The Battle Shell jolted violently as the wall crumbled before it, and Leonardo was almost thrown from his seat. He grasped the wheel to steady himself as dust and chunks of concrete bounced off the reinforced windshield, and more dull thunks and clatters sounded on the armored sides of the truck. With a downward swing of his arm, Leo sounded the horn to disorient whoever was outside the vehicle.

"Masks on?" he called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, we got 'em," Raph responded, his voice slightly muffled by the gas mask.

Leo unsheathed his katanas as the rear door opened, and the three Turtles and Casey Jones leaped out into the supposedly-abandoned warehouse. Through the cloud of concrete dust, he could see the shapes of Purple Dragons staggering away from the Battle Shell, coughing and shielding their faces. Casey let out his customary cry of "Goongala!" and charged out into the cloud, swinging a bat in each hand.

This was the place. It had to be. It was the last place that Casey knew of; if Don and April weren't here, then Leo had no idea where they were going to search next. Desperation welled up in him as he slashed his way past the Dragons, knocking pipes and long knives out of their hands. He elbowed and kicked them in the face and stomachs, whirling through the gray dust and slashing at every weapon brought to bear.

Finally he descended on one of them, pinning him to the floor with one foot. "I want some information," he shouted, brandishing his katanas.

The man sniveled below him, his eyes tearing from the concrete dust, from fear, or some combination of both.

"Where are they?" Leo demanded. "The other Turtle and the woman?"

"I-in the b-back," the Dragon whimpered.

Leo's heart hammered against his ribs, and for a second he was overwhelmed by relief that his brother and April were here after all — and apparently alive. He kicked the Dragon away and looked through the room for some sign of a back room — the warehouse was large and filled with heavy metal shelves, which blocked the view of the surrounding walls. They had to find where the other rooms were… and Leo had a feeling they had to find them fast, before the Dragons did anything to them.

"Goongala!" Casey roared, leaping past Leo with his hockey stick in hand.

Leo swung around, looking desperately for his brothers. Raph was battling half a dozen Purple Dragons at the same time, his eyes burning with rage as he slashed and stabbed at them with his sai. He was too heavily involved with battle to break away, even though he seemed in no danger of losing. On the other hand, Mikey had just spun past a pair of other Dragons, crashing his nunchaku into their skulls and probably leaving them with nasty concussions. He sprang over them, landing sideways on a set of shelves, and grinned down at the results of his fight.

"Mikey, they're here!" Leo shouted. "Get looking for a back room!"

He worried that Mikey wouldn't hear him over the shouts and clang of steel, but the other Turtle swung around the edge of the shelves and raced off into the shadows.

Leo prepared to follow him, but just then he saw a small dark object being thrown into the middle of the battle — and a yellowish haze began billowing from the grenade, pouring through the room like a poisonous mist. He swung around, eyes fixed on the darkened shapes that were suddenly pouring out of nowhere, gas masks affixed to their faces. He just hoped Mikey made it past them.

April clutched at Don tighter, so tightly that her arms were growing numb. She could feel him straining to remain upright, feel the wash of his warm breath against her throat. Outside the cell, they could both hear the sound of fighting, and Purple Dragons were already pouring out of the cell to reach the battle outside.

"April," Don said hoarsely, "go. Get out before they close the cell."

She lowered her head and shook it.

"April, please go—"

"I'm not leaving without you," April said fiercely, closing her eyes. She didn't want to see Don's face as he pleaded with her to leave him behind. Didn't want to see his eyes, shining and clear, as he asked her to save herself.

She couldn't bring herself to look at his face, even though they were so close together. Every time she saw him, she felt sickened by herself — by what she had done to him. And she was afraid of seeing that expression in his eyes —the pain, the heartbreak — aimed at her again, and knowing she was the cause. She couldn't bear to see it, but she also couldn't leave him behind, surrounded by monsters like Racer. She wouldn't let him go without a fight, even if he could never look at her the same way again.

Besides, she thought bitterly, she deserved to be trapped in this place for what she had done. She had practically forced herself on him, even if she had been threatened into it. There must have been some other way she could have saved him from Racer, if she had just been calmer and thought harder…

The cell door clanged shut, and she heard the sound of the lock clicking into place. Don seemed to go limp against her, and she heard him sigh.

"I'm not leaving you," she repeated, clutching him closer.

"You should have," he breathed. "You know — what they'll do to you —"

"Even if I get out of this cell," April said, "I don't think they'd let me escape."

Every word he said was like a splinter of glass in her heart. He had been through so much, suffered so much, but he was still only concerned with what the Dragons would do to her. He even wanted her to leave him behind, as long as she was able to escape — even knowing that torture and death were in his future as long as Racer was there.

He should resent her. Hate her, even. He had only been raped by Racer because he had tried to shield her from that fate, and she had repaid him by forcing him. April felt hot tears brimming in her eyes as she shifted downwards, resting the side of her face against his shoulder. In response, Don grunted softly, and she felt him move slightly towards her and rest his head against hers, his cool smooth skin pressing softly against her hair.

"Don," she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

But she didn't know if he heard her, because just then something exploded in the rooms beyond the cell, followed by the dry clatter of falling concrete and dust. April stiffened and raised her head, her eyes wide. She hadn't thought that the Dragons had bombs or anything that could explode in this place — or had whoever was attacking brought the explosives with them?

The air was suddenly loud with the cries of Purple Dragons attacking, the thud of bodies, the sound of wood being smashed. She heard Donatello's breath quicken as the battle picked up steam, although she wasn't sure whether he was anxious or trying to figure out a way to turn this to their advantage.

Then she heard a familiar cry ring out through the building.

"Goongala!"

"Casey?" April whispered. If Casey was here, then that meant the Turtles were as well…

She inched towards the bars, pulling Don along with her, until she could hear the conflict outside more clearly. She thought she heard the clang of swords against metal outside, a familiar-sounding roar, and something that frightened her almost as much as the Dragons — the cracking, crumpling sound of fire licking at flammables.

Fear blossomed inside her at the sound. She wasn't sure if the fire would reach the cell — the building seemed to be mostly made of concrete — but the fumes might be enough to kill them if they didn't escape. And with no reason left to keep them alive, the Dragons would probably leave her and Don to die rather than take the risk of rescuing them.

Then a familiar voice called out, "April? Don? Where are you guys?"

"Here!" she shouted at the top of her voice. "We're in here!"

And a dark figure appeared in the doorway, his orange mask visible through a gas mask.