Notes from the Undergrond - Part 3
Alex and the Turtles backed away from Quarry, Razorfist and Stonebiter towards the genetics lab.
Stonebiter roared in the mine shaft.
"This is Stonebiter…"
Razorfist growled.
"...Razorfist…"
Quarry drooled acid onto the floor of the lab, melting a hole through it.
"...and Quarry."
The three all stepped out of the shadows and into the lab.
"They may look like monsters, but they're actually normal, everyday people that the Shredder's mad scientists performed horrible genetic experiments on."
Alex and the Turtles watched a video log showing someone being mutated into a monster without their free will.
"Experiments that will soon leave them to be mindless beasts."
Quarry shook and grabbed his head, trying to recall their real name.
The blue bug-like monster pounded its claws at the force field, as did the one eyed behemoth, but they didn't even leave a scratch.
"Such as these poor souls, other victims of Shredder's monstrous ways."
Quarry, Alex and the Turtles looked on with horror.
Then they, Razorfist and Stonebiter stood in the console centre as the force field drove the mindless monsters back.
"All that remains, keeping Quarry and his friends safe, is a crystal powered force field."
Quarry looked at the crystal, which stopped glowing and ringing, meaning that it no longer works.
Donnie leapt onto the platform, pulling the crystal out of the nodes that held it in place, watching it shatter into tiny pieces in his hands.
"But their crystal's burned out and Quarry says the only place to get another is in a place he called the forbidden zone."
"Something unspeakable dwells there amidst the crystals!" Quarry explained.
All of them walked down a spiral pathway.
"It is a forbidden place!" Quarry stressed.
Then everyone walked on rocks to get across a pool of sulphur.
"But because they had no choice, we all headed down there to get one."
Donnie opened a hexagonal shaped metal door and entered as the others turned to him.
"But that's when things went from bad to worse."
"Hey!" He called out.
A bola with a light spun right towards him and engulfed him in a bright light and disappeared.
"DONNIE!" Alex cried out.
"Now Donnie's gone! And whoever's responsible is gonna pay!"
Alex and his remaining brothers all stared down the mindless monsters approaching, ready to fight.
The mindless monsters were getting closer as Raph looked down the doorway where Donnie had vanished.
"DONNIE!" He cried out. "NO! NO! DONNIE? DONNIE?"
"Raph, get away from there!" Alex snarled in fury that someone took their brother, but they had to focus on the fight that's about to start.
"Huh?" Raph gasped when he saw another bola fly right towards him, but he managed to duck in time to avoid being hit and it ended up hitting the spider-like monster before it could pounce on the others, vanishing instantly.
The bug-like monster then tackled Razorfist to the ground and another bola flew from out of nowhere, hitting them both and causing them to vanish.
"NO, RAZORFIST!" Alex yelled with worry.
"Guys, what the shell's going on?" Mikey asked Alex and Leo.
"Must be that entity Quarry mentioned!" Alex snarled.
Stonebiter then ended up thrown to the ground by the large red monster that used its claws to walk. It tried hitting him with its tail, looking like a scorpion's sting and swatted away Quarry, who tried to help.
Then another bola appeared, flying right towards Stonebiter, hitting him and making him vanish just as he got to his feet.
"STONEBITER, NO!" Raph yelled.
"Come on, you ugly troll, show me what you got!" Mikey challenged the large red monster as he spun his nunchucks, making it roar at him. "Okay, I'm impressed."
It and the one eyed monster started making Alex, the remaining Turtles and Quarry back up towards the doorway.
"Okay, now what?" Mikey asked as they put their weapons away.
"Come on, whatever's through this door can't be worse than this!" Leo suggested, pointing at the doorway.
"I hope those don't become famous last words, Leo." Mikey said as he and Raph backed away into the doorway.
"Leo, Quarry, move!" Alex ordered and the two joined Raph and Mikey, running down the tunnel.
The two monsters approached Alex, who snatched the crystal out of the panel and ran after the others just as the door closed behind him, preventing the mindless monsters from chasing after them.
On the other side of the door, they heard the monsters pounding the door, unable to break it open.
Quarry then turned to see an open doorway with light at the other end of the tunnel. Then Alex and the Turtles noticed and they all walked towards it.
"Be ready for anything." Leo cautioned as Alex put the crystal in his belt.
Upon exiting the tunnel, they all froze and gasped upon seeing an ancient underground city surrounded by a lake of lava that had an extremely large crystal moon hanging at the top of the large cavern, providing light.
"This place again." Alex muttered, which Leo heard.
"Again?" He asked.
"I saw this place in a dream." Alex gasped.
"We shouldn't be here." Quarry quivered in fear. "This is - this is a necropolis, a city of the dead."
"You know, if there's one thing that creeps me out more than monster movies, it's a city of the dead." Mikey commented as Raph walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down.
"We cannot leave!" Alex snarled, clenching his right fist. "Whoever's haunting this place made the biggest mistake by capturing Donnie!"
"And we'll level this whole city just to get him back!" Raph agreed as he sliced a rock with his sai while Leo walked off somewhere.
"Hey, guys?" Leo called out to everyone, peeking around a corner. "I found a way down there."
"Don't you always?" Mikey asked rhetorically.
They all followed after Leo and saw what looked very much like a cable car that was on a cable that led to the city.
They looked at it with uncertainty.
"I don't think it's a good idea to ride that down to the city, Leo." Alex said hesitantly.
"I agree, maybe we should find us a different ride." Raph nodded.
"What are you two talking about? It's fine." Leo said, stepping onto the gangway, making it wobble.
"Is that so?" Alex folded his arms with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, maybe not so fine." Leo stuttered.
Back on the other side of the door, a cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows, lifting their crystal amulet they wore around their neck, which shined a bright light that made the two mindless monsters run towards the door, which opened up.
The figure then stepped back into the shadows and watched the two enter the doorway, chasing after their prey.
Back on the ledge, Leo was still trying to persuade everyone to get on the cable car.
"Look, see?" He said as he got on.
"Leo, don't!" Raph begged as the cable car started creaking.
"There's no way I'm getting in that thing." Mikey insisted.
"Same here." Alex agreed.
"It'll hold us." Leo assured them before he noticed that there was a panel for a crystal to be placed in. "And it looks like our crystal will power it."
Before they could discuss any further, everyone heard growling and turned to see the mindless monsters approaching them.
"Get in!" Alex shouted and they all ran in the cable car and put the crystal in the panel, activating the cable car and making the gangway shut before the monsters could reach them.
It then moved along the cable towards the city, but the monsters managed to jump onto the roof of the cable car, making everyone inside yell as it shook violently.
The one eyed monster roared before it stomped the roof and its red companion started digging its right clawed hand through the roof.
"WHOA!" Alex gasped as he stepped away from the claw.
While the two monsters tried to reach them, the cloaked figure stood on the edge of the cliff, grabbed two bolas from its cloak and threw them at the monsters, making them vanish upon contact.
The cable car now started wobbling before the cable broke apart.
Everyone screamed as they fell towards a piece of land just outside the city walls.
"Jump, now!" Leo ordered.
A spike then stabbed through the bottom of the cable car, making it fall apart as everyone jumped out all at once.
Alex and the Turtles managed to land on their feet.
Alex and Leo looked over to Quarry, who landed on his knees next to the spike, which was breaking at the bottom and about to fall on top of him, which he noticed and gasped as he got buried by the rubble.
"NO!" Alex screamed as Mikey and Raph gasped.
"Quarry!" Leo cried.
Dust swirled in the air, which cleared away as the four walked up to the remains of the pillar.
But then they saw Quarry's acid spilling over and melting the rock away as he popped out and then jumped down in front of the four.
He then wiped dust off of him before noticing Alex and the Turtles staring at him, Mikey scratching the top of his head.
"We are designed to handle such adversity." Quarry shrugged.
All five of them approached what looked to be the entrance into the city, looking at the carvings that surrounded them.
"Those same symbols again." Leo noted. "Just like back at our place."
"And by the looks of it all, this city has been down here a very long time." Raph added.
"Downright ancient. Our lair must've been some kind of base or something." Alex guessed.
"Creepy." Mikey cringed nervously.
"Hey, guys?" Leo called for everyone's attention as he stood on what looked to be a hover scooter, and there were some more as well. "I found some transportation.
"Of course you did." Alex muttered blankly as Leo placed the crystal onto the scooter, activating it.
After finding some more crystals, Alex and the Turtles rode on the scooters into the city, Quarry riding with Mikey.
"Whoever built this place, they're definitely the same people who built our lair." Leo concluded.
"Whatever, let's just focus on finding Donnie." Raph snapped.
"Yeah, now's not the time for sightseeing." Alex added.
As they made their way deeper into the city, they were being watched by the cloaked figure from above, who hid when Leo stopped.
"Hold up!" He told the others, who stopped their scooters as well. "I think I saw something."
Deciding to investigate further, he went ahead through a doorway into the shadows.
"Leo, wait up!" Mikey urged as they followed him, but stopped just outside the doorway.
"Leo?" Alex called out, but got no response, which caused him to worry."
"I'm going in." Raph said as he got off his scooter and approached the doorway.
But then a bright light appeared before vanishing from within the doorway, making him, Alex and Mikey pull out their weapons and charge in.
"Leo!" Raph called as they entered.
But much to their horror, all that remained was Leo's scooter, which lay on its side.
"LEO!" Raph cried at the top of his lungs. "LEO!"
Alex fell to his knees in despair, hands limp as his katana fell to the ground.
"Calling out like that is probably not the best idea. He's gone, just like the others." Mikey told Raph, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Raph closed his eyes as Alex's were welling up, tears falling down his face, heartbroken from losing Leo, the brother he was closest with.
"Alex, come on, bro." Mikey said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Alex sniffled before wiping his tears away and grabbed his katana.
They all made it back outside, only to find that Quarry was nowhere to be seen.
"Quarry?" Mikey gasped.
The three all kept their guard up as they stood together, standing in front of a shadowy corner where a pair of glowing yellow eyes watched them.
They heard a sound behind them and screamed as they turned to the corner, only to see Quarry step out and reveal himself.
"Wait, it's just me." He told them.
"What are you doing lurking around like that?" Raph snapped at him angrily.
"Hiding, you - you left me alone." Quarry replied.
"Man, mutate some backbone, would ya?" Mikey sighed.
"There it is!" Quarry shouted, pointing at something in the distance, making Mikey scream.
They all looked and saw a figure standing there, the same cloaked figure that was watching them and captured everyone.
It then turned and walked away.
"That thing is mine!" Raph told them before taking off on his scooter.
A second after he got out of their sight, though, a flash of light went off before it vanished.
"RAPH? RAPH!" Alex cried out, only to not get a response.
"Uh, we better go look for him." Mikey suggested before he turned to where Quarry stood, screaming for a second when he saw only shadow.
Both he and Alex grumbled as they pulled Quarry out from the shadow.
They took off on their scooters and headed towards where Raph went, finding only his scooter.
"No! Raph's gone! It's just us!" Alex snapped, his fears and worries increasing, as they got off their scooters.
Mikey turned around and screamed when Quarry's face was right up to his.
"I warned you, I warned you all, evil dwells in this dead city! We'll never get out alive!" Quarry started panicking, only to get slapped in the face by both Alex and Mikey.
"HEY! Now is not the time to lose our heads!" Alex barked.
"Besides, if there's gonna be any hysterics around here, I'll have them!" Mikey added before he and Alex looked up and spotted something watching them. "Like right now, 'cause we see it!"
Quarry looked and saw that it was the cloaked figure.
Alex and Mikey gritted their teeth and got back on their scooters and before they took off, Alex snapped his fingers at Quarry to climb onto Mikey's scooter.
Then they took off, heading for a ramp that would launch them at the figure.
"No! No! Wait! Wait!" Quarry cried out, his fears becoming too much. "No, no, I can't! NO!"
He ended up letting go of Mikey and fell towards a bridge, where he crashed. He then got up and watched Alex and Mikey.
"Come on!" Alex roared as he and Mikey neared the figure, who ended up pulling out a bola and threw it towards Mikey.
"Uh-oh!" He exclaimed before he got it, vanishing right away.
"MIKEY!" Alex screamed in despair as the scooter was launched off the ramp and he flew past the figure. He then saw he was heading right at a pillar. "OH CRUD!"
He jumped off before the scooter crashed and exploded on the pillar and he crashed onto a wall and slid his way down to the ground, where he crumpled upon impact.
Alex hissed in pain as Quarry watched him until he saw the cloaked figure walk onto the bridge on his right, making him gasp.
The figure pulled out a bola from their cloak, making Quarry gasp even more as the figure started spinning it.
"No, no, oh!" Quarry whimpered before he started running away, only to get caught by the bola when the figure threw it.
Quarry now found himself in some kind of chamber and before he could do anything, a wall of ice formed around him, containing him as a clear liquid started rising up and filled the entire tank.
"No!" Quarry gasped.
The liquid then started freezing, covering his whole body with ice.
The liquid then got drained out and the ice wall vanished.
"NO!" Quarry screamed, his voice so loud that it echoed throughout the whole city, which Alex heard as he got to his knees.
"QUARRY!" He cried out in despair. "NO! NO! NO!"
His screams rang throughout as he pounded his fist on the ground, his eyes shut as he started crying.
"No. I'm alone!" He cried. "They're all gone!"
He sniffled as he raised his head up and spotted a familiar looking black tower that loomed over the whole city.
"The tower." He muttered, remembering it from the dream he had.
He made one last sniffle before wiping his tears away and got to his feet.
"Time to deal with that entity!" He snarled as he ran towards the tower.
Once he reached his destination, he found a door at the base of the tower and ran inside.
Upon entering, he found himself in a room full of markings until he gasped upon seeing the spider-like monster in front of him. He then realised that it was frozen solid in ice.
He looked around until he spotted both Razorfist and the bug-like monster he fought against.
"Razorfist." He muttered quietly.
He then continued on, seeing the other monsters encased in ice, until he stopped in front of Quarry.
"Oh, no. Quarry." Alex said with sorrow.
He looked down, spotting a crystal at the base of the platform. He crouched down and reached for it.
"No!" A voice called out, stopping him. He looked to see the cloaked figure standing on a flight of stairs. "Please, do not touch that. I am not finished with him."
Alex now only saw red as he started growling in fury, his fists clenched so tightly that his arms were physically shaking.
"YES! YOU! ARE!" He roared before launching himself at the figure with a forward handspring, kicking him in the face so hard that he got knocked onto his chest.
Alex panted heavily as he pulled out his katana and walked up to the figure, pulling his hood down and turning him so he could be face to face with him, seeing that he's a humanoid man with pink eyes and long blonde hair down the sides and his temple being completely bald. And blood was coming out of his nostril, courtesy of Alex's kick to the face.
"Now, you listen!" Alex growled, pointing his katana right in his face. "What have you done with my brothers?"
"Alex!" A familiar voice called out.
Alex's eyes widened and he turned to see that his turtle brothers were all okay as they all walked up to him from the shadows.
"About time you got here. We've been waiting for you." Leo told him.
Alex's eyes welled up and he dropped his katana before embracing his brothers, who were all shocked.
"I - I thought I lost you all." He said through his tears. They all looked at each other, realising what he went through emotionally and they embraced him back, wordlessly letting him know it was alright.
After everything was cleared up, everyone entered a different room, the man having wiped the blood away.
"We had this guy figured all wrong." Leo told Alex.
"Yeah. He saw how the Foot had mutated Quarry and the others, and he just wants to turn them back to normal." Donnie explained as the five of them got to a couple of chairs, which Leo and Donnie sat on while Raph sat by Donnie's feet. Alex and Mikey stood on either side of Leo.
"As we speak, the power of the cavern's crystal moon is infusing them with regenerative energy." The man explained, pointing upwards, since the large crystal was at the top of the cavern. "Their bodies are being genetically rebuilt inside each chrysalis. Within minutes, the last of them will be restored to their original human form."
"How do we know you're even being truthful?" Alex asked suspiciously, still recalling that dream and that monstrous cloud, which had to mean something.
"Alexander, you're entirely safe, I assure you." The man replied, which still didn't quell his suspicions. "This city was built by an ancient peace loving race…" He then held his crystal amulet, which glowed, causing a larger crystal to the brothers' left to light up. "...of which I am the sole survivor."
The five all got up and walked towards the large crystal, which showed what looked like ancient visual recordings of the city's past.
"We have lived within the Earth for many millennia, spiritually bonded with it." The man explained, the first thing they see is other members of the man's race riding the scooters in mid air, as well as a cable car moving towards the city. "It was a symbiosis that had always sustained us, for we were unable to endure the harshness of the outside world."
Then they saw six individuals around a lake that had a crystal over it.
"Then, we detected life stirring on the surface." The man explained as the crystal showed a hut in the middle of a gorgeous natural landscape with hills and grass. "These new lifeforms fascinated us…" Then the crystal showed a man driving a chariot down a street. "...so we began studying them from an outpost." Then the crystal showed the New York skyline."
"The same outpost that most recently became your home." The man then revealed, the large crystal showing Alex and the Turtles what they knew to be their lair.
Then they saw the six figures vanishing, two by two, until they were all gone.
"As the years passed, however, it soon became evident that our own time was drawing to a close." The man explained before the crystal showed the city, all of the people on hover scooters vanishing as well and the city turning dark. "Yes, the Earth had cast its vote and our entire race faced extinction."
The five brothers all turned to the man when the recordings were finished.
"They're all gone now." The man finished.
"How long has it been?" Donnie asked in sympathy.
"Long enough to make this a very lonely existence." The man answered before walking towards an open doorway and turned to face Alex and the Turtles, pointing towards it. "Which is why I want to return those people back to normal. Only then can they help me repopulate the city."
Alex and the Turtles looked at each other, very much taken aback by what he just said. Not just because it's rather selfish, but also because there had to be people on the surface that miss Quarry and the others.
And Alex had that instinct he felt when he and Leo first met Shredder: this man had to be lying.
"Well, I wouldn't count on that." Leo said. "They all have lives waiting for them on the surface. Families, friends."
"No!" The man snapped. "They will stay! They must!"
"You don't get to decide that, mister!" Alex glared at him.
"I refuse to let this city die! There's so much to pass on!" The man continued angrily, walking up to the brothers. "They must stay and so must you!"
All five of them glared at the man, seeing that he wasn't so benevolent as he made himself appear to be.
"Uh, I'm afraid that being, uh, all alone down here for so long has driven this guy around the bend." Donnie whispered.
"We, um, appreciate the invitation to live here with you in this wondrous world of yours, but -"
"Yes. It is wondrous." The man cut in. "A world where even mutant turtles can freely walk the streets. No more lurking in sewers, no more hiding your faces. An entire city where you can finally be yourselves."
"As enticing as that sounds -" Donnie began.
"Let me put this this way." Raph cut in. "There's no way we're relocating to this creepoid community, understand?" This made the man look at all of them with even more anger. "Now drop it."
"Now, if you don't mind, we'll be releasing the others and leave this place right away." Alex coolly told the man before he and his brothers turned and walked to the door they came in from.
"Bye-bye." Mikey said as he joined up with his brothers.
The man grabbed his crystal amulet and it glowed, making the door they were walking to shut.
They all turned and faced him with looks of anger.
"Trust me, you do not want to do this." Leo warned him.
"No. Heed my offer, for my bond with the Earth is strong!" The man retorted, clenching his fist.
The whole room started shaking and a tendril formed out of the floor and aimed for Alex and the Turtles, who all ran to a wall and jumped off it right as the tendril hit the wall a moment later, cracking the wall.
Donnie rolled until he stopped and threw his bo staff at the man, who had another tendril of stone form in front of him, blocking the staff, and then wrapped itself around Donnie, lifting him up in the air.
"Whoa!" He yelped.
Leo wielded his katanas and charged at the man, but a part of the floor jutted out, tripping him and making him crash into the wall, where stone tendrils wrapped around him, keeping him trapped.
Raph jumped in behind the man and yelled as he charged at him.
Just as he jumped at him, the man had a piece of the floor grab Raph's ankle, pulling his limbs into the floor itself.
"What the -?" Raph snarled as he tried pulling himself out, but he was too buried in.
Mikey jumped and was about to kick the man, but he used three crystal tipped spears off the wall to knock him away towards the wall, where his hands were pulled in and his feet got pulled into the floor.
Alex growled as he charged at the man, his katana ready to strike, barely able to avoid the stone tendrils and the spears that were moving via telekinesis.
"If there's one thing I hate, it's enemies having an unfair advantage!" He spat, swinging his katana at the man, who stepped to the side, dodging him and used a stone tendril to whip his back, knocking him onto his chest as his katana got knocked out of his hand.
"I have had enough!" Alex spat as he got to his feet when the spears started chasing him, making him run.
"Get his amulet, Alex, that's how he's controlling everything." Donnie said as Alex ran past him.
"I know that." Alex replied as he then ran past Mikey and then Leo.
When he reached Raph, he used his shell to do a spin kick, knocking the spears right at the man, one of them knocking his amulet off of him, landing next to the cracked wall.
Alex then instantly charged at top speed towards the amulet, the man chasing after it as well.
They both leapt for it, grabbing it at the same time and crashing through the wall.
Alex landed on his back while the man kept rolling further into the next room.
He groaned as he looked to see the crystal landing next to the man, who got up on his feet to grab it.
Alex growled until he saw a bola next to him, making him grin as he took it and spun it over his head.
"Time for you to be a display piece!" He remarked before throwing it, watching it wrap around the man, who vanished onto a platform like the one Quarry and the other monsters were on.
He watched as the ice wall closed around him.
"NO, NO!" He yelled, though it was inevitable he'd get frozen.
Now that he was dealt with, Alex got himself busy freeing his brothers, freeing Leo last by hitting the tendrils with the pommel of his katana, shattering them.
"Thanks, Alex." Leo said gratefully as Alex pulled him up on his feet. "That was impressive."
"Not exactly something to be fully proud of, though." Alex replied as they entered the room where Quarry, the monsters, and now the man were frozen.
"He didn't seem evil. He was just lonely." He continued as they stood in front of the man, though he still suspected he lied to some degree.
"I know. Who can blame him?" Mikey said as he joined Alex and Leo.
Donnie approached Quarry and knelt down to look at the crystal on the platform.
"Okay, let's find something heavy and crack these puppies open." Raph said as he stood next to Donnie.
"Actually, no blunt force required. I believe this crystal is the release." Donnie concluded as he turned the crystal from being vertical to horizontal.
Smoke rose from the platform, engulfing Quarry, making the ice melt and crack away. As Alex, Leo and Mikey joined up with Raph and Donnie, they all realised that Quarry was a teenage girl around their age with shoulder length blue hair.
"Quarry?" Leo gasped.
"You're a girl!" Mikey exclaimed as they all covered their eyes, since Quarry was completely naked.
"I'm back to normal." She said, both shocked and happy, as she looked at her human form.
"Let's free the rest of them." Alex told his brothers.
Once they freed all of them, making sure they had some clothes to wear, Alex and the Turtles led them through the tunnel that led them away from the city.
"Well, that's all of them." Donnie said as he and his brothers walked behind the group of recently cured people.
"NO!" They heard Quarry gasp in horror in front of them. "It can't be!"
They rushed forward and moved past everyone, shocked to see that the human that was once Stonebiter had his top half, which was in shadow, back to its monstrous form while his bottom half, still in the light from the crystal moon, was still human.
The five rushed forward and pulled him back towards the tunnel, where he was now fully human again, moaning from what happened.
"He - he reverted back, just as he stepped out of the cavern. Why?" Quarry questioned.
Donnie lowered his eyes, recalling what the man had explained about the crystal moon.
With this, he led everyone back to the city.
"There! I think that's the cause." He said, pointing at the crystal moon. "Remember? He said it provides regenerative energy."
"Which means if you're not in contact with its light, then the effects are reversed." Alex said, coming to the same conclusion as Donnie.
"Then… we can't leave his city?" Quarry asked, devastated. "I don't believe it. He got what he wanted after all."
"We'll figure this all out, Don's pretty good at -"
"No." Quarry shut Leo down, looking at the others. "We can't let you stay." They all nodded in agreement. "Who knows how long it'll take."
"But just taking off is not our style." Mikey argued.
"Especially if there's any way we can help." Alex said.
"Please, you have your own lives to get back to." Quarry insisted. "Believe me, if the solution is here, we'll find it."
"I'll keep studying the crystals. We can beat this." Donnie swore.
"And once we find a cure, we'll come down here, right away." Alex said.
"That's a promise." Raph finished.
"Thank you." Quarry said.
After hours of travelling their way back, Alex and the Turtles were making their way through the sewers with their heads hung low, feeling like they failed to save their new friends, even though they swore to find a cure.
But they all stopped when they heard a clank coming from up ahead.
This made them all hide in the large pipe to their left, covered in shadow.
They then heard footsteps and watched as a large group of Foot Ninjas ran past them with flashlights.
"Foot Ninjas?" Leo gasped in shock once they were gone.
"What are they doing down here?" Raph questioned as they all looked down the way the ninjas ran.
"Looking for us, most likely." Alex guessed.
Mikey felt a hand grab his shoulder from behind, which turned him around. He would've gasped if that hand hadn't covered his mouth. He would've gasped because it was Splinter.
"Shh!" He shushed as he pulled his hand from Mikey's mouth.
"What? I'm the only screamer? You have to cover just my mouth?" Mikey asked, very offended while his brothers gathered by his side.
"Master Splinter, what is going on?" Leo asked his father.
"I do not know, but like Alexander, I believe the Foot are searching the sewers for us." Splinter replied. "They are everywhere."
"You gotta be kidding me." Raph groaned.
"We cannot reach the lair undetected. We must find a new place to stay and fast." Splinter explained.
Mikey placed a hand on his chin as he came to an idea.
"Hey, I know just the place." He grinned.
That place happened to be April's store and apartment.
She opened the back door, wearing a bathrobe and a green face mask.
"Hey, April!" Mikey greeted her. "Ghoulish mudpack, girl."
"Mind if we bunk upstairs in your apartment for a while?" Leo asked kindly as he and his brothers entered.
"Hey, what's to eat?" Raph asked.
"We'll explain after we settle in." Alex assured April as he walked past her.
"You got digital cable, right?" Donnie asked.
April heard the sound of shattering, meaning one of her fragile antiques broke.
"MIKEY!" Alex roared.
"Sorry!" Mikey apologised as Splinter stood before April.
"Miss O'Neil, your hospitality is very much appreciated." He said before walking past her into the store, leaving her to realise that this stay is gonna feel longer than it would end up being.
Well, as you see, if Alex believes he's all that's left, he just succumbs to heartache and anger. It's his deep fear, being the only one left of his family. He just can't bear being alone.
And someone asked if Alex would end up with Karai. That isn't gonna happen, sorry. There's two main reasons why.
1. If you've read this story and know Alex's beliefs and opinions, he'd never want to be with someone like Karai, considering what she would do throughout the show, especially season four.
2. She's clearly an adult while Alex is a teenager. It would just be wrong if I did that kind of pairing.
Plus, I already have plans on who Alex will be paired up with.
Updated Note: I decided to make Quarry a teenager for some plans I have.