Leo liked to think that he was reasonably intelligent. He certainly wasn't an idiot.
But he felt like one as he went through Don's computer files, searching with increasing desperation for the tracking software on the Shell Cells. Don made these things look so easy — a few taps of the keys, and he could pull up any kind of information his brothers needed. By contrast, Leo felt like he was staring into a sea of incomprehensible code, hoping that it would start making sense if he just looked at it long enough.
Then the table shook, and the computer monitor nearly bounced off it. Leo clamped his hands on it instinctively.
"What the shell are we doin' here?" Raph roared, ramming his fist into the table again. "Donnie and April are out there and we're wastin' time lookin' at his computer!"
Leo wanted to retort that he wasn't wasting time, but he had a sneaking suspicion that that was exactly what he was doing. Don's computer was so massive and his files and programming so extensive that it could easily take hours, even just browsing, to find the tracker he was searching for.
And he couldn't exactly blame Raph for his impatience — the red-masked Turtle had been prowling the place like a hungry panther ever since they returned an hour before, his sai constantly gripped in his hands. He was almost wild about the loss of Donnie, and Leo suspected that any unfortunate Purple Dragons who crossed his path this evening would be lucky to get away without the stab marks of a sai on their bodies.
The only time he had stood still was to call Casey Jones, and alert him to what was going on, which had summoned the vigilante to their lair almost immediately. Now Casey was also prowling the place, his eyes steely and his fists clenched. He had overturned a few tables before Master Splinter had laid down the law and forbidden him to break anything more. He looked almost as frenzied as Raph, though his thoughts were clearly more bent on April — they might be broken up, but he obviously still loved her.
"We should be out there, bustin' heads," Casey declared, swinging a fist at an invisible enemy. Leo suspected he would have taken his frustrations out on the nearby chair, if Master Splinter hadn't been sitting nearby.
"That's what I'm sayin'!" Raph said.
Mikey said nothing, just sat on the couch and contemplated his knees.
Splinter came closer, his gray-furred face grave. "You have not had any success, Leonardo?" he asked quietly.
"None, Master Splinter," Leo said, staring at the open windows. "Finding Don would be easy if I could just find the right program, but I just can't find it."
"You may not have the time to locate it," Splinter said. "You, your brothers and Mr. Jones must go in search of Donatello and Miss O'Neil. I will search for this program of Donatello's."
Leo flinched slightly. Master Splinter was not good with technology… in fact, he was terrible with it, and even simple devices like the Shell Cell tended to confuse him. Letting him loose on Donnie's computer could go very badly. But on the other hand, they couldn't afford to let the computer sit idle while they searched through Purple Dragon hideouts for Don and April — someone had to keep searching.
"Yes, Master Splinter," he said. "I understand. Just… please be careful."
But there was one piece of Donnie's tech he could be sure would be helpful. Leo went to one of the large trunks and cases stacked at the back of Donnie's space, and quickly found the one he was looking for — inside were four compact, transparent gas masks that covered the entire face. If they were going up against the people who kidnapped Don, they might need them.
"Are we goin' already?" Casey shouted, smacking a hockey stick into his hand. "'Cause if you're not, I'm gonna. I can't wait anymore!"
"We're going now, Casey," Leo said grimly. "Any ideas where we should start?"
"Me?"
"Do you know of any places near April's apartment where the Purple Dragons might be keeping them? Anyplace where they regularly hide out?"
Casey's face hardened. "I might know a few."
"So we charge in, kick butt, and make 'em tell us where Don and April are," Raph said, his sai spinning in his hands.
"That's the idea," Leo said, handing all three of his companions a gas mask, and wedging his own between his belt and his body.
A grim silence settled over them as the Battle Shell raced through the streets of New York, with Leo's hands clamped tightly to the steering wheel. Casey was crouched at his side, giving him directions as they sped to an abandoned building a few miles from April's store. A wide, dark building with boards and sheets of plywood nailed over its broken, cloudy windows, it looked like a dead face to Leo.
"This the place?" Raph said, peering out.
"Might be," Casey grunted. "It's the closest Purple Dragon hideout to April's place, so maybe they brought 'em here."
Leo glanced back at the rear of the Battle Shell, where he had left Don's bo. "Let's go."
He didn't even hesitate when they came to the boarded-up doorway, ramming his shoulder through it and letting his shell take the brunt of the impact. His swords were already out in his hands, and he could hear Raph's gravelly growl and the whir of Mikey's nunchaku as they followed him inside. Casey had just donned his hockey mask, and was behind them with a hockey stick held in the air.
The interior of the building was mostly one large empty room, with thick metal pillars holding up the ceiling. Thin shafts of light pierced the gloom from the broken windows, enough light to see the dozen or so Purple Dragons arrayed around the room — maybe fourteen young men, armed with chains, makeshift clubs and metal pipes. Leo smirked. They would be easy to defeat.
"Goongala!" Casey bellowed.
At his cry, the three Turtles launched forward through the room, their weapons glinting in the faint light as they thrashed their way through the Purple Dragons. The Dragons were street fighters, thugs who relied on superior numbers and brutality to win their fights — so it was easy for Leo to anticipate every move they made, deflect every strike possible.
A thick pipe swung by his head, grazing his shoulder, and Leo swiftly cut the makeshift weapon in half. The Dragon holding it responded by throwing the remains of the pipe at him, but Leo easily deflected it with his katana, slashing it in half once again. Reversing his grip on his sword, he hammered it into the man's jaw.
Mikey was leaping and soaring past a cluster of Dragons, his nunchaku yanking their boards and bats from their hands. And Raph and Casey were taking on the biggest of them — a massive Dragon who looked as though he ate steroids for breakfast, with bulging reddened muscles. The man was roaring and lashing out, only to find Raph pummeling his head and Casey whacking him in the gut with a cricket bat.
He heard the whisper of another opponent coming up behind him, and whirled around to seize the assailant's throat before he could strike. A knife fell from the man's hand.
"Where are they?" Leo growled.
"… wh… who?" the Dragon babbled.
"The other Turtle and the woman. Where are they?"
"I dunno what you're talking abo—"
Leo punched him, sending him crashing to the floor. As he turned around, he saw that the massive Dragon had fallen to the floor, with Raph perched on his back like a mountaineer.
"That was disappointin'," Raph declared, spinning one of his sai before depositing it in his belt. "Barely put up a fight."
"Let's search the place," Leo said, sheathing his swords.
He headed for the skeletal stair that led to the second floor, a shadowy place with only a few windows. If April and Donnie were anywhere, they would be there. As he stepped into the wide-open room, he saw dark shapes clustered against the far wall, and his heart leaped. But as he came closer, he saw that they were piles of plastic bags filled with… well, he wasn't sure, but they were probably drugs.
Leo prowled every corner of the room, listening and watching intently. But there was no one here. His heart sank as he descended the staircase, and found Casey and his brothers waiting anxiously there. He shook his head.
"So what should we do with these guys?" Mikey said. "Gift-wrap 'em?"
"Call the police as soon as we get back to the Battle Shell," Leo said grimly. "We'll let them handle what's left here. Casey, take us to the next hideout. We have a lot of ground to cover."