "I'll be alright." He said. Then he dropped his hand, and looked around him. "Wait, where's Tiny?" He asked.
"Tiny?" Raph asked.
"Uh oh. They conked him a little too hard." Mikey said. Raph shoved Mikey's head without looking away from Kasey.
"The girl." Kasey said. "That Lynn chick."
Mikey swirled around to look at Kasey. "Lynn?" He asked. His brothers gave him a confused look.
"Yeah." Kasey said, looking around him. "I just call her Tiny because she's super small. Like, real short and skinny."
Mikey made a small noise that sounded closest to a gasp. He rushed over to Kasey. "Wait, what else does she look like?" He demanded. Kasey's eyebrows drew together, looking at Mikey. Mikey just stared at him, waiting eagerly.
"Uh, well, she's got this crazy long black hair... and blue eyes. But real light. She's super pretty, I guess." He said.
Mikey took a sudden step back as though Kasey had threatened to kill him. He turned around and looked at his brothers with wide eyes.
"Mikey...?" Raph began.
Mikey took off running. Everyone watched as he ran down the street, darting into a random alleyway.
"What is he...?" April trailed off. No one knew. Then Mikey came running back out of the alley, dashing up to Leonardo.
"Leo!" He cried. "She's not there. They took her. The Foot took her!"
Leo grabbed his little brother. "Mikey, what are you talking about?" He asked.
"Lynn!" Mikey cried. "She lives right there but she's not there and Kasey said she was here but she's not here and the Foot must've taken her!"
"Mikey, calm down." Leo said slowly. "She might have just run away or something."
"No, Leo! They took her, I know it. We gotta help her!"
"Mikey, what would the Foot have wanted with Lynn?" Leo asked. Mikey groaned, grabbing his head.
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" He started walking in circles. Then he stopped, running over to a blue backpack that looked like it had been thrown to the side of the road. He picked it up, opening it and grabbing clothes from inside of it. The rest of them slowly walked towards him, watching him closely.
"Wait..." April said. "Isn't that stuff mine?"
Mikey looked up at her with huge eyes. He looked hysterical. "I gave them to her." He said.
"What?!" April demanded. She started to march towards Mikey. Donnie tried to hold her back, but she shook him off. Then Raphael stepped in her way.
"April, not now." Leo said shortly. April stopped, staring between the turtles. Then back at Mikey, her eyebrows raised.
"I gave this bag to her." Mikey said. "She wouldn't just leave it here. I know she wouldn't." He looked at his brothers desperately, his whole body seemed to crumble slightly.
"Okay, Mikey." Leo said. "We believe you."
"Then we need to go now!" Mikey said.
"Mikey, we don't know where they took her." Donnie said. "The TGRI building burnt down, remember? We have no clue where they are now."
Mikey's whole body seemed to deflate. It looked like he was going to fall over. Raph stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder.
"We'll find her." Raph promised.
"We need to find her right now." Mikey said.
"We can't, Mikey." Raph responded.
"Than when?" Mikey asked him sadly.
Raph rubbed the top of his brother's head. "As soon as we can."
"When will that be?"
Raph looked around at everyone. They too were lost.
"I don't know, Mikey." Raph said. Mikey sighed.
"How do we know if she's okay?"
"She's okay, Mikey." Leo said, stepping closer to his forlorn little brother. Mikey looked up at him, his blue eyes seeming wetter than usual.
"How do you know?" Mikey sniffed.
"I just do." Leo took Mikey's free shoulder and guided him down the street. "We'll go home now and figure it all out, okay? She'll be fine."
"Promise?" Mikey said.
"Promise."
Emilynn's eyes opened to complete darkness. At first she couldn't tell if she was still unconscious or not, until she realized that she was sitting on some sort of hard chair. She tried to move, but her hands were being restrained. Her ankles, too, she found out by squirming her legs.
"Wakey wakey, Princess." A gravely voice hissed from beside her right ear. She turned her head, but there was nothing but black. The strange voice chuckled darkly, then Emilynn felt a hard tap on the side of her face. "Blindfold, dearie."
"What do you-" Emilynn stopped, realizing that her words were only coming out as muffled noises. There was a gag in her mouth.
"Wanna talk?" The voice said. Then her head was yanked forward roughly. She cried out.
"Shh, shh. There's no use yellin' or screamin', hon. Room's soundproof. Whole building is, matter of fact."
Emilynn felt the gag being removed. Once it was off, she took a deep breath, only to choke it back out. The air was thick, and the taste was rancid.
"Ah, you'll get used to that. Take's a couple days, but you'll see." The stranger's sentences trailed of into whispers every time he was finished. It reminded her off a snake. He was circling her as he talked, it seemed, only adding to the effect. The word greasy came to mind.
"What do you want from me?" Emilynn muttered. She managed to sound angry, though her whole body was trembling with fear.
"Oh, I think you know." The voice cooed. The man started stroking the top of her head, almost fondly. She wrenched it away from his hand. He seemed to ignore her violence, as she felt a strand of her hair then being tugged within a few seconds.
"Did you really think we'd forgotten about you?" He asked, before chuckling softly again. The way he laughed sounded like he was trying to clear rocks from his throat. "We're so lucky I was out tonight." He pulled sharply against the piece of hair he had been playing with. Emilynn winced. "We almost missed you." He said softly. She felt a lone finger stroke her cheek. She pulled away once again, with a low growl.
"Get away from me." She whispered harshly. He ignored her, continuing with his monologue.
"I almost didn't recognize ya." He said. "When I saw you pass out cold on the ground like that, I thought you were just some weak-hearted little girl." The laugh again. "But then the men brought you closer, like they always do, asking: 'what do we do with this one?' ...Because we'd only had orders to capture yer friend, you see. The cute lil' redhead. So of course, those idiots, they didn't know what to do with ya." He stopped for a moment.
"I was gonna say somethin' like: 'just leave 'er.'" He coughed out a short bark of a laugh. "Because I thought you were just another girl, ya know?" Then he took a deep breath, and she felt his hand clasp over hers. She grunted, trying to squirm free.
"But I was wrong." He said in an almost sad way. "As soon as I saw your face, I knew." His hand left hers, only to stroke her cheek for the second time. She pulled away with a disgusted gasp.
"You've always had the face of an angel. Since the day you were born." Then he chuckled. Isn't that right, Tenshi?" He hissed. His hot breath blew across her face. She flinched away from him. The name seared hot pain all through her body. He laughed darkly.
"Oh, you don't like that name, do you?" He murmured, his breath fluttered across her mouth. She fought the urge to gag. "I bet you have a new one now." He said. "Come on, tell me what it is."
She didn't respond. The man growled, displeased. He grabbed her face suddenly, and his nails bit into her cheeks.
"Ah." She groaned.
"I said, tell me what it is." He said, his voice low. His nails dug further.
"Lillian." She lied, gasping with pain. His hand left her face.
"Good girl." He said. "You see. That wasn't that hard." He grabbed her face again, this time softly.
Now, remember. When I tell you to do something, you do it. Got it, Doll?"
Emilynn bit her lip, a frightened whimper escaping her. He grabbed her hair and yanked her head forward.
"Got it?" He whispered menacingly, his voice directly beside her ear.
She nodded quickly. He released her.
"Where's Saki?" Emilynn whispered. The man clicked his tongue.
"Now, now. I ask the questions here." He said. "Here's one." He grabbed her arms tightly and she could feel the warmth from his face, just inches in front of hers. She didn't dare to move. "Where are the turtles, Tenshi?" His breath swamped her face and this time she did gag.
"What?" She gasped, dazed.
"You heard me." He muttered. "Now answer."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said desperately. His grip tightened on her arms. She bit down hard on her lip, trying not to cry out.
"You're lying to me." He growled.
"No." She moaned. "I have no clue what you're talking about! I swear." She cried.
"Liar." He held her arms so tightly now she was sure they were going to break. She opened her mouth, but no noise would come out. Tears bloomed in her eyes.
"You were with her. April O'neil."
"I just met her." Emilynn whispered weakly.
"You're the one that called them."
"What?" She whimpered.
"I saw the phone. Then when you fell, it broke." He made a disgusted sound. "But then they came. It's your fault O'neil got away."
"I didn't-"
"I know you did it." He interrupted. "That girl and that boy, they're with the turtles. That's why we needed them. But, because of you, they're gone. Do you know what that means?"
He stopped, apparently awaiting some sort of response. She shook her head slightly.
"It means that you need to be punished. But, even better, since your friends got away, you're gonna tell us where the turtles are for them."
"I don't know." Emilynn choked. "I don't know about any turtles."
The man roared, shoving her chair backwards. She went flying, slamming her back into the wall behind her. Her head hit the wall like a rock, and for a split second her whole body was limp. She couldn't move. Tears streamed from under her blindfold at this point.
"What did I tell you about doing what I say?" He said, his voice disturbingly calm.
"I'm telling the truth!" Emilynn wailed. "I don't have any clue what you're talking about!"
"Stop-"
He stopped suddenly. There was no noise. Then there was a single set of loud footsteps. They slowly got louder and louder, until they stopped.
"Hiroto."
Emilynn's blood ran cold.
"Saki." She whispered in horror. There was a deep grunt.
"You don't have the right to call me by that name." The Shredder growled. She could hear his heavy footsteps approach her, then her blindfold was torn off. And there he was. The man she had been forced to talk to for most of this time stood behind him in what looked like a more high-tech version of the Foot Ninja's suits. Instead of a full face mask like the rest of them, his was only half. His eyes were black orbs like the rest of them, but his mouth was fully visible. His cracked lips were turned upward in a sickening smile, and his hands were clasped together tightly, just like any typical storybook wackjob. The whole room was dark, lit by a few candles only. They cast wavering shadows on the walls.
The Shredder reached toward her face, tilting her chin roughly upward toward him with the dull side of his bladed hands. With his one good eye and his nightmarish bad one, he stared hard at her face.
"So it really is you." He muttered, finally. She glared at him through her wet eyes.
"You killed my parents." She spat. The Shredder made a noise that sounded like a snort, dropping her face. Her chin fell to her chest.
"Not me, sadly. Just my men. Had it been me, you wouldn't have escaped." He sighed with agitation. "I regretted that decision for many years. But, here you are. At last. Tell me, where were you hiding?"
Emilynn didn't answer. Her whole body shook. Whether in fear or rage, no one knew. She kept her face lowered, being unable to look at him any longer. Unlike Hiroto, The Shredder did not seem to mind her silence.
"We checked every orphanage in the state, but I knew you couldn't leave this city. So which one was it? How did we miss you?"
Once again, Emilynn didn't answer. She was sobbing now, and hating herself for it. The Shredder saw that she wasn't going to respond, and gave up on her. He turned to Hiroto.
"Kill her." He said. "Then my job will finally be done."
"But, Master Shredder-"
"Don't question me, fool." Shredder said icily.
"She's with the turtles, Master." Hiroto said, before The Shredder could interject.
"What?" The Shredder hissed.
"She's the one that called them. That ruined our mission."
"Of course she would be the one to find them" The Shredder said darkly. He turned back to Emilynn. "Tell me where they are." He demanded.
"She refuses to say." Hiroto explained.
The Shredder looked Emilynn up and down once. "Torture, then. Get her to say. Then, kill her."
"Yes, Master."
Emilynn watched as The Shredder left the room. Then Hiroto walked towards her, his walk containing the same slithery components as his voice. A sly smile spread across the exposed bottom half of his face, revealing a row of browned teeth, cracked and broken just lip his lips.
"So, Miss Tenshi." He whispered, squatting down in front of her. The black eyes of his mask stared at her lifelessly. She closed her eyes.
"We are going to have some fun."