Chapter 8:

(3rd:)

"Always knew you four were destined for greatness," Joe, the semi-truck driver from their childhood, proclaimed around his smile as he drove his truck straight through Hell's Kitchen in the direction Leo informed him Shredder's secret New York base was located.

"We missed you too, Joe," Mikey announced with a grin.

"Sensei, are you in position?" Leo asked his headset distractedly, while he and his brothers made an effort to stay out of sight in the sleeper interior of the cockpit as they got closer and closer to their target.

"I believe we have found the doorway you mentioned," Splinter answered, before describing the portal deep in the sewers that the turtles had used before to reach the Barron.

"Good, it sounds like it's still active," Donnie put in then, "Once you go through we won't be able to talk again until you reach the control panel, we'll synchronize the attack as soon as I find Shredder's main computer," He added, which Splinter acknowledged.

"Good luck, father," Leo added respectfully.

"And you as well my sons. Be safe," He answered calmly before the line went dead as Splinter and his team entered the portal that would take them to the Barron's base.

"They'll be fine," Raph announced insistently, as he reached out to put a hand on Leo's shoulder, which earned him a nod of agreement from his older brother before he turned to look out the window again.

"That's it," The blue-clad turtle proclaimed a minute later when they came up to a building he recognized from his control induced state as Shredder's base of operations.

"I was kind of expected something with – spikes," Joe admitted, looking up at the plain, old building curiously, "But if you say so," He declared smugly before ramming the truck into gear and picked up his microphone.

"Hold on ta somethin' back there," He informed the people who were crowded into the trailer behind them, before forcing the steering wheel in the direction of the building's main door and floored it.

The turtles could hear Casey's army in the back whooping ridiculously as they barreled forward and couldn't help smiling themselves as they braced for impact just before they hit the main door like some kind of man-made metal meteor.

Unfortunately, for the poor building; the truck had momentum and well constructed street armor on its side which allowed it to continue crashing through walls until it finally came to a stop in a random lobby where no one was too surprised to find an army of black clad foot ninja descending on them from all directions.

But they had an army of their own; in the form of the armor-clad freedom fighters filing from the truck to charge into the fray with all manner of homemade weapons of mass-destruction at their disposal.

"Good luck," Joe informed the turtles with a grin, before pulling out a huge-as-life shot gun, kicked his door open and entered the fight with a battle cry that would have made Vikings proud.

"Alright," Leo proclaimed a minute later as they waited for the enemy to become well distracted before they moved silently from the truck to locate a stairwell that would take them to the upper levels.

…

The plan worked like a charm, with Shredder's limited troops distracted by the chaos going on in the lobby, and with the black suits Shredder had been so kind as to provide them, the turtles were more or less invisible as they walked the halls unnoticed by the goons running about in all directions.

"Okay, where are we goin'?" Raph asked once they had managed to knock out a few guards and stole a few helmets so they could hide their faces as well.

"Looks like Casey's already set two of the charges," Donnie announced as he checked his gantlet to discover a couple blinking beacons on his map, which indicated their friends were completing their side of the mission without a hitch, "If I have to guess, the computers should be – here," He added as he pointed out a place on the holographic map.

"I know where that is," Leo answered quietly as he studied the picture, before emitting a slight hiss, "But it's right below Shredder's thrown room."

"Thrown room?" Mikey repeated questionably, "The guy actually has a thrown room?"

"That's a bit – much," Donnie agreed mutely.

"All the more reason to knock his crown off," Leo commented as he walked out into the hall again, leaving his brothers to look at him strangely, "What?"

"Bro, I love you, but let's leave the jokes to people who actually know how do them," Mikey suggested, earning a glare from his leader before they started making their way through the halls again in search of a staircase that would take them up.

…

"Anyone but me find this strangely – uneventful?" Mike asked as they climbed to the 72nd floor, where it was admittedly very quiet compared to the rest of the building.

"Everyone's probably at the fight," Raph suggested before peaking around a corner only to quickly dart back, "Oh, ya gotta be kiddin' me," He whispered sourly.

"What is it?" Leo demanded quietly.

"It's Hun," Raph growled at a wall like it was to blame.

"What?" His brothers all proclaimed in shock before moving to get a look for themselves, only to really find the large behemoth of a man who was leader of the Purple Dragons standing guard at a door down the hall.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Leo swore toward no one particular as he ducked back down to think up a way to get around him.

"Personally, I've been lookin' forward ta this," Raph admitted with a large grin as he cracked his knuckles in expectation of a fight, clearly ready to take revenge for what they had endured at the hands of the Purple Dragons when they were kids.

"No, Raph!" Leo insisted sternly, "We're already wearing our luck thin taking on two armies. The last thing we need is to add a third."

"Actually Leo –" Donnie put in with a wince in his voice, "I don't think we have a choice."

"Why?" He responded with a tone that suggested he didn't want to know the answer.

"'Cause that's the door we need to go through," Donnie answered anyway, pointing at the place where mammoth man had set up camp, causing his brother to face-palm.

"Figures," Mikey added sourly.

"Alright," Leo finally relented as he took one last look at the guard, before coming up with a plan, "Raph, you're with me, we should –"

"No," Donnie suddenly complained, which left them all slightly shocked. No one ever argued against Leo's orders in the middle of enemy territory before, "I need at least one of you," He countered pointing between Leo and Raph.

"Why?" Leo asked, causing his smart brother to smile.

"I've got an idea," He stated, which left them to raise an eye-ridge, but knew better than to refute him.

"Alright," Leo gave in again, before looking back at Raph and Mikey, "Can you two handle Tiny?"

"Not a problem," Raph proclaimed as Mikey pouted, clearly not liking this plan, but went along with it anyway, as the two back-tracked through the hallways, until coming up on the other side of the one they needed.

A moment later the place was filled with smoke, which caused Hun to take a step away from the door to look at it. However, he didn't move any further.

"Come on," Leo growled, "Move!"

"Guess he's smarter than he looks," Donnie added when the man continued to hold his ground, before suddenly turning to look in the opposite direction, forcing them to quickly duck behind the wall again.

"Crap!" Leo swore when they heard the giant start to walk in their direction, but before he became a nuisance, a shout suddenly rocked the area and the turtle looked back around to find Mikey had attached himself to the Hulk's back while Raph got up in his face.

"Go," Mikey called then and Donnie and Leo quickly bolted into the fray to navigate the fight and make for the door, leaving their brothers to handle the guard.

"What are we doing, Donnie?" Leo demanded as his brother rushed to the main computer and started working his magic, leaving Leo to keep looking at the door in desperation to be in that fight.

There was a reason Raph was usually the one to watch Donnie's back when he worked, his protective nature forced him to stand his ground in a fight where Leo's made him want to take on the threat before it got to his family.

"Alright," Donnie announced after barely a minute and called him over.

"That was – fast," Leo mentioned, more than a little impressed. True Donnie was a master when it came to computers, but he'd barely touched the damn thing.

"Yeah –" His brother agreed nervously, but didn't continue as he brought up a camera in the lobby where war was still going down and pulled a microphone over so it sat in front of the other turtle.

It only took a second for Donnie's idea to become clear at that moment and Leo smiled before picking up the speaker, cleared his throat and pressed the button on the side to broadcast his voice live across the whole building.

"Troops!" He commanded, watching the screens as Foot solders on all levels paused in their fighting to listen and he smiled again as he realized they were still programmed to obey him. "Stand down!" He added sternly, causing them all to quickly drop their weapons and surrender, allowing Casey and his men to rush in and detain them.

"Shred-Heads not gonna like that," Donnie proclaimed in a laugh as he started to shut down the rest of the building, so Shredder wouldn't be able to counter them with a command of his own, before finally getting a hold of Zira.

"Hello, Love," She said as her face appeared on the scene a second later.

"Put us on speaker," Donnie ordered causing her to raise an eyebrow at him but did as she was told. "Okay Leo, once more," He stated as he continued to work the computer until his brother could talk to the Barron's troops this time around.

"You sure it'll work on them?" He asked skeptically.

"Not really, but it's worth a shot," Donnie admitted and Leo nodded before pressing the button on his microphone and sent another order to the other army.

"I think it worked," Zira stated in surprise as she looked back at something they couldn't see, just before Bishop appeared on the screen.

"Leonardo, order them to leave the base," He proclaimed and Leo quickly did just that, which seemed to cause the Barron's troops to immediately start walking.

"Alright Zira, I'm gonna shut down the rest of his base," Donnie announced and she nodded in understanding, "Get your people and get out of there. Call me as soon as you're clear."

"On it!" She agreed, before they rushed off to complete the rest of their mission, leaving the screen to shut down a minute later.

"Now what?" Leo asked as his brother continued to mess with Shredder's system, before it finally shut off as well, leaving Donnie to quietly pull a tiny machine from his bag, which he armed and stuck it up under the desk.

Checking his gantlet to insure the program within would be ready at a moment's notice; Donnie finally finished his task and stood up again to turn back to his brother with an answer.

"Now, we find Shredder."

Personally I never understood how Shredder managed to get so many people on his side. Yeah okay, there are some out there who would join up just for what he can offer, but, to me, it makes much more sense for his general army to either be manipulated, threatened or controlled.