Chapter 11
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"Come on Jade, wake up!" A slap to my face brought me somewhat back to consciousness. I tried to open my eyes, to focus, my mind picking up what I thought was Serah above me. Then my eyes closed again, my ears picking up sounds of a fight.
"Serah?"
I groaned a little, trying to move, the pain in my shoulder bringing me somewhat back to the present.
"That's it, come on you can do it!" I managed to open my eyes again, the features of the person above me starting to come into focus.
It was April.
"Jade, come on, we gotta move" She grabbed my good arm, putting it over her shoulders, then helped me onto my feet. I let out a strangled scream from the pain that shot down my whole left side, finally seeing what was happening.
The turtles were fighting human controllers...and alot of them. I couldn't count the number, but we were pretty much surrounded. From what I could see, we were in the same place that I'd fallen. I noticed a grizzly body slamming into two human controllers at once near us.
How long had I been out? Where were the others?
"But, Serah... they got Serah!"
"Over here" She seemed to be ignoring my protests.
I winced as she tugged me along, and we almost collapsed behind a brick wall, April letting out a shriek as something shot above our heads.
"I have to help them"
"Jade, you're hurt!" She peeked out over the wall, ducking back down as something else shot at us.
"I can't let them be killed" I looked at her, trying to shift my body weight, the pain nearly unbearable.
"ENOUGH!" Came the yell, and suddenly everything just stopped.
April and I both took a chance to peek out from behind the wall, surprised to see Kristiana there, in front of the human controllers. The turtles had stopped as well, all still braced for an attack. Rachel was hovering over a human controller, who had his gun pointed up at her.
"Jade, I know you're there!" She yelled, looking around. I ducked down behind the wall, pulling April down with me, more pain shooting through my side.
Silence. No one said anything. And from what I could hear, no one moved.
"If you give up, I'll let Serah go, and your other friends here won't be hurt either!"
Lies. I knew it was lies. But part of me wondered-
Something shot above our heads, making us look up. I caught a glance of off white metal above us.
I managed to prop myself up again to look over the wall, seeing Ithiell's fighter hovering over the battleground.
Instantly, Kristiana had a Dracon beam aimed upwards.
(How about you leave, and I let you go with your life, Yeerk!) Came the thought speak snarl.
"Andalite!" She yelled, firing. I saw the puny beam ricochet off what I thought was the shields. From what I could see, no damage was taken.
(My turn) I saw the fighters cannons fire up, then a shot streaked across the ground in front of her, making her leap back.
"Fire you idiots!" She yelled, seeing all the guns and Dracon beams leveled up at the fighter.
Suddenly everyone started moving again. Screams and yells, and from what I could see Ithiell was firing back down at the Controllers one by one, taking them out as the others on the ground attacked with all they had.
I looked back over at Kristiana, who I noticed was running-
"Lookout!" April yanked me down, and I screamed in both fear and pain as a Dracon beam shot went over our heads.
"Thanks April" I took a deep breath, and she nodded.
Then, to both our surprise, it all seemed to stop.
"Stay there" April told me, peeking out from the wall again.
I heard what I though was the fighter start to land. April sighed.
"It's over"
"Jade" Mikey was suddenly there, hefting me up into his arms, with me yelping in agony as he moved me.
I saw Ithiell's fighter land as Mikey moved towards it, April following. As soon as it touched the ground, the hatch was already opening. Ithiell stepped out, shifting himself back, and Rtaia was soon following him down the hatch. I noticed everyone else had converged around them, and we came up to Ithiell, who looked concerned.
"Ithiell"
He looked over at me, and I noticed Donnie was now there, binoculars down and checking me over. Rtaia was close as well.
"They...they got Serah! We have to-"
"From what we saw, they were putting people in a large van. They were all... unconscious" April spoke up from behind me somewhere, and Donnie finally brought his binoculars up, his green eyes worried.
"Dislocated shoulder, bruised and possibly broken ribs and hip"
"I do not have my equipment with me" Rtaia said, now looking me over a little.
"But...how'd you-"
"That distress beacon was for all of us, not just the turtles" Ithiell explained, and Leo and him shared a look.
"So... the Animorphs..."
"I got in contact with Jake, he's on his way"
"We can't stay here long, more could be coming" Leo looked tense.
"What about Serah?" I protested.
"There is nothing we can do right now. We need to regroup..." Ithiell trailed off, looking at me.
"Jade, they know who you are now..."
Ithiell's words slowly sunk in, and a horrible realisation dawned on me.
"Ithiell, they'll go after my family!"
He nodded "All right, plan of action; I'll go get them. You guys take her somewhere safe. We'll try and get Serah later"
"Got it" Leo nodded, and Ithiell turned to Rachel.
"We're going to need your help"
(Anything you need)
"I'll come with you guys" April said to Ithiell.
"Good idea"
"You may need to reset her shoulder" Rtaia looked at Donnie, who frowned, but nodded at her.
"All right, let's go"
With that, everyone split off, Mikey running with me in his arms.
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We managed to find what looked one of those small furniture moving trucks, Leo and Raph piling in the front, and Mikey and Donnie jumping in the back with me.
"Do either of them know how to drive?" I asked Donnie as he shut the back doors of the truck, hearing the engine come to life. Mikey gently put me down near one of the walls. It was oddly dark.
"Sort of" Donnie looked sheepishly at me as he came and knelt beside me. Mikey was on the other side of me, and we all went for a small tumble as the truck turned, bouncing onto what I guess was the road.
I used my good arm to prop myself up a little, realizing my hand was resting on Mikey's thigh.
"Oh Jade, I didn't know you wanted me that way" He cooed, and I tried my best to move away from him, groaning a little.
"Jade" I turned to look at Donnie in the dim light, seeing concern on his face as he shifted his glasses up.
"I need to relocate your shoulder, and it's going to hurt"
Another bounce on the road made me wince in pain, but I nodded at him, biting my lip a little.
He turned me a little, moving his hands up to my shoulder.
"We might need the shirt"
"Do it, I trust you Donnie" And, as an afterthought "Mikey, no smart comments!"
"Oookay" He said, and Donnie lifted my shirt off my injured shoulder, frowning a little as I let out a small shriek of pain. With my permission, he pulled the strap of my bra down, his hands going back to my shoulder, placing them in certain spots.
"Mikey" He said, and I felt Mikey beside me, offering a hand to my uninjured side. I took it, holding on as tightly as I could, knowing this was going to hurt.
"All right, on three. One-"
He jerked on the first count, and the pain shot through my body was worse than when I'd fallen out of the window. I let out a blood curling scream of pain, feeling Mikey loosen his grip a little.
Then the pain dulled a little, tears springing to my eyes as I looked up at Donnie. He looked apologetic, as well as upset.
"You okay?" Mikey asked, squeezing my hand a little. I managed to nod, letting out a strange sound as I returned the pressure. I felt Donnie's hands start to massage my shoulder a little, and the pain eased some more.
"I'm sorry" Was all he said, sounding really upset. Another bump, and I grunted a little. The pain in my side was still there, but thankfully my shoulder was back in place.
"Don't be. You did me a favour" I tried to smile up at him, letting go of Mikey's hand so I could put my clothes back on. Donnie helped, and Mikey surprisingly stayed quiet.
We all fell quiet, with me leaning on Donnie a little, feeling the occasional bump as Leo or Raph drove. The gravity of the situation hit me then.
I could never go home again. I couldn't go to school, couldn't go out in public again...
I was a wanted person now. In the space of what I guessed was an hour or two, my whole world had come apart.
Just what I was trying to avoid with Serah...
Serah, she'd been caught...
I felt horrible guilt well up in me as I thought of her.
I'd let my friend get taken by the Yeerks...
"Jade?" Donnie spoke, and I looked up at him. His arm went around me, and that was when I realised I was physically shaking.
"It's all over Donnie" I muttered "And now I got Serah-"
"Dudette, that sooo wasn't your fault" Mikey was there now, the look of concern on his face strange to see.
"I left her there. I made a decision..." I trailed off.
"You did what you thought was best at the time. And you did it to save the rest of your friends"
"But what about you guys?" I knew they were in real danger now. Even if they moved again, the Yeerks would be relentless in looking for them. Especially since Serah knew I was...
The truck came to an abrupt hault, causing all three of us to tip forward, ending up in an awkward pile.
As we righted ourselves, the back doors opened. Leo and Raph stood there, both looking concerned.
"We're almost home" Leo said, offering me a hand and helping me out of the truck. We all piled out, and I looked up at the four turtles.
"Guys, I need to ask a big favour"
They all looked at me.
"What is it Jade?"
"I... need your help getting Serah back"
They all looked at each other, worried.
"I... just need to know where that van is going. After that you guys can-"
"Jade"
I looked up at Donnie.
"If we're in, we're in all the way" Raph spoke up, and he shared a look with Leo.
"Agreed"
"I can't possibly let you go alone with those injuries. It is my duty as your boyfriend to protect you and keep you from harm" Donnie said with the most serious face he could muster. I couldn't help but smile at him.
"Mikey?"
"Dudes, can't let you have all the fun. I'm in"
Raph smiled, looking down at me. I saw Leo and Donnie nod at each other, and Mikey almost looked excited.
"Thanks guys"
"Don't thank us yet" Raph patted my back a little, all of us starting to move.
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