Chapter 5

A Night Out

Michelangelo walked through the sewers, not in any kind of hurry as he looked for a good place to head up to the surface. With one arm injured, it would prove a little more difficult than normally, and climbing the ladders that lead to the surface would be painful, hence why he tried to remember exactly where every manhole emerged, so that he wouldn't have to climb too much, there would be more than enough of that as it was.

Eventually, he found one that he seemed to remember emerged in a dark alley, one that always seemed to be completely empty of humans, even thugs and criminals. The 'Dulley' Michelangelo called it, from combining the words 'dull' and 'alley', and unlike other times that he had named things that way, Raphael had wholeheartedly agreed with him and started calling it that too. If there was any place where he could go up undetected, that was the place.

Still, climbing up the ladder wasn't easy, his left arm complaining almost violently whenever he held on to the rungs with it, even though it was still in the sling, so Michelangelo had to focus on mostly using his right arm instead, only using the left for brief seconds while moving his right. All in all though, it went pretty well, if a bit slowly, until he reached the top.

It was painfully obvious to him that he just didn't have enough strength in his left arm to even lift the lid, nor could he hold on with it long enough to do it with his right arm, which left him with only one option. Holding on with his right hand, he used his head to push up the lid and peek around, before tipping it to the side as quietly as he could and climbing up.

"Heh, and Raph says that I never use my head." he chuckled under his breath.

After putting the manhole cover back in place, the orange-masked turtle made his way up to the top of the buildings via a fire escape, which was considerably easier than climbing the ladder from the sewers. It still took him a little while, but he managed in the end, earning him a calm spot at the top.

Breathing in the cool night air, he looked up at the sky, there were some clouds, but for the most part it was clear with a small breeze.

"Ahh… Just what the doc ordered." he said, taking a deep breath and sitting down, just looking at the stars, letting his mind wander a bit before he began to think about everything that had happened the last weeks, and that was a lot.

Nearby, three other reptiles were moving around in the shadows, keeping their eyes open for their prey. It was Mamba, Cobra, and the newest member, Coral.

Komodo had decided that the Venomous Five would split up for their hunt, with him, Nile and Gila going one way, while the others went in the opposite direction, bringing the rookie with them, something that neither Mamba, nor Cobra was happy about.

"I can't believe that Komodo made us babysit this newborn!" Cobra whispered to Mamba as they stopped to rest.

"Like it wasn't bad enough to be stuck with you." Mamba retorted, to which Cobra hissed, yet both of them kept glaring at Coral as she stood by the edge of the roof, looking out across the city.

"What do you say, Mamba, should we push her over the edge?"

"Tempting, but it's too soon, and too obvious. We need another way of disposing of the bitch. Something that the masters can't trace back to us."

"So no venom, pity. I so want to drip mine all over her little, precious face. Teach her her place." Cobra said, salivating slightly at the thought.

"I wouldn't mind watching that." Mamba said with a smirk. "If she wasn't so damned dangerous to us, I would have loved to break her in, really make her squirm until she learns her place; under our heels."

The two snakes couldn't help but cackle, and though they tried to stifle it, Coral still heard it.

"What's so funny?" she asked, walking closer.

"Inside joke. You wouldn't understand." Mamba replied.

Coral was about to say something in return, but stopped shortly after she opened her mouth, only to close it and look around, her forked tongue flicking out several times.

"Do you taste that?" she asked the others. "There's something on the winds."

For a moment, Mamba and Cobra looked at Coral sceptically, but they still took a few quick flicks with their own tongues, picking up a familiar scent.

"Well, I'll be remade as a newt! Seems we have found something after all!" said Mamba, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"What is it? It doesn't feel human." Coral asked.

"Oh, you'll see shortly, rookie." said Cobra, licking her lips. "But now, we hunt!"

Sitting with his back against a wall, Michelangelo stared up into the sky, his eyes tracing some of the constellations that he knew, specifically those that he had taught Kate or she him. During the time he had sat there, thinking about what they should do, his mind had often returned to his dear viper girlfriend.

He wasn't sure what would happen if the Mutopians had to leave for another world, but he sure as hell didn't want to loose Kate, and yet, after everything that they had been through in Skyrim, all the dangers they had face there, he really didn't want to return to that world either. But if Kate was going, then he would follow her, or at least he would want to, but he couldn't leave his family behind if they decided to stay on Earth instead.

Poor Michelangelo was torn, he didn't want to have to choose between the people he loved, and prayed that he never would have to make such a choice. Thinking about it brought to mind master Splinter's wise words years earlier, when he thought he had found love in the human Shari, who was actually Izo Ren, Arashi's niece and as much an enemy as her uncle.

'Sometimes, you are forced to hurt those you care most about, in order to protect them. The right choice is seldom an easy one, my son.'

The words rang true, now more than before, but Michelangelo couldn't tell which choice that would be the right one, they all seemed equally impossible to make.

"Man… when did life get so complicated?"

"Is there anything I can help with?" a sinister, female voice said all of a sudden, making the turtle gasp in shock.

Instantly, he leapt to his feet, scanning his surroundings while his right hand went for his nunchaku, only for him to realise that he hadn't brought any weapons.

"Ah shell…"

His eyes continued to scan the shadows around him as he prepared to fight with only one hand, just like he and Raphael had been training to after being injured.

"What's the matter? Can't you see me? Then let me help you." the voice said, snickering as its owner stepped out of the darkest of shadows, revealing herself to be Mamba.

"Double shell…"

Michelangelo began backing away from the approaching snake mutant, but stopped when he heard a second voice behind him.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Looking over his shoulder, he saw none other than Cobra walking towards him.

"Triple shell…"

"Would you look at that, Mamba. Seems little Mikey's been injured." Cobra said with a smirk, looking at the arm in the sling.

"I can see that, and on top of that he's all alone too." Mamba responded, her smirk growing wider as she saw Michelangelo beginning to sweat a little. "But don't worry, little turtle, we'll keep you company, as will our new friend. Why don't we introduce the two of you?"

As if on cue, Coral jumped down from a higher point on the roof, landing in front of Michelangelo, who was now surrounded. Seeing the new mutant, Michelangelo's eyes went wide in shock, while Coral's glare seemed to harden even more as their eyes met.

"Um… what comes after triple? Oh yeah, quadruple shell..."

Well, that escalated quickly for our turtle. With his injury, things will not be easy, and could hardly get much worse for him. Wonder how he will gett out of this mess?