DISCLAIMER: Don't own YouTube or TMNT. Wish I did, though.
Phoenix Call
Chapter 4: Imprisoned
April leaned groggily against the wall of her prison. She was a captive of the Foot following the invasion of Miss Amber's home. Sure, her old babysitter had fought desperately to protect them, but April was no fool. She had seen the amount of blood being spilt in the basement, seen her mentor fall under the blades of at least a dozen or more Foot ninjas. April had tried to toss some sort of weapons to Amber, but her aim was always off so she wasn't sure if they ever reached her. They had only seconds from when they had heard the glass breaking to when the room flooded with enemies. Even so, April refused to believe the older woman was dead. She was just too strong to die, she couldn't be gone.
"Awake, I see."
April turned to see Karai leaning in close to the bars of her cell, giving her a once over and clearly not impressed with what she saw. "Not much to look at. How did you come to know the vigilante freaks?"
"Why should I tell you anything? Where's Amber?"
Karai sneered. "We left your friend for dead. Unless you wish to meet her in the afterlife, I suggest you comply."
OoO
"I have a lead on where the Foot might be holding April."
The kitchen went quiet, all eyes now on Donnie. Amber wiped excess flour from her hands on the old apron she had found before she had started making pizza dough. Grasping Don's shoulder, she leaned over and studied the location he pointed to on the map. On the other side of the table, Leo nodded.
"Then we should investigate tonight. Be ready to go topside in thirty."
Amber looked at the clock and frowned. "Leonardo, that won't give me enough time to finish three pizzas. Why not wait an hour so we can all head out together?"
Leo shook his head. "No, Mom. I don't think you should come. Even though you can take us in the dojo, you still got hurt pretty bad the other night by the Foot."
"Yeah," Mikey piped up, "We just found you! We're so totally not going to give the Foot a chance to hurt you again so soon!"
The turtles all nodded in agreement at Mikey's outburst. Amber huffed, turning to work on the dough while the boys began planning. Listening carefully, she gently formed the pile of dough into three large rounds before gently brushing them with garlic oil and popping them in the oven to prepare the crust for saucing.
"Ok, so does everyone got the plan? Let's move! Bye Mom, we'll be back for dinner later!"
Amber smirked and played along. "Bye boys, be safe!" Yeah, like she was really going to stay here. But, Amber thought, I can at least finish these pizzas. It won't hurt to give them a head start.
OoO
"Ok, there's the facility. Anyone got any questions?"
"Yeah, have you seen this video of the cat playing chopsticks? Unreal!"
"Dammit Donnie, I told you not to show him YouTube. Put that up, Mikey!"
Turning from his brothers, Leo focused on the building again. From their vantage point, he could see several Foot guards patrolling the hallways. Suddenly, the building went dark and Leo frowned.
"Don, did you cut the power to the building already?"
"Not me. From my scan, it seems like something happened at the electrical box in the basement. I can't tell what though. Maybe a mechanical error."
Leo's eyes hardened. "Let's investigate then. We need to be prepared for anything."
Melting into the darkness, the brothers made their way through a lower window and then into the basement. Cautiously, they approached the electrical box. Mikey's eyes widened.
"Duuudes, check it out!"
Sticking out of the remnants of the box was a wooden practice katana. One with a familiar tassel hanging from the handle. Raph's eyes widened as he remembered his first conversation with their mother. We share the same spirit, to protect those we consider family. Cursing internally, he looked over Mikey's head at Leo.
"Mom's here."
OoO
April couldn't see a thing, it was so dark. The lights had gone out a few moments before, and Karai had left her to find out what was going on. She heard a quick scuffle farther down the hall, followed by light, familiar footsteps. A flashlight clicked on in front of her.
"Bingo. Hey kiddo, back up as far as you can. I'm bailing you out." April had barely done as asked before the sound of metal slicing metal rang through the room. Looking up, she saw Amber crouching low in the hall with a tonfa in each hand. She couldn't help the relieved smile that came to her face. "Come on, little one. I'll fan out the stink in this place while you get out. Don't go home, or to my place. Here, get into the sewers and press this button on my phone. Help will find you."
"But-"
"Go, I'll fight better knowing you're out of danger!"
April nodded and took the offered phone, knowing better than to push the argument with the older woman. Racing quickly to the window where a fire escape was, she saw it was clear and made her way down. The sewers? Really? Well, here goes.
OoO
The turtles were quickly making their way up the building when their T-Phones suddenly began chiming and the screen went totally red. Donnie pulled up his screen and looked at Leo.
"It's from Mom's phone. She hit her panic button. According to the tracer, she's in the sewers a little ways from here."
"Think she already got April and the Foot followed them?"
"We should go look. All the Foot here have already had the shell beat out of them, and backup is a definate possibility."
As his brothers turned to head back down, Raph lingered. Mom wouldn't hit the panic button and draw his brothers into a fight any more than he would. Still, it WAS Mom's phone that sent the alert.
Raph then noticed a pair of broken tonfa in a doorway down the hall. Quickly, he snatched them up and followed his brothers to investigate the panic call.