Track Down
While Donnie and the others set up a room, I was left in the lab with a blanket and pillow to huddle with. In the meantime, I looked around and got lost in my own thoughts. I didn't want to snoop and get in trouble and honestly, I had more serious matters to concern myself with. Would I ever be able to get home? How was mom doing? Was she okay? Anything that could distract me from the cheese grater was a welcomed one.
Donnie came to get me when the room was done. Leo and Raph had dragged Mikey on patrol so that I could get to my room without potentially getting tackled. After showing me where everything was and where the bathroom was located, I was allowed to have the room to myself and get comfortable.
I couldn't sleep that night. It felt too good to be true that I was underground and safe. Somehow, after all this time and so many near death experiences, I was alive and out of harm's way. I was in the home of my most beloved heroes. I was away from the enemy. Finally, I don't know how, but I could finally believe I was safe.
The few times I managed to fall asleep, I kept dreaming of Dogpound breaking down the door to get me. A couple of other times I was back in the throne room with blades to my throat or in the hands of the Kraang, desperately trying to reach for my mother. While awake, I could hear the turtles making noise and their movements.
For a while, I could hear Space Heroes playing and Leo either quoting the show or getting into the story of knock off Star Trek. Raph spent a while grunting, I assumed attacking a punching bag according to the weird noises and chains coming from the living room. Mikey was playing video games and Donatello spent most of the night in the lab welding metal. That bothered my eardrums. Master Splinter was the only quiet one.
Later that morning, I was half awake when there was a knock on my door. Groggy, I went to answer it when the knocking got faster. There stood Michelangelo with wide eyes. I was shocked to see the youngest brother in front of me. Also, not going to lie, I was a little nervous. As much as I loved the hyper, pizza fanatic, I wasn't entirely sure I could handle his energy. He was too…much. I loved him, character wise, but I was currently in a state where I couldn't handle much excitement. Better yet, if he scared me by mistake, I didn't want to accidentally hurt him.
"Yo," Mikey whispered, "Don't tell my brothers I'm here. They told me not to bother you, but you're like super adorable! I couldn't wait any longer! Hi, I'm Mikey!"
I looked around, hoping Donatello would be around the corner to help me translate, but he was nowhere in sight. Mikey smiled even more as every second passed until he was grinning.
"No need to look for my brother, Dudette! You see, I, Michelangelo, am a master at reading lips." He was wiggling his fingers to add dramatic effects, "I got you! Hit me with your best shot!"
I blinked, doubtful. Michelangelo, the notorious shell-for-brains, could lip read? It didn't exactly make sense considering he could barely stay focused on his own ninjutsu training. But, I didn't have any kind of pen and paper to write on for communication. So, without much of a choice, I decided to give it a go.
"Hi, Mikey." It felt so weird to mouth a conversation, "My name is Alexis, but you can call me Alex."
"Aww! Alex is such a cute name!"
…
What?
"You understand me?" This was a situation I never thought I'd be in. Then again, the longer I was here, the more surprises I found.
"Of course I do, Brah!" The youngest brother made an impressive spin and pointed finger guns at me, "I told you I'm a master at reading lips!"
A new turtle interjected, "Mikey, you shell for brains! We told you not to go over-"
Raphael, the turtle with the most attitude on the team, stormed over to the both of us. He stopped shouting upon seeing I was at the door. My ears twitched and I could feel my tail swish from side to side. As much as I respected Raph, I was very scared of him. He could snap me in half like a twig if he wanted to. That last thing I needed was to be on his bad side. In fact, I was terrified to invoke his wrath. With that thought in mind, I hid myself behind the door, keeping my head poked out so that I wouldn't be completely running away.
He eyed me with a suspicious glare, "Uhhh, hi."
"Yo, Raph!" Mikey jumped to his brother. "This is Alex! Alex, this is my brother Raph! Now I know he's big and ugly and scary, but-"
"Oh shut it."
Raph hit Mikey upside the head and I flinched. I didn't mean to. I couldn't help it. The amount of times I had to prepare myself to be flung across the room went past what I could count. His green eyes seemed to widen a little at my reaction. I ducked my head down, not sure what he was thinking. Was I a threat now? Had I done something wrong? Did I step over a line? Before I could dwell more on his reaction, he grabbed Mikey's mask tails and dragged him away.
I closed the door and put my back against it. Next thing you know, I'm on the ground, feeling like my heart is about to pound its way out of my chest. In no way was it a pleasant feeling. It was beating so hard it hurt my chest. It was uncomfortable.
I didn't know what to do with myself other than go back to bed and just lay down. I'll be honest, I wasn't ready to fully start socializing with all of the guys. I wasn't upset at meeting Mikey and Raph. At the same time, I knew I'd get anxious being around them for too long. As much as I loved the chaos that tended to ensue with the team, I currently couldn't be a part of it. Before my time with the Shredder, I more than likely would have been all for being in the middle of the madness. Now, I could barely handle a surprise.
Time ticked by as I stared at the ceiling. Being in the cell helped me figure out how to tune out for periods of time. Today, I guess, was not the case.
I put focus on my sense of smell. I could smell the sewers from this room. It was worse than the cell, but better than being trapped against my will. Donnie, I found, had the smell of oil and copper, somewhat similar to the scent two pennies rubbed together emit. That short moment with Mikey, he smelt mostly of pepperoni pizza, but also had a stinky undertone of gym socks. Master Splinter, surprisingly, had smelt of herbs. I couldn't place an exact kind, but it was very pleasant combined with incense. As for Raph, he hadn't been around me long enough to make any solid conclusions. I also still had yet to meet Leo. In an odd way, I was excited to pick out their specific scent.
With my mutation I had discovered something else. It was a very rare occurrence, but every once in a while, when I closed my eyes, I could still see most of the world around me, but it was dark and objects were outlined in different colors. The best way to describe it was the sense control from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. As of right now, my own senses were out of my control. My ears twitched at the smallest noise. My tail seemed to have a mind of its own. I felt like I didn't belong to my own body. So much had changed about me that I felt like I was some kind of lost soul who had come to inhabit someone else's body.
About three days had passed by since I had been allowed to live in the sewers. Mikey, whenever he could, would come talk to me until either he was dragged away by one of the brothers (which is how I met Leo) or I would have to end the conversation. There was only so much I could take of the hyper-active Michelangelo. I didn't want to be mean, but when I had enough, I let him know I was ready to get back to bed. Thankfully, he was very respectful of that.
I only saw little bits of the other two brothers. Whenever I'd visit with Mikey, Raph would make an appearance somewhere close by. I always caught him giving me a side-eye look, watching my every move. He was protecting his brother. I usually ended my conversations with Mikey when his staring got overwhelming. Leo would sometimes do the same, but he would be blatantly staring me down. I would either catch him watching from another part of the lair or outside of Donnie's lab.
I really only went to the lab outside of my room. Donnie would keep giving me checkups and let me visit for however long I wanted. If I wasn't learning about what he was up to that day, then I was looking at all his prototypes and trinkets that were laying around. This was with his permission of course. After learning to pass the time by dissociating, anything was a welcomed boredom reliever.
I was laying in bed when I caught Donnie's scent approaching. I got up and opened the door, not thinking much of it. He stood there, in position to knock.
"Oh! Perfect timing!" He put his hand behind his head, "How'd you know I was there?" I tapped my nose. "You could smell me? That's pretty cool! How about your hearing? Has that heightened too?"
"Annoyingly so. Everything is almost too loud."
"Hopefully, it'll adjust soon. Anyway, I wanted to bring you to the lab. April couldn't stay for long, but she dropped off some new clothes for you. Sorry you couldn't get a change of clothes sooner."
I started bouncing on the balls of my feet, excited for something to wear other than pajamas. Hopefully, something would fit.
As we walked over, the tv turned on to an unfamiliar theme song. Donnie walked ahead of me as I stayed to see what show was on. I hadn't watched tv since the Kraang had kidnapped me. Watching the character that appeared, I realized it was Space Heroes that was playing… If Space Heroes was on, didn't that mean…?
There was Leo…staring at me. I wasn't prepared for this. Before now, we had only had a few passing interactions. All of which involved him dragging Mikey away from my room. This was the first time it was just the two of us.
"Ummm, hi… I'm Leo. Your name is Alexis, right?" I nodded. "Donnie told me."
Awkward silence filled the air. My tail was brushing the back of my feet and I was picking at my nails out of habit. I couldn't exactly fill the silence and Leo seemed to be at a loss for words.
His gaze shifted away from me for a bit, "Do you want to watch Space Heroes…with me?"
It was a genuine invitation. How could I turn it down? I shuffled over to sit close by. I watched the TV but I wasn't focused. I felt like there was an elephant in the room. However, I soon found out I was the only one who felt that way. Leo was kneeling in front of the TV, hanging on to every moment, even though he probably had this whole show memorized. Soon enough he was on his feet cheering at whatever was happening. I laughed when he enthusiastically started quoting Captain Ryan. He froze the moment he heard me.
"I thought you couldn't speak," Leo asked, red peeking through his green cheeks.
"She's not completely restricted." Donnie walked in and stood on the floor above where I sat, "While, yes, she can't say anything as of right now, she still has the ability to make other noises to express emotions."
"What do you mean?"
"From what I've gathered from Alex, she's dealing with involuntary selective mutism." Donnie crouched down to my level, "Meaning she has the ability to speak, but with what's happened to her, her nero-receptors are still picking up danger, unintentionally causing her to be mute."
Wait, so did that mean I could get my voice back? It was possible? I wasn't going to be stuck like this forever?
"So what you're saying is none of this is of her choosing," Leo asked.
"If this was of my own free will," I began signing, "I wouldn't make Donnie go through the trouble of being my translator."
"I don't know, Alex. Maybe you're just really sneaky," Donnie teased. I stuck my tongue out playfully as he stood again, holding his hand out to me, "But anyway, come on. We're going to see what April brought over."
Once in the lab, Donnie led me over to two big trash bags full of clothes. As it turned out, it was all clothes April didn't want to wear anymore or didn't fit her. Some things were okay, like the multitude of cami tops and undershirts she half-hazzardly threw in. Other things made me sad because they were either not my size or not my style. However, I did find a few things I liked. For example, I found an oversized light green hoodie that fell midway down my thighs. I also found a dark blue, light jacket that fit me pretty well. As for shirts and pants, I found a few shirts that I liked that looked like they would fit and many sets of shorts, jeans and leggings I would have to see about trying them on before I decided whether to keep them or not.
"So… Alex," Donnie had me on the table again, looking at my stitches. Apparently, the healing process had passed much faster this time and the stitches were able to come out today, "I was watching your interaction with Leo. What do you think of him?"
I thought for a moment, "He's awkward, but he seems genuinely nice. I also met your other brothers Mikey and Raph. Mikey seems to be pretty nice. Raph…scares me. I'm not surprised that he's suspicious, but still…"
"Raph's like that. He doesn't exactly warm up to new people so quickly."
"Fair enough."
"Sensei talked to them the night he said you could stay. He told them about your situation. They all know you'll be staying. Just give them time to warm up to you. It's the same as needing time for you to get to know them too."
"What about us? I think we made fast friends."
Donnie blinked a few times before grinning, showing off his gap tooth, "I guess we did make fast friends, didn't we? But keep in mind, besides the fact that we've spent the most time together, they can't translate sign language like I can, so communication is a lot more difficult."
Shortly after this was said, Mikey screamed followed by the lights soon flickering and then going out. I could see fine, due to my night vision. Funnily enough, this did not bother me. It felt like there was a separate part of myself that was excited. Was there danger? Was there a hunt? However, Donnie was there, stumbling around. It reminded me that, if there was a danger, I was useless. I couldn't "hunt" or assist in causing damage.
"Mikey!" Donnie shouted. "Hold on, Alex. I'm grabbing us some flashlights." About a minute went by and soon the light was on me. "Are you okay, Alex?"
"I'm okay. I can actually see in the dark just fine."
"Wait, really?" He walked over, "You must have gained the Tapetum lucidum layer to your eyes! That's so cool!"
"...Run that by me again?"
"Tapetum lucidum is an extra layer found on a wolf's eye that helps them see in the dark. Now granted it's not as great as an owl's but-"
"Donnie! The lights," Leo yelled.
"Hold that thought."
The purple masked turtle ran out of the room. I was planning on waiting for him to return, but a high pitched beep caught my attention. My ears twitched and then I heard it again. The guys were in the living room arguing about the blackout and I felt the need to follow. I decided to throw on one of the hoodies in the pile and thankfully, found a pair of sweatpants that I could pull on over my pajama shorts.
The beep sounded again, slightly louder, and I went to follow. I don't know what drew me to play hot-and-cold with a high pitched note, but maybe it would explain the sudden blackout. It kept a pattern of sounding off for 3-ish seconds, silence for 10-15 seconds and then go off again. The further along I got, the louder it became, and soon I was under a sewer cover. The pitch, not exactly hurting my ears, but definitely loud enough to be a nuisance.
This beeping was so weird. It was sounding off in a very distinct pattern. The pitch was very high. What did it mean? Was it just a power line? Was it a cell phone tower? Could it be code? Simultaneously, there was something that pushed at my consciousness to find out what it was.
As I considered possibly going up to the surface, the sounds of pumps and some sparking wiring caught my attention. It was slowly getting louder. Looking around, I took to hiding in one of the smaller sewer pipes. I held my tail as I awkwardly shuffled my feet above the sewage, gagging at the strong smell and praying none of it touched me. I had to crouch low to even fit in the first place, putting me even closer to the putrid smell.
The sewer lid opened and soon, I watched five Kraang drop down with handheld devices connected to a wire. They spread into formation and looked around the current area. Within moments, smaller versions of the beep synchronized with the original… No way! Were they using sonar devices?
"This is the location, known as the place, where the turtles were known as last seen."
"Yes Kraang, this is the location delivered to Kraang by the one known as the Shredder."
"Yes Kraang, the location delivered to Kraang by the once known as the Shredder, will help Kraang find the one known as Alexis Knight and the Power Cell."
"Kraang needs to locate the one known as Alexis Knight and the Power Cell."
"Yes Kraang, Alexis Knight and the Power Cell are vital to the thing known as details to what is known as the plan."
What the hell? What plan? What did they need me for? Why did they need me? What details were they talking about? I could feel my ears twitching wildly in anticipation for what they would say next. Why would they be looking so hard for me specifically? I was just a hybrid. Or…wait… Didn't Baxter say something about the Kraang assisting in my mutation?
All the devices pinged including the one from above ground. The loudest one was even clearer and amplified now that the sewer lid was opened.
"Kraang has what is known as very little time."
"Yes Kraang let us retrieve the power cell from those called 'the Turtles'."
Two Kraang split one way and three went the other. Above, more Kraang dropped in and started infiltrating all the larger pipes as they avoided any of the smaller ones like mine. I counted about 20 more before they stopped entering the sewers.
Those devices they had…it had to be sonar. But why would they need sonar to even attempt to find the power crystal? Donnie should have put a protective case over it to keep the Kranng from finding it. Was the sonar something particular to the power crystal? If that was the case, they'd be making their way to the lair.
I couldn't exactly go back to the lair now. I'd for sure get caught, coupled with the fact I wasn't even sure where the lair was anymore. I also couldn't just stay. It was either get caught or investigate from this point forward. Considering how awful the sewage smelt, investigating seemed like a much better option.
I waited a few more minutes to be sure no more Kraang would decide to drop down from above. When I emerged to the surface, I blinked at the darkness around me. It really shouldn't have been a surprise the Kraang responsible for this. I was more interested in the why of the situation.
It would be beneficial to tread lightly from here on out. I really didn't need to draw any attention to myself. As I passed by apartments, someone's radio crackled and announced it was all of Manhattan that was suffering the black out. Just what did the sonar have to do with all of this? With a deep breath, I chose to pick up the pace and see what I could find out.
—-
If it was not for Mikey trying to put his nunchuck in the toaster to get his toast away from the device (or at least that's what Raphael fully believed), the power would not have gone out. While in the moment, it was amusing to watch the youngest zap himself in the attempt to save his burning toast, it caused the power to go out, and was no longer entertaining. He and Leo already tore into Mikey for causing the power outage. After a shout from Leo, Donnie was running out of the lab with flashlights for everyone.
Raphael was surprised that the stray mutt was not following his brother. It was very obvious that if she was not scheming in her room, she was attaching herself to Donnie's side. From what he could gather of their interactions, she was buttering up the smartest turtle to get on his good side. He was just waiting for her to show her true colors. Why else would Shredder be getting her to the Kraang unless they were allies? How long would it take for her to break out of character and harm Donnie? Worse yet, how long was she planning to wait on giving their location to the Shredder. She was their inevitable doom and he was not looking forward to it. At least he had the right to say "I told you so."
"How much longer until we get power back, Donnie?" Leo was standing over his brother to add more light, "The new episode of Space Heroes is airing later tonight and I want to catch it."
"What about my TV? My video games?" Mikey was wailing as he hugged the closest arcade game, "Now I can't beat my high score!"
"Well it's your fault we're the power went out, genius." Raph scowled at the youngest, "If you hadn't tried toasting yourself instead of the bread, you might be doing something to occupy that small brain of yours."
"Actually guys…for once this isn't Mikey's fault," Donnie interrupted.
There was a collective voicing of, "It's not?"
"I've done everything I can to fix it and the power isn't back. The logical conclusion is that there's a power outage topside too."
"So should we go investigate?" Leo asked.
"Couldn't hurt to check it out," Donnie collected his tools, "Maybe we can lend a hand."
Raph rolled his eyes, "Yeah sure! You and that big brain of yours can fix the whole city."
"Technically speaking, we're just going in to investigate. But…depending on the situation we may be able to get the power back on sooner. I wonder if Alex can hold up long in the dark?"
"That mutt? You've got to be kidding me! I'm tellin' ya, Donnie, she's got you wrapped around her little finger and before we all know it, Shredder's going to be down here looking to turn us into turtle soup!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Raph! She's been through a lot for who knows how long." The purple masked turtle grinned and laughed giddily, "It just so happens that she's curious to know what I'm up to. And she asks a lot of questions about how my inventions work- "
"Yeah! Alex is so cool, bro!" Mikey had grabbed the second oldest around the shoulder and had his hand out as if he was trying to show off a bigger picture, "This is the cutest little mutant you've ever seen. She likes pizza, and video games, and comics and-"
Raph threw his brother's arm off, "Enough already! I'm just thinking realistically. Why else would Dogpound and Fishface be traveling with a mutt if not to convince us she's," he put air quotes around the word, "cool."
Leo stepped forward, attempting to break the tension, "Look, according to Donnie, she's wanted by Shredder and the Kraang. We don't know all the details, but we can't just throw her to the sharks."
"Well if you won't then I will!"
"Uh guys…" It was then the three realized the tallest turtle was by his lab doors. He looked very confused and concerned as he spoke his next words, "Alex is gone."
—-
Somehow, being on the surface was a liberating feeling. Sure I wasn't exactly free, but just the feeling of being in an area without thick and stuffy walls was like a breath of fresh air. It totally would have been fresh air too if it hadn't been New York, but I digress.
As I went further along the dark and empty streets, the buzz of a live wire caught my attention. It wasn't like the buzz of the electric fence at home. This was a mass amount of raw power. My ears led me to a massive power cord, buzzing and now that I was here, crackling loudly with electricity. Sometimes the voltage shot out of the wire showing how unstable it was. Considering the wires were making their way to the rooftops, I could only imagine what resided up there for the turtles to later find. The constant buzz made my head hurt and combined with the many smells mingling in, it was overwhelming my senses.
"It is Alexis Knight! Alexis Knight will be doing what is called 'stopping'."
I froze. I must not have heard the sound of their robot suits over the sound of the electric current. Behind me was a patrol party of three Kraang, one of which was already approaching me. The two behind him stood with guns in hand.
Okay, maybe topside wasn't my greatest idea. I was cornered here. Defenseless. I couldn't take these guys on my own. I didn't even know if I could take out even one.
The Kraang bot was slowly getting closer. I backed awayslowly. I couldn't exactly break forward knowing the other two Kraang would jump me and I couldn't turn my back to them knowing they had guns to shoot me down if they decided to. My back touched a wall. The metal hand reached forward.
"Alexis Knight will be doing what is known as 'coming with Kraang'."
A shock ran through my entire body and before I could consider my own actions I had swiped at the robot's head. The electric buzz overpowered my hearing. It felt like the world stood still. My hand was no longer human. From where my fingernails were supposed to be, they had thickened, lengthened and sharpened considerably. That was when the Kraang's head split into pieces and fell to the ground. The body dropped and the brain inside popped out, squealing as it ran.
I stared at my work and then my claws…I had no technique, but maybe clawing my way through was my way out. I grinned, feeling an adrenaline rush, and ran forward. For whatever reason, the two robots wouldn't point their guns at me, so my new claws sliced through the upper chest of one robot and with a jump, I tackled the other and dragged my claws across the back. Knowing I couldn't let them get away I grabbed the gun off of one of the metal bodies and shot at the two brains running off. I missed four or five times, but when hit, their little bodies exploded into goop. The goop splashed the areas with a yellow-green and the smell quickly filled my nose. I gagged. Why did everything from their dimension have to smell absolutely disgusting.
I started at the goop and realization hit me. I had claws and I just took down some of the Kraang.
I held my hand to my face and watched my claws shift slowly back into normal fingernails for a normal human hand. If I flexed my hand the claws would immediately shift back in the blink of an eye. Relax my hand, they would revert back.
Baxter Stockman…did you forget to take a few notes?
Seeing as I now stood above the bodies of the Kraang, metal and brain alike, a new feeling of responsibility and recklessness took over. Those wires were important to the Kraang. I had to put a stop to them and to that sonar device and hope for the best. But I couldn't cut a live wire. I could hear the high voltage, I'd get fried if-
My gaze shifted to the gun I still held in my left hand.
It would be dangerous to cut it, but it would be safer to shoot from a distance, right? I ran to the street and thought about how my dad always explained how to use his hunting guns and what he taught me from learning how to use a little .22 for hunting squirrels. I pressed the butt of the gun against my shoulder and held it like I would shooting cans. I pulled the trigger and hit the wires. While effectively cutting off the electricity, it didn't stop the sparking live wires.
The sparks were a stark brightness contrast from the original darkness. It was more physically dangerous now, but it was progress. It was something. Now with the best of luck, my hearing could get me to more of these wires and put an end to this Kraang sonar project.
—-
The four brothers were running through the sewers. Donnie would run ahead with Mikey and start yelling for Alex. Donatello was convinced she got scared and made a run for it. Michelangelo was upset that the little hybrid mutant had not bothered to say a proper goodbye.
"Alex! You can come out of hiding! It's okay! I'm here," the tallest of the brothers yelled.
"Yeah dudette," Mikey was looking under pieces of trash as if she would have magically shrunk down to that size, "It's me! Your buddy, Mikey! Can you at least say bye, dudette? I'm sorry if I messed up your cuteness sleep."
"One, it's called beauty sleep. Two, she currently can't say goodbye. At least, not in words. Three, when did the two of you get so chummy?"
"Who cares about that? You're little stray mutt ran away," Raph yelled. "She's probably already run back to Shredder to tell 'im where we are!"
"Shut up!" Donnie was very quick to walk over and jab his finger into Raph's chest, "Alex is the victim here. If you could actually understand her like I can you'd see-"
"See what? How delusional you are just because you got a little buddy who pretends to care what you do in your lab? Give me a break! You're just happy to talk someone's ear off."
"Am not! She actually chooses to hang out with me unlike you, Hot Head."
Mikey's voice cut through the tension, "Bros? Aren't those guys, like, not supposed to be here?"
There was a high pitched 'ping' that sounded and brought all eyes to look at the group of suited Kraang that were standing at the end of the hall. The 'ping' went off once more before lasers were fired and the boys hopped into action to take the five down.
Raph stabbed one in the chest before kicking the next one to Leo, "You see, Donnie! I told you she was going to rat us out!"
"There's no way, Alex would do that!" Donnie knocked his robot to Mikey who easily sliced the robot's head off, "Leave her alone!"
"Yeah right! She faked her sob story so that she could run back to the Kraang."
"Enough!" Leo sheathed his katanas and walked over with his hands on his hips, being the dramatic leader he was, "We have a power outage on our hands and clearly the Kraang are down here searching for something. We currently don't know what they're after. Until then, you two need to chill out. We have to focus on getting topside and investigate."
The two brothers butted heads, almost growling before making the move to go forward. Donatello was concerned that there were Kraang in the sewers, a little too close to the lair for comfort, but he knew it was not Alex! She had made the attempt to talk to him a few times. The disappointment, knowing she could not use her voice, was too real to be fake to him. There was no way she could fake it for this long. Even if she did spend most of her time in her room, she "slipped up" and tried to talk. He knew for sure she was not faking it. She was too timid around him and the others. She was too excited to be distracted by anything and everything in his lab. Alex… He did not understand why she had been stolen from her home dimension. Whatever the reason, he just knew she had nothing to do with this.
Raphael, on the other hand, was convinced she was behind it all. He did not understand why she felt the need to keep up her act for so long. Whatever her reasoning was, he refused to fall for it. To him, the fact that Dogpound and Fishface had fought so hard to keep her around was suspicious to him. Sure, she looked like a little toothpick, but there had to be some reasoning behind it. There had to be more to finding her than mere coincidence. No matter what, he was not falling for this trap. He was determined to keep his family safe, even if it meant kicking that mutt back to Shredder.
—-
It was like the moment I made the decision to start looking for these wires, some part of me was awoken. This was for a lack of any better words. I was more aware of the oddest noises. My reflexes, to hide or react to anything sudden, were acting quickly. I could feel my ears constantly twitching, searching for the sound of running electricity. I felt energized. I was excited. Especially now that I knew I had claws as a form of defense, I felt more assured I would be okay. Maybe I was a little too confident, but I didn't care. Something made me feel so…alive doing all of this.
I gotta say, there was a thrill to running across a dark city, damaging wires and hiding from the alien patrol. I actually managed to take out two more droids. This was only when the situation called for it, mind you. If more found me, I don't think I'd make it. For some reason, the Kraang refused to shoot at me and I was going to take advantage of that.
I shot at another section of wires and grinned at the sight of disconnected, sparking damage. It hurt my ears, but the sight was gratifying enough that it was worth it. Whatever the Kraang were up to, they clearly needed electricity, but why use human power? They didn't usually use human electricity for their projects… At least that's what I always assumed, but I was used to being wrong.
Above me, a flood light came on, but it wasn't directed at me. Shortly after the light came on did the firing of laser guns sound and mixed itself with metal hitting metal. Did the guys find what the Kraang were up to? I ran to the closest alley, found a fire escape and began climbing to the roof. The amount of athletics it took was tiring because I didn't want to ditch the Kraang gun, but I needed to see what was going on. I had to investigate. I pulled myself up to the roof and gawked at the machine.
This thing was HUGE! The amount of wires I could see from here was astounding. The pink and purple glow of the machine blended into the background. The Beep sounded once more and I realized this giant machine was their sonar device.
Chaos was happening all around. I could see the guys taking out all the alien droids left and right. There was a large number and I was honestly a little worried for them. Would they be okay? Would they get through this? Would they stop the sonar device?
I could see, who I could only assume was Donatello making his way to the other side while Mikey, Raph and Leo followed closely. My guess was to give him cover. From where I stood, about five buildings away, reinforcements were coming in. Some of them were probably crawling out of the sewers considering there were droids scaling the side of the buildings too.
They looked like they could use help. The number of Kraang made me worry, but how could I help? I'd get killed! Or…maybe not? The aliens were hesitant to fire at me. Could I still use that to my advantage?
I made my way around, jumping over the narrower allies to get within range of the fight. The guys, from here, appeared to be struggling. Could I possibly hit something from this building? I was only one building away from the fighting, I couldn't imagine that I'd be completely out of range.
With some effort and a lot of struggling, I climbed on top of the exit door of the building and laid on my stomach. I once again pressed the butt of the gun against my shoulder, took aim and fired my first shot.
—-
They ran into three more small parties of Kraang before they made it topside. As Donatello had predicted, the whole city had a power outage. Thanks to a trail of scouting aliens, the four brothers found the Kraang's latest invention. It was a giant machine, glowing pink and purple, that took up the majority of one rooftop. What was surprising was the reckless number of droids that surrounded the area. What kind of plan did they have this time?
Four shadows made their way over to the fire escape where they hung out to make a scope of the area above them.
"The one known as Alexis Knight has been spotted in the area known as close by," a Kraang suddenly announced.
"Yes Kraang, Kraang is already aware of this information. The one known as Alexis Knight must be brought to Kraang in the time known as immediately."
Raph got excited hearing this, "See Donnie, I told you she was working with these alien freaks!"
"Oh shut it! They're trying to catch her, you idiot. I don't know why she would be topside," Donnie argued in a hushed tone.
"Why else would she be topside? I don't know, maybe to give away our location!"
"Don't act like you've won. I'm telling you they're trying to catch her."
"Yeah, so she can give them our location! I can't wait to serve up some wolf tail!"
Leo shushed them, "Let's hear the rest of the conversation, then we strike."
However, by the time this was said, the aliens were on another topic of discussion.
"The power cell must be retrieved, Kraang."
"Yes Kraang. Tracking the power cell is vital to what is known as the plan."
"Kraang, the element known as electricity is leaving the device!"
"The element known as electricity must remain connected to the device to find that which is known as the power cell."
Donnie glared at his short-tempered brother, "Great, now we can't try to figure out where Alex went!"
"She's probably kicking back with Shredder waiting for us to be shells on a platter," Raph shot back, "Don't come crying to me when she shows up with the Foot Clan!"
It was at this moment his voice had reached the Kraang, attracting unwelcome attention. Lasers were fired and the ninja turtles jumped into action. They were already spreading out to cover more area. As they had already seen, there were many Kraang posted here tonight. With the four of them versus the many, it was very easy to find that they would be struggling this battle.
"Great job, Donnie," Raph yelled, "This is all your fault!"
"Me?!" A kraang went flying and bowling style knocked more down, "You've been picking a fight all night about Alex being a traitor when you won't even bother to hear her whole story."
"Not like there's much to listen to."
"Why you-"
"Yo guys! We're getting attacked over here!" Mikey interrupted.
Leo sliced a robot in two, "Donnie! We need you to shut that thing down! We'll cover you!"
While the two middle brothers wanted to keep arguing, the situation was serious enough that they could set their views aside to work together and take the machine out. On the right side of the contraption, there was a control panel that Donatello leapt into, throwing out the Kraang that was originally manning it. All around him, his brothers fought to keep him safe. Lasers hit near the area, but from what he could tell, they were doing their best not to hit the control panel.
The Kraang were caving in on all sides and as the tallest turtle began to sweat, he couldn't figure out what exactly this thing was for. Without that information, there wasn't a solid 70% chance at the least to shut this thing down and for good. He couldn't risk this device remaining intact. He had to get to the core and destroy it for the intent it was used for.
"Any day now, Donnie!" Leo shouted.
"I'm trying!" Donnie was panicking as he continued his work, "I have to shut it down, but I don't even know what it's for."
"Then why don't we bust this thing open already," Raph demanded, starting to back up and be close to his brothers, "These alien blobs are going to start hitting hard if ya don't do something!"
"Then I need more time! Without the appropriate information, much less the inscription decoding I have to speed through, we're all sitting ducks!"
And that was when a laser shot from the east and took out two droids. There was a freeze to see what was going on, allowing for a rapid succession of shots to rain in and take out more robots before directing aim to the multitude of cords surrounding the building and slowly cutting off the power supply.
Raph stood, stunned, "What the…"
"Alex!" Mikey shouted.
It was a little hard to see, but even from here, the small figure and wolf ears gave way to Alex. She was on top of one of the exit doors, laying down, sniping the Kraang from her position. She was firing away from the brothers, but calling attention to herself because she was using the enemy's own weaponry to destroy their machine.
Donatello grinned. Alex was brilliant! He had no idea where she came from, but considering her lack of resources and defense, she was buying him time to stop this thing. He immediately got to work. This was just what he needed.
"Someone needs to go help, Alex," Donnie shouted, "If the Kraang get to her, she's going to be left vulnerable!"
"She can take care of herself. Strays are pretty good at that," Raph retorted.
Yes. As much as the hot-tempered turtle hated to admit it, Alex's appearance was much appreciated. He was honestly starting to worry about being overpowered. However, he doubted this was with good intention. Was it not such perfect timing that the little hybrid mutt made an appearance to help them? Especially after hearing the Kraang talk about her, he feared she was only trying to get into their good graces.
"Raph, the Kraang are starting to make their way to her. Go protect her! We'll cover Donnie," Leo commanded.
There was really no time to argue and there was already a huge party walking towards Alex. It was weird that they made no attempt to return fire. They only kept marching, allowing a good few to fall. This made no sense! This was too perfect of a scene to get them to like Alex. If not for the fact that Donnie would deshell him and Mikey would complain until the next time it snowed, Raph let out a battle cry as he charged forward.
Alex stopped firing as he got closer, only aiming for the robots that got too close to her. She was surrounded and he still had to get through a dozen to get to her. From the corner of his eye, he saw Alex hitting the gun, as if trying to get it to work. A robot made its way up and her finger was pulling the trigger. Nothing was happening. Knowing she was trapped then and there, he threw his sai.
Raph's weapon soared beautifully and rammed itself straight though the metal scull. While he could be glad that he hit the bullseye, he was now down to only one sai. This was definitely not how he pictured his evening going.
—-
I stared at the Kraang, now with a sai through its head. It sparked, powered down and dropped. I had no idea these high tech guns could run out of power! One moment, I was doing my best to defend myself and next thing I know, it's refusing to fire. More Kraang attempted to climb up, but I was quick to scratch them the moment their head appeared.
Raph was still far away from me and I was surrounded. Granted, on the bright side, the numbers were lessened. Still, my one weapon was gone and my only ally couldn't reach me. More Kraang emerged at the same time.
I grabbed Raph's sai and jumped off the exit door, away from where the Kraang were climbing. They still wouldn't shoot me, but they weren't backing down from attempting to surround me. How could I get to Raph? How could I get him his sai?
One of the robots tried leaping at me from the side. Thankfully, I was able to dodge, but more Kraang were flooding my space. With every second I was pushed further away from my only help.
I tried calling the turtle's name. I tried to shout, but my voice was failing me once again. Come on, Alex! Think! You're about to get captured! You're in danger! Your voice is failing you! Think! How are you supposed to get Raph's attention? Think you idiot, what-
Whistle. Whistle for his attention.
With no better option, I went for it. I was very thankful for my practice with the sheep dogs back home because it rang sharp and clear. The turtle's head turned and I threw his sai into the air before I was grabbed. The Kraang had a tight hold on my arms behind my back. It hurt and the robotic tech rang in my ears. The metal on metal, the shooting, the fighting, there was so much happening and only so much I could do about it. I was stuck. Trapped.
The sai seemed to fall from the air in slow motion. Raph had his eyes on it too. With great speed I don't think I'd ever seen from him in real life, or tv, he knocked his enemies away and used another as a springboard to catch his weapon before it fell somewhere out of reach. I cheered in relief and soon the red masked turtle had me freed from my confinement. The flow of enemies had finally calmed down and I hugged him. I was just so happy things had worked out.
"Uh… glad you're okay?" I let him go and looked away nervously. I hoped I hadn't crossed a line. I was just too relieved. "Geez. How is one stray so much trouble?"
I smiled sheepishly seeing he wasn't mad at me. At least… he wasn't mad right now. Charging Kraang guns sounded to my right. Without time to attempt an explanation, I shoved the giant turtle with all my might, forcing the two of us off the roof. I turned as we fell to see the wall of pink lasers that would have potentially killed us.
Before I could process the height of our fall, Raph caught me. He pushed off a fire escape so that he could get some momentum to "bounce off" the next building, land on the dumpster and roll on the ground to bring both of us to a safe stop.
Just as he landed, the machine above us exploded. The noise shocked me and reverberated through my ear drums like a flash bomb in the movies. Not only were my ears shot, it messed with my vision and I couldn't hold myself with all of my senses jacked.
The red masked turtle was on the move and held me closer as he ran. With my senses so disoriented, he was the only thing grounding me. If it wasn't for him, I think I would be on the verge of a panic attack. It's amazing, when one of your senses gets overwhelmed, your entire body goes into disarray.
It took no time at all to get back into the sewers. The sewer cover was dragged back over and things slowly started to stabilize. The ninja turtle moved further in for a minute or so before coming to a complete stop.
"If any of those brains saw us we should have lost them," he murmured.
I was set down and placed against a wall. I could hear Raph's heavy breathing as we both collected ourselves. Rats scurried somewhere in the dark. Water dripped. A flashlight was turned on and pointed at me. I had to lift my hand to cover my eyes from the sudden change in brightness.
"Sorry… You doin' okay?"
I sighed deeply as I covered my ears with a painful expression to convey what had happened to the best of my abilities. This evening had taken more energy from me than I realized. Now that we were out of harm's way, the world seemed to crash all at once and I was exhausted.
"That explosion really rattled you huh? Well, it's a good thing I was there, otherwise you'd be alien bait."
I smiled at his playful smugness before I realized it was just the two of us. I thought he was following the others. I looked around with the light and tried to see if I could pick up any trace of Donnie or Mikey. I regreted it immediately as I covered my nose from the stench. Sewer scent was nothing to mess with smell wise.
"Yeah… The sewer's like that. You get used to it after a while." Raph sat down next to me and laid his back against to wall. "You do realize you could have gotten yourself killed, right?"
Was that a rigged question? I didn't want to meet his gaze. What answer could he be looking for? Would he be mad if I answered wrong? Was he looking to trap me? I couldn't even answer! I don't know what that tone of voice was! What was he thinking? What was he feeling? Was I in trouble? Was-
His hand landed on my head, resting in between my ears, "You did a good job up there, Wolfy." There was a slight smile, "But next time, leave the fighting to the professionals."
I nearly cried when he patted my head. He thought I did a good job? He wasn't trying to corner me? Raphael, the one turtle who had been giving me the side-eye this whole time, thought I did a good job?! I was on cloud-9! The most hot-headed turtle complimented me! He thought I did a good job!
"We better start heading back. Don's been freaking out about ya."
Raph stood and held his hand down to me. I took it. The moment I was on my feet and took a step, pain shot up my leg. I yelped in surprise and nearly fell. Thankfully, my companion caught me. My ankle was throbbing! I pulled up the sweatpants to find it was red and swollen. Did I twist it? What happened? When did it happen?
And then I remembered that I had practically shoved myself against the turtle to get him off of the roof. Maybe that's when it happened? Whatever the case, the pain was now making itself known and I couldn't put any weight on it.
Raphael, I could tell, was just as shocked. When he finally took notice of how red and swollen my ankle was, he scooped me up, princess style.
Before I could even try to protest he rolled his eyes, "Look Wolfy, Don's gonna kill me when he finds out about this, so you better explain what happened before he goes all," he switched to a very mocking tone of his younger brother, "I'm a super genius! I know better than you. Blah blah blah blah blah." There was a pause as we stared at each other for a moment. "You're right, you're probably gunna get an earful first."
With that sentence I laughed. I don't know why. Maybe I was so overwhelmed it was funny. Maybe I was just so relieved Raph didn't hate me. Whatever it was, I couldn't stop my amusement from showing.
He kept glancing down at me every once in a while. I decided to show him a sign.
The next time I caught his eye, I signed, "Thank you."
His eyes raised in question, "What?"
I repeated the sign and mouthed the words, "Thank you."
"Oooooh. So, theoretically speaking, if I wanted to say you're welcome, could I sign it?"
I grinned as I showed him how to sign "you're welcome". I mouthed the words so he would understand. Even though in sign language, it would make more sense if he had five fingers, it was really only touching your thumb to your chest to say "It's fine". I figured with three fingers and seeing he wasn't attempting to hold a conversation in ASL with me, it would be something he could do.
He smirked and looked back up to the path ahead, "Cool. I'd try to copy ya if it didn't mean I'd have to drop ya to do it…but I'll keep that in mind."
The smile stayed on my face, I knew full well he really meant what he said. Finally, I wouldn't have to worry about Raph murdering me in my sleep. I think we just created the start of a good friendship.
A/N: So what was supposed to be maybe a week before the next update turned into getting pulled into the depths of school and mental torture. I've been meaning to publish this chapter for a while, but as it turns out, I apparently need to rewatch the series because I forgot to make some edits and had a lot of stuff happening that wasn't season appropriate just yet.
Also just to add, this is a chapter from my own brain as I needed to do something to settle the air a bit between the suspicious brothers and their new roommate. But anywhosits, welcome to getting the air settled between Raph and Alex and let's hope nobody kills each other in the near future.
Caio~
Cinnamon
