Chapter 4

Going Out

The next night, the Venomous Five and their new 'junior member' were scheduled to head out on their hunt for the turtles and friends, but not before Coral had been summoned by doctor Arden to his lab.

She was laying on a table while Arden did some tests on her, patiently waiting until he was done.

"There, all done." she heard him say. "You can get up now, everything looks fine."

"Is there something that I should be worried about, master?" she asked as she rose to her feet.

"Nothing of concern, just a routine check-up to be certain." Arden said, turning to Coral. "Though, I have noticed that you have cut your hair. Why is that?"

"Long hair like what I had is very cumbersome, and it could prove a disadvantage in battle. I decided that I didn't want that risk. Is that a problem, master?"

"No, not at all. You just remind me a little of someone that I briefly worked with years ago, but that's not important now. You've got a mission to go on."

"I'm ready to move out, master, I will not let you down." Coral stated as she walked to the exit of the lab.

"One thing before you go." Arden said before she could leave. "Be mindful of the Venomous Five; if my suspicions are correct, they might try and arrange an 'accident' on these missions. Probably not this one, or the next, but who knows."

"I will be on my guard, master, and if they truly are disloyal, I will get you the evidence, even if I will have to die for it."

With that, Coral left the lab to join the Venomous Five. But as the door closed behind her, Arden stood with a frown on his brow, as if pondering something.

"The rookie finally decided to grace us with her presence." Mamba half sneered, baring her fangs as Coral arrived. "Took you long enough."

"If you got a problem with it, you can take it up with master Arden." Coral responded coldly. "He needed to run some tests before I could leave, since I'm new and more improved compared to you."

Mamba hissed, but refrained from everything else that she wanted to do, partly because they were to wait before making any kind of move against the new serpent, but also because Coral was indeed the most dangerous of them.

"If you two are finished, we got a job to do." said Komodo, as he started to lead them outside. "We're gonna search through the northern parts of town for the freaks. They usually go on patrol around this time. And if we find them, we take them down hard and bring them here for our master."

"I really hope that we find them." Gila growled. "Haven't seen so much as a scale of them for over a week."

"After what master Shredder did to that lizard slut's brother, they must still be weeping their eyes out." Nile snickered.

"I bet they are." Cobra said with a wide smirk. "But when I get to spit my venom in their eyes, they'll really have something to cry about."

"Enough talk, let's go already. My fangs ache in anticipation." said Mamba.

As they made their way to the north parts of New York, moving through shadows, roof tops and dark alleyways, Coral was already trying to analyse her team mates based on their interactions with each other.

'Komodo is clearly the strongest and the smartest of them, which explains why he's the leader, but none of them seem to really get along. They bicker and snap at each other like they were children, with Komodo being the parent or oldest sibling, just barely keeping them in line. Despite this, however, they do seem to have a certain bond, probably more out of necessity than anything else, but still. But how long will their loyalty to each other stretch? I guess I'll have to find out eventually.'

Meanwhile, down in the lair of the turtles and their family, said inhabitants had only been home for a little more than a week after returning from Mutopia, a trip that had ended far worse than they could ever have imagined, and the wounds they had gotten would take quite some time to properly heal, especially the emotional ones.

Until the physical wounds had healed, those injured would have to take it easy for a while, even while training, but train they still did, trying to get back into a good routine of life again.

But that wasn't easy for everyone, not with all that had happened.

Michelangelo was heading to the exit that lead to the sewers, when he was stopped by Leonardo.

"Where are you going, Mikey?" the blue-masked turtle asked his youngest brother.

"The surface. Is that a problem, bro?" Michelangelo asked, not with any aggressive tones, just a simple question.

"That depends." Leonardo began, looking at Michelangelo's left arm, supported by a sling and bandaged where he had been shot. "How's your arm?"

"It's okay." Michelangelo said, his right hand travelling to his injury. "I mean, it still hurts all the time, especially if I move it, but it's getting better, little by little."

"And you're going to the surface with that arm then? I don't think that's a good idea, Mikey."

"Look, bro, I'm not gonna do any crazy stuff. No skating, parkour or the like. I just need to get some air, stargaze and gather my thoughts."

"That's not very you."

"I know, but after all that's happened, with Diablo and all, I actually got a lot on my mind for once. Especially if Big T and the others do have to evacuate."

"To Skyrim, you mean?" Leonardo asked and Michelangelo nodded. "I understand that, something like that is a huge thing, but they don't have any other choice if they're discovered. There's just too many of them to relocate anywhere else, and even if they did find a place, without their crystal powered greenhouse, I don't think they'd be able to survive very long."

"I know all that, and I understand that they do what they have to. I just don't want to loose our friends, but at the same time I don't want to go back to Skyrim, it don't feel safe to me." Michelangelo visibly shivered as he remembered all the near death experiences they had had while in Skyrim.

"Every place has its own dangers, New York's no different, but as long as we don't explore caves and ancient cities again, I think we would be able to live a good life in Skyrim, should it come to that."

"Maybe, but I still don't know about this."

"Whatever the case, Mikey, this is still just a precaution that we're offered. It may never happen for all we know, but I understand that it still is a lot to take in."

"So, can I go?"

"Just be careful, Mikey. Not just with staying out of sight, but with your arm too. Remember what Don said; don't put any unnecessary strain on it."

"Will do, Fearless." the young turtle said, giving his brother a quick salute with his right hand before leaving.

So, both Michelangelo and the Venomous Five (Six?) are heading out, three guesses what's going to happen next.

And Arden seems to have something on his mind, wonder what...

Whatever the case; Arden and the V5, still property of Bloodrayne666, that's not gonna change. Previous events that are mentioned by Leo and Mikey are from the stories 'Falling Inside The Black' as well as 'United By Fate', again by Bloodrayne666, as well as my own story, 'Preparations'. Then we also got some from 'Oh Sister Where Art Thou?', also Bloodrayne666, mentioned by the V5.

And that's that.