*Part of this is a little...unconventional, but I had to answer a challenge that was laid down by a couple of Facebook friends while I was writing Refuge. I was lamenting the difficulty of continuing to come up with new "fresh" sounding ways for the guys to break in somewhere...and received a very interesting suggestion. I was determined to somehow implement it into Watchmen. Mission accomplished, thanks to Mikey's genius. :D (Many thanks to Mary and Candice too ;)
Michelangelo couldn't figure out if he was angrier with Daichi, or himself. I had him last time! All I needed to do was finish him off on Yonaguni, and none of this would have happened. Donny wouldn't be hurt like this, and Brandon wouldn't have…Shell, we've got to get in there and find out what they've done with him.
Mike raged underneath the surface, while Raphael's anger was slightly more visible. The red-masked turtle was already on his feet with clenched fists, impatiently watching Leonardo who was on the phone.
"Mmhm. Don't worry about that, Kat, we'll find a way around it. I've got just the tool to take that out, or I should say, Don provided it. He already equipped the disruptor…no, see, that's the beauty of it. He programmed the device to search out the frequencies in use; Donny was telling me all about it last month."
"Fearless," Raphael interjected. "Can you wrap this up maybe, in like another hundred words or less?"
Leonardo glanced at him with irritation, then turned back to the phone. "I'll show you when we get there. No sign of your husband yet, but I'm sure he won't be much longer. We'll strategize a little bit more while we watch for him."
The blue-masked turtle closed the phone, and Mike sat up further on his seat.
"What, Leo?" Mike asked quickly. "What did Kat find out?"
"Tim already had the club owner cornered inside, and she managed to steal him away for a private chat. Kat told him she'd partied with some 'Asians' last night and the guy claimed to have never heard of them. She mentioned leaving some expensive ring behind, and he wasn't the least bit sympathetic. He wasn't going to open that door. Kat ended up bluffing about calling the cops to sort everything out, and the owner magically granted her access to the side entrance."
"That's great, Leo, really," Raphael said hurriedly. "Now what did she find?"
"It led to another storeroom, and the owner said she should know her way down from there."
"A basement?" Mike wondered.
"That's what he seemed to be inferring. There's another locked door to get through, and the owner swears he doesn't have the key for that one. But there's more."
"What else?" Raphael huffed, as if he couldn't believe that it was taking so long to explain.
"That door is under surveillance. There's a mounted camera that's probably intended to identify anyone who approaches it."
Raphael laughed without mirth. "So we turn off the light, and the jokers don't even see us coming."
"Not a bad idea, Raph, but I have something else in mind. It will take out their camera and their communications in one fell swoop," Leo told him.
"You're talking about Donny's disruptor thing?" Mike verified.
"Exactly. The software he loaded for the device is supposed to detect the electromagnetic waves in use, and we can opt to temporarily 'disrupt' them."
"That's the theory anyway," Raphael said skeptically.
"Raph, I've seen it work. Don used one of these when we broke into the Genetic Institute in North Carolina," Leo insisted.
"Yeah, Don used it," Raphael said morosely.
"We have the technology," Leo said firmly. "He adapted it to be user friendly, and I think we should take advantage of it. There's only the small matter of getting the basement door open."
"What's the big deal about a lock, Leo? We've got enough explosives to blow it to smithereens. That's the easy part." Raphael smirked.
"Raph, you can't forget the position we're in. We're dealing with humans upstairs and downstairs. All it takes is one person to call 911, and we'll be screwed."
"I thought you said we could knock out their phones." Mike was confused.
"The disruptor operates in a limited field, Mike. Anyone above ground wouldn't even be affected by it. Besides, if we announce our arrival that dramatically, it could give them a chance to take Brandon hostage. We have to do this ninja style."
"Fine," Raphael said shortly. "Then how the shell do you want to get the door open?"
"We could try knocking," Mike suggested tongue-in-cheek.
Raphael scowled at him. "Right, shell-head. We walk right up to the door and ask to be let in?"
"They won't know who's on the other side," Mike pointed out. "It could work." He expected the same attitude from Leonardo, but the blue-masked turtle had a probing look on his face.
"Maybe…maybe it could," Leo finally said.
"Fearless, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard," Raphael complained. "You can't agree with Mike on this."
"They aren't expecting us," Leonardo said calmly. "I think we should consider it as an option."
"I don't even know what planet you two are from," Raphael grumbled. "But I'm sick of waiting."
"Doc will be here soon. We need someone else on the outside prepared to help us get away quickly if the cops are called, and Brandon may need medical attention," Leo returned.
Mike fingered the handle of one of his nunchucks, steadying himself for what was coming. When Leo's phone rang, his head jerked around to watch his oldest brother answer.
"Kat…he is? Did you tell him…Okay. We're on our way to you." Leo hung up.
"What'd she say?" Mike asked.
"Kat just saw Doc pull in. She wants us to meet her around the left side of the building."
"I'm confused, Leo. Is she running the show, or are you?" Raphael asked.
Leonardo gave him a steely glare. "It's called working together, Raph. Let's go."
Michelangelo and Raphael had long ago slipped into "civilian dress" to help them blend in outside like Leonardo. They silently followed the blue-masked turtle's lead as he showed them to the side entrance. Out of the corner of Mike's eye he noticed Luke's Volvo pulling into a parking space, and he paused in his step.
Leonardo nodded for them to keep going without speaking, and Mike set his face forward. His older brother went straight toward the steel door, and tried the doorknob. Leo smiled grimly when it turned, and slipped inside the building.
As Michelangelo crossed into the darkened space, he heard Kat calling out to them quietly.
"Keep going, guys, just a little further!"
Mike surveyed the small stockroom from the narrow hall, stopping behind Leonardo who was beside Katherine and Tim.
"What's the plan for getting inside?" Timothy asked.
"I've got a couple of disruptors to deal with the camera and their cell phones," Leo answered. "The only problem is, they have a limited range. Donatello says that they need to be operating inside the same field as the electronics in question. I was thinking my brothers and I could take one device, and you and Kat could cover the door with another one. We don't want anyone to have the chance to escape."
Michelangelo saw Katherine bristle at the announcement that she would be "covering the door", but the woman didn't argue.
"How are we getting through the other door?" she asked.
"Well…uh…Mike suggested that we could try knocking, and I'm actually leaning toward his idea," Leo said.
Katherine's brow furrowed. "That's either crazy, or brilliant."
"Why can't it be both?" Mike grinned.
"If we're gonna do it, Leo, let's do it," Raphael urged.
"Hold on," the blue-masked turtle said maddeningly. "We don't know how good these warriors are, so we need to bring it full force, you guys. Don't hold anything back."
"Thanks for the permission, Leo," Raphael said darkly.
"Raph, we're in this together. Don't forget that. We don't have a clue what we're up against down there. We go forward as one unit, and we're not going to separate or draw unnecessary attention. Stealth is our best ally."
"Yeah, yeah, Leo." Raphael was exasperated. "I get it, we all get it. Let's go."
Leonardo drew out one of the small electronic disruptors. "Let's see if I can make this work. It's definitely on…searching for frequencies…"
"Are we letting the guy who can't handle a kitchen appliance knock out the ability to use any electronic device?" Mike asked under his breath.
"I heard that," Leo said sharply. "Now. If I just select the right field…"
Mike didn't notice anything dramatic happen, but when he checked his phone, he realized the device was completely dead. "You were trying to turn the phones off, right?"
"Yes. In order for them to be blinded, we have to be blinded too. But we know what's really going on, and they don't. Let's move." Leonardo handed the device off to Kat, and took a moment to set up the other disruptor.
Leonardo eyed the mounted camera, and took the step of faith inside the stockroom. "They shouldn't be able to see us. Here goes nothing."
The oldest turtle knocked firmly on the basement door and Mike waited with bated breath for someone to answer. There were a few seconds in which it seemed like nothing was happening, but Leonardo wasn't so easily dissuaded. He knocked again, so insistently that the door frame shuddered under his force.
"Who's there?" a voice called in Japanese from the other side.
"Open the door, you idiot!" Leo called back in the deepest tone he possessed.
The blue-masked turtle took a step closer as the door swung inward, and lunged the moment he had an opening. Mike rushed toward the door, arriving in time to watch his oldest brother silently dispatch the door-man. Leonardo dropped the man in a heap on the storage room floor.
"Kat, Tim, bind him," Leo ordered. "Don't let anyone out of this door, even if it means threatening deadly force. I'd rather you didn't shoot anyone for the noise factor—"
"We'll handle it, Leo," Kat interrupted. "The owner said this is the only way in or out. Nothing will get past us. Go get my brother."
Leo nodded, and stuck his head through the door frame again. "It's clear. It was just the one guard at the top of the stairs. Stay right with me, guys."
Michelangelo drew both nunchucks as he continued through the door, and followed Leonardo to the head of the staircase. The orange-masked turtle was careful to distribute his weight as he descended, so as not to make a detectable sound. He could hear Raphael's breathing softly building behind him, and felt his own adrenaline increasing too.
Mike watched Leonardo like a hawk for direction. The oldest turtle touched down on the basement floor, and hovered near an open door frame that led into another room.
"Not much light, you have to like that," Leo murmured. "There's no telling how many rooms there are, but the men are probably concentrated together. Let's take this slow."
A smile crept onto Mike's face as they worked their way inside a large open space. His ears were alert for the sound of other people. I'd kill to hear someone right now; I can't wait to get my hands on them.
He wouldn't have to wait long as it turned out. Leonardo held up a hand to stop their advance, as four men crossed within a few feet of where they'd entered.
"Who's there?" One of the shadows stiffened as he noticed them.
Leonardo nodded at his brothers, and they all surged forward without uttering a word.
Michelangelo withheld the war cry with which he wanted to react, satisfying himself with the sound of the crack of a nunchuck connecting with someone's head. The man crumbled at the turtle's feet, and Mike wheeled around to see Raphael handling two of them at once.
From the red-masked turtle's posture, it looked like his brother was ready to snap both their necks where he stood. Mike folded his arms impatiently as the men in each of his brother's hands gasped for air.
"Finish, Raph, we have work to do!" Leo hissed.
Raphael released both men long enough to deliver simultaneous knock-outs.
Mike winced at the sound as the men fell to the floor, and Leonardo shook his head. His oldest brother slid back into the shadows, leading them silently along the outside wall. Michelangelo saw the next lone wolf that was on a path to intersect with them, and casually trotted out to meet him.
"Good evening, dude," he greeted.
"What—"
Mike didn't let the man get another word off, clapping a hand over the warrior's mouth. He struck the back of the man's legs and sent him crashing to the ground. The orange-masked turtle jammed his knee into the warrior's face, and enjoyed watching him flop backwards.
"We need to be quieter than that," Leonardo whispered fiercely. "All it takes is one person—"
"Shinji?" Another voice called from nearby. "Are you coming?"
The turtles pressed against the wall as more shadows appeared from around the corner.
"You are holding us up, Shin—" The speaker cut off, blinking rapidly as he laid eyes on the turtles. "Intruders! We have intruders below!"