It's been so long since I've been on this particular site... it's kind of nostalgic to be back here.
Anyway, a while back I'd begun writing this story that I simply can't get out of my head.
You might have seen this already, since I've already uploaded the first few chapters on AO3, but I wanted to place it on FF as well...

Forever young
Chapter 1:
The only Constant is Change

Just another one of those nights.

Large, lanky fingers gripped Leonardo's katana tight, and with total disregard for pain those bony hands pressed its flesh deep into the sharp edged steel. Thick, red blood oozed along the edge of his blade and dripped down on the white vinyl floor, splattering between his two-toed feet. The mutant turtle gritted his teeth whilst his feet slid further apart as the pressure increased on him and his weapon.

The monstruous creature leaned its hollow face down to meet his eyes.

Chapped, dry lips spread into a menacing sneer, revealing two rows of broken and bloodstained teeth. A low, guttural growl escaped its mouth, breathing a thick, warm air on Leonardo's face. His nostrils flared, and his usual stoic expression turned into a grimace as the pungent and eerie odour of decay and decomposition assaulted his sense of smell – watering his eyes.

The gaunt, eight feet tall creature had once been human, but behind its feral, milky eyes Leonardo saw nothing but mindless anger. Its ashen grey flesh was pulled tightly over its bones to the point its skin had split open in several places. Its eyes lay sunken deep into their sockets. Its clothes, tattered blue jeans and a bloodstained white shirt, hung from its body. The creature looked like a giant corpse, recently exhumed from its grave.

Despite its lank and angular form, it was terribly strong.

"Aaah! Gross, gross, gross!" Michelangelo shrieked, and effortlessly somersaulted backwards, away from one of the said creatures. "It bit me!"

Leonardo allowed himself a quick, concerned glance at his youngest brother. Relief eased his mind as he realised the bite had only left a superficial mark on Michelangelo's lower arm. However, the suffocating stank of death and corruption reminded him of his own personal conundrum, and turned to find his opponent tilting its head, ever so slowly, staring at him as if he was its prey.

"Careful, Mikey," Donatello shouted from Leonardo's right. He could hear an audible snap as the bo staff wacked against its target. A guttural scream echoed in the dimly lit hallway. "the mouths of these things are definitely infectious!"

"Oh, excuse me!" Michelangelo chided, whirling his nunchakus. "I totally meant to be bitten by a monster that stinks harder than Raph's breakfast burrito farts."

Another crack and growl, and Leonardo could see Michelangelo leap into his peripheral vision. Nunchucks effortlessly whirling beside him, his snout scrunched up in disgust. "Its breath reeks of drunken Purple Dragon vomit, dude. Don't these things know how to – Gyaah!" With an immense force, the creature tackled Michelangelo to the ground, slamming his shell on the floor.

Ragged claws dug into Michelangelo's shoulders, and with a loud growl and snapping motion the creature attacked with its teeth. But before it sick its teeth into his neck, Michelangelo's quick reflexes allowed him to press the chain of a nunchaku into the creature's open mouth. Chewing and snarling, razor-sharp teeth continuously bit down on hard steel. Whilst trashing and pushing like a wild animal, the creature tried to push its head further down, and Michelangelo angled his face away as far as he could. "Sheesh – anyone carrying a breath mint?!"

"Stop joking around, Mikey!" Leonardo scolded his youngest brother.

For a brief moment Leonardo stopped pressing his blade forward, and let the creature fall towards him. Using the sudden momentum to duck down, Leonardo then sweep kicked the creature against its right leg. A loud pop and howl told him his shin had hit its mark perfectly, dislocating its knee. With a roar the creature released the katana. Still low to the ground, Leonardo whirled around on the ball of his foot and flung his leg upwards, landing a round house kick to its chest. The creature stumbled backwards, its busted knee forcing it to the ground. With murderous intent, the creature growled at him again. Its sneer gone from its face, replaced with pure anger.

"Incomin'!"

Another humanoid monster came flying from his right, and Leonardo watched as the creature he had been fighting was thrown against the floor by it. The two, tangled up in a large monstrous mess, began to snap and snarl at each other. One bit the other in a leg, ripping the desiccated flesh from its bones. With a loud growl, the other retaliated by twisting one arm behind its back, and kept pulling until the limb began to tear from its body.

"Fuckin' hell," Raphael said, running towards Leonardo. "these nutjobs are insane."

Michelangelo tucked his legs underneath the creature on top of him. "Up you go, you stinking monster!" he said, kicking the creature square in its chest, causing it to fly up and crash into the two fighting creatures. Immediately the third began attacking its newly found prey.

"Looks like they're finishing the job for us." Leonardo grimaced as the third creature bit into another creature's side, and tore into it with sickening scrunch.

"Guys, a little help here?!" Donatello yelled from where he was backed up against a wall, fighting off two more creatures. With one end of his bo staff he hit the closest one in the face, and then hit the other. Quickly, he placed one end of his bo staff on the ground, and lifted himself up in the air. After placing both feet on the wall behind him, he kicked himself off of it, vaulting over the creatures.

"Donnie!"

Donatello heard Raphael's worried cry, but it was already too late. He felt the clawed hand grabbing onto his ankle, and with a painful smack he landed plastron first onto the hard floor. "Urgh!" Teeth rattled in his mouth from the impact, and he could taste the iron of his blood on his tongue. He fumbled, trying to release the steel grip on his ankle by kicking at the creature. Instead, claws pierced and tore at the green flesh around his ankle as the creature pulled him closer.

"Oh no you don't!" Raphael growled, rushing forward and threw one sai after the other. With a loud sickening crunch, the sai's longest tine impaled one of the creatures right in the eye. Immediately the firm grip on Donatello's ankle was released, and the creature stumbled backwards, falling against the wall with a final roar before going limb. The second sai impaled the neck of the other creature. Desperately, it clawed at the weapon in vain, choking on its own blood as it collapsed to the ground.

"Hah, bullseye!" Raphael grinned savagely, and with two more strides he got to his fallen brother. "You okay, bro?" He asked, helping Donatello onto his feet.

"I-I think so," Donatello replied, testing his weight on his damaged ankle. Blood from the gashes were smeared out, and his olive green skin was already darkening from where the creature's strong grip has bruised him. Luckily, he could still stand, albeit with slight discomfort. "I'm good."

"Those things are totally fucked up, man." Michelangelo said, watching as intestines spilled from one of the creature's abdomen. The slippery insides splashing onto the floor before the creature itself fell down on top of it, causing blood and organs to splatter up onto where Leonardo and Michelangelo were standing. "Yuck!" Michelangelo dry heaved. "Gross! These things are totally making me lose my appetite."

"Now that certainly is a first." Leonardo noted with a wry smile, but then his lips tightened into a firm line when the sole survivor of the creatures turned its head towards him. "Mikey, eyes up front," He said, raising his katanas. "we're not done yet."

"Aw, man." Michelangelo whined.

Light brown eyes, rimmed by blue cloth, peered over the blades of the katanas. Patiently, he watched as the creature advanced towards him and Michelangelo. He could hear the comforting whirls of the nunchakus by his side. With the release of a calming breath, he steadied himself. Waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

"Uh, Leo?" Michelangelo looked nervously between his big brother and the stalking creature coming towards them. It hissed, eyes burning with madness as it leaped for them. "Bro?"

"I've got this." Leonardo assured his little brother. The muscles in his leg rippled as he leaped forward into the air, somersaulting whilst swinging his katanas at the desired target.

Blades sliced in the air like a pair of shimmering lights.

Silently, Leonardo landed on his feet, knees bending slightly to absorb the impact. He straightened himself, his katanas glistening red on each side. He slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at the monster. Slowly, the body of the final creature fell to the ground. Its head landing separately with a soft thud, and Michelangelo watched as it rolled towards him like a little morbid ball of death, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

"I must admit," Michelangelo began, lifting his knees up high as he tip toed around the decapitated head. "you get an A-plus for style, that was totally wicked – However," Michelangelo raised one of his three digits, as if he was about to talk about a very serious matter. "can we please go home now? I've had enough of the gore fest for one night."

Leonardo straightened his shoulders and examined their location. Blood and bodies stained the otherwise crispy white floor and walls. The long hallway was dimly lit by the soft luminescent light of LED strips that were worked into the ceiling. On one side, several single open doors were numbered, each leading to a dark room with one or two empty hospital beds.

Their mission had been a simple one. Get in the hospital without being seen. Locate the storage room, and gather the items on the list Donatello had made to help restock their medical supplies. Within seconds of having entered the hallway, however, he and his brothers had been viscously attacked.

"We can't leave yet, Mikey." Leonardo replied solemnly, his eyes focussed on the dead bodies around them.

His shoulders slumped. "I had a feeling you were gonna say that." Michelangelo sighed, putting his nunchakus into the holsters of his belt.

"What the fuck is going on here," Raphael said as he and Donatello approached. "Donnie, you said this part of the hospital was closed down. Ya didn't say it was shut down to quarantine whatever this fucked up shit is." With one arm he gestured around them.

"My investigation was sound," Donatello defended, kneeling down to inspect one of the creatures. "the hospital is severely understaffed. They relocated most of their patients to surrounding hospitals, and temporarily closed down this floor."

"Well, D, it looks like they forgot a few of their patients." Michelangelo remarked, squatting down next to Donatello. The orange clad turtled twisted his expression in disgust as he watched his brother touch one of the creatures before them.

"I don't think these were patients, Mikey," Donatello replied, continuing his investigation by reaching out to lift the chapped upper lip of the creature lying before him. "for one, they are wearing regular clothes. Second, I – oh, now that's interesting."

"What is it, Donnie?" Leonardo asked, his interest piqued as he bent down to look over his brother's shoulder.

"Watch," Donatello replied, pressing down to open up the jaw. With a wet squelch several sharp teeth slipped out of the mucosal tissue, crawling over its row of human teeth. When Donatello released the pressure, the teeth retracted back like the claws of a cat.

"I've said this before," Michelangelo said, wrinkling his snout. "but I'll say it again – gross."

"What are these things?" Raphael asked.

"My best guess," Donatello grabbed the creature's wrist, and lifted its bloodied hand to show his brothers the compact, two inch claws on each finger. "These are –"

"Ghouls!" Michelangelo interrupted eagerly. "Wait, wait, no they only eat dead people – vampires? No, no, no… they weren't interested in sucking our blood. Ah, I've got it, werewolves! Definitely werewolves. Is there a full moon tonight, Donnie?"

A collective groan escaped from the three older brothers. Donatello looked at Michelangelo like he'd grown a second pair of arms. Leonardo shook his head as he sighed. Raphael ran a hand over his face, grunting before whacking his little brother over the head.

"Ow!" Michelangelo winced, rubbing the sore spot.

"Shell for brains!"

Donatello raised an eye ridge at his younger brother, "Mikey, there's no such thing as werewolves."

"Or maybe," Raphael began, a wicked grin slowly spreading on his lips that suggested nothing but evil intent, and pointed at Michelangelo's wounded forearm. "these are zombies, and now you're gonna change into one."

Unperturbed, Michelangelo stared at his grinning brother. "Don't be ridiculous Raph," Michelangelo huffed, waving his brother's teasing remark away. "everyone knows that there is only one way to kill a zombie. You must destroy its brain. And these two still have their heads intact."

"Well, by that logic, Mikey," Donatello interjected. "they can't have been werewolves either. We didn't use silver on them, and shouldn't they have regenerated their wounds then by now?"

"Beats me, bro. My werewolf lore is a bit rusty, ya know. But these guys were crazy strong, and looked like they were in the middle of some sort of weird transformation or some shit."

"Enough!" Leonardo clapped his hands twice. "Guys, can we please focus?"

"Right, right," Donatello nodded. "Mikey wasn't completely wrong though – I think."

Michelangelo beamed at Raphael with a wide, toothy grin, and puffed up his chest. Raphael rolled his eyes in response and grunted.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he gave his brainiac brother a pointed look. "Seriously, Don? Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"

Donatello gave a faint apologetic shrug and got back up on his feet. "Not in the supernatural sense, of course," Donatello explained, pointing at the creature's arms and legs. "But look at these lacerations. Their flesh was ripped open, most likely due to a sudden growth in their size. Like some sort of transformation… mutated, perhaps."

"Mutated? Great, just… great," Raphael growled, and frowned. "Where'd they come from anyway."

As if on cue, the ding of an elevator rang from behind them.

The four brothers turned to look at the eerie empty hallway and watched the doors of the elevator open up. Its light illuminating the hallway. A broken LED panel near the elevator flickered ominously.

They each held their breath, hands instinctively drawn to their weapons, and waited for whatever monstrosity was planning on stepping out. Instead, the doors opened up to reveal a singular – very human man – sitting against the back wall.

He was not moving.

Quickly, the four brothers ran towards him. Donatello immediately knelt down into the pool of blood surrounding the body, and placed a hand on a shoulder. Once touched, the man groaned and slowly moved its head.

Donatello took a quick inventory of the injuries, as he'd done a million times before on his brothers. The man had clearly been attacked by those creatures. His clothes were drenched in blood and torn up in several places revealing large, open flesh wounds. His face had been lacerated, eyes scratched out. A soft pained moan escaped the man's mouth, which was followed by an unsettling crepitate, wet noise.

"T-They got out," He said through gurgled gasps, "the mutants… you can't fight them. You have to… hide." He said his last word with a long final sigh, and slouched to the side.

The four brothers looked at each other with concern.

"Donnie, is he… ?" Leonardo asked even though they all already knew the answer. Still, Donatello pressed his fingers against the man's neck to feel for his non-existing heartbeat. After a while he shook his head with dismay.

"He's gone," Donatello confirmed, and lifted a piece of the tattered blouse to inspect the wounds. His lips turned into a grim line as he realised the man was missing a serious amount of flesh from his right side. The man's outfit had consisted out of a simple black dress pants, a white short sleeved blouse, adorned with a nice black tie and dress shoes. The hospital logo was embraided on both shoulders and on his chest. The hospital badge and portable walkie talkie radio hung on his belt.

He had been one of this hospital's security guards, Donatello concluded. His eye ridges raised with curiosity when he noticed a blinking red light.

"Those bastards!" Raphael growled, punching a fist in the palm of his other hand. "Let's find every one of those damn things, and kill these motherfuckers."

"Easy, Raph," Leonardo said evenly. "we can't go blindly running around the hospital. We don't even know what they are. How many are out there, or where they came from to begin with."

Raphael roared in frustration, "We can't just do nothing!"

"I know that, Raph, but we have to be careful. We should avoid another ambush-"

"I ain't afraid of these ugly motherfuckers," Raphael snapped, going up into Leonardo's face with a finger.

Leonardo pushed away his brother's hand and argued, "I'm not saying that you are!"

"Guys, guys, quiet it down will you! Save your bickering for the marriage counsellor," Michelangelo interrupted, and jabbed a thumb towards Donatello. "we've got a caller."

Bewildered, Leonardo and Raphael looked at each other before quickly turning towards their brothers.

"Wait, what is going on?" Leonardo asked when he saw Donatello fumbling with the dead man's belt.

"Uh?" Raphael frowned when Donatello revealed the portable radio, it's red light blinking. Donatello turned on the volume knob, and a female voice resonated from its speaker.

"- can't believe this… Marcus, a-are you still there?" She whispered, voice trembling. "oh, please, please, say something. Tell me you made it…"

Donatello turned to his brothers for advice. Leonardo shook his head while Raphael rubbed the back of his neck nervously, and shrugged. Neither he found helpful, and he was about to speak to the woman when he noticed Leonardo jolting forward.

"Don't answer yet," Leonardo warned.

"We can't just say nothing," Donatello told Leonardo. "she sounds terrified."

"And say what, Donnie?" Leonardo countered. "We need to assess the situation first. Perhaps if we can figure out where she is calling in from, then we can –"

"Now, how does this work again… oh, here it is."

Donatello hadn't even noticed Michelangelo stealing the portable radio from his hand. His younger brother could be a perfect little thief when he wanted to be.

"Hello ma'am, my name is Mikey. Who is this?" Michelangelo casually said into the radio, eyes scrunching up in thought for a moment, and continued, "are you okay?"

"Seriously, Mikey?!" Leonardo hissed under his breath.

Michelangelo simply shrugged at his annoyed older brother.

The four waited, all staring silently at the little device in Michelangelo's hand.

"I'm Paige…" The woman finally answered. "My colleague… Marcus… Is he –" The radio cut off briefly. "is Marcus dead?"

Michelangelo looked at the dead man lying next to them. He could barely read through the blood splatter on the hospital badge, but there was no mistaking. Marcus Reed was no longer among the living.

"Those things got to him… didn't they?" She asked before he could reply.

"We found him in the elevator," Michelangelo said solemnly, his shoulders slumped as he continued. "he is dead." There was no point in sugar-coating it, he figured. Raph always told him that ripping off the Band-Aid was better than slowly peeling it off anyway.

"He tried to get help," She began quietly. "Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening."

"Where are you right now? We can help you," Michelangelo said, but the woman did not answer him anymore. After a while Michelangelo looked at Donatello. "Dead battery?"

"Let me look at it…" Donatello took the device in his hands, and studied it. Pressing and releasing the push-to-talk button on the side. "it still works on our end."

The device sprung to life again.

"Not to sound like a total bitch, Mikey…" Paige said with a light nervous chuckle at the end. "But I don't even know who you are… I've only just found out about this secret, fucked up, underground science lab that – I'm telling you - comes straight out of a triple A horror game… and have been attacked by these… things… and you've just said we, like, two times – I-I just don't know… Maybe you're the good guys, or maybe you're part of this whole fucked up mess… and are just plotting to get me killed for having seen too much. No offence."

"Uhm… she's got a point?" Michelangelo said to his brothers with a shrug.

Leonardo stepped forward and reached out his hand to Donatello, who handed the radio to him.

Taking a moment to consider his words, Leonardo considered their options, and eventually pressed the button. "Miss… Paige, was it? My name is Leonardo. You just spoke with my younger brother, Michelangelo. I understand you have reservations about telling us about your whereabouts. I'm afraid I feel the same way. My brothers and I found ourselves ambushed by the same creatures that attacked you and killed your colleague. We managed to incapacitate five of them, however, if there are more out there we should stop them before they kill any more people."

"You actually fought those things and survived?" Paige replied, clearly impressed. "Are you some kind of special forces or something?"

He couldn't help the small twitch tugging on his lips that turned into a wistful smile.

"Something like that," Leonardo said. "Do you think you can trust us, and tell us where you are?"

A moment of silence. Leonardo figured she was waying her options.

"You said you found Marcus in an elevator?"

Leonardo felt the tension in his shoulders lessen, she'd made the decision to work together with them. That would make things much easier.

"Yes, we are in it now."

"It's not a regular elevator – I-I didn't even know about it until today. Marcus was supposed to show me around for this new job position… but it doesn't take you anywhere in the hospital itself." She rambled. "There should be a push button panel with a key card access reader next to it. I think Marcus used his keycard, and then the elevator went down. Taking us to an underground facility."

Leonardo followed Donatello who took the key card from the dead man, and swiped the card against the access reader. After ten seconds the key card access reader blinked with a red light, beeping angrily at them.

"We need to enter a code to make it work," Donatello mused, rubbing his chin as he studied the button panel next to it.

"Paige, we need a code in combination with the key card. Did you see him enter the code perhaps?"

"No… I don't remember. I'm sorry…"

Donatello smirked and pulled out two lockpicking tools from a pouch on his utility belt, "No problem, I got this." He said, twirling the tools before he began to pry open to button panel. He then held up his left arm near the panel. On his wrist he wore a black wrist brace with a built-in computer system he designed and assembled himself. He pulled out a cable from the device and connected it to the open key pad panel. Furiously he began to type onto the touchscreen, hacking into the system.

"That's okay," Leonardo told Paige with a smirk, "we'll get the elevator working. What can we expect once we arrive?"

"The elevator doors opened to reveal a creepy corridor. It looked like it would go on for ages… but eventually we reached some sort of a lobby with a reception desk. There was this weird slow whooping sound in the distance – that's when we got attacked."

"I got it!" Donatello exclaimed, and swiped the keycard again. This time the device beeped once, emitting a green light, and the doors slid closed before the elevator began its descend.

"Good job, Donny!" Michelangelo softly slapped his brother on his shoulder. Donatello beamed a joyous smile at Michelangelo.

"Where did you go when you were attacked?" Leonardo asked into the radio.

"We ran into the hallway on the left… barely managed to lock the doors from the inside before all of those things could get inside. After a while we thought they might had left. Marcus decided to make a run for the elevator... He had hoped he'd be able to get back up and call for help…" Leonardo could hear Paige her voice falter. "Guess that didn't quite work out the way we'd hoped."

"Stay where you are for now, Paige," Leonardo urged. "we'll get you out of there. Save and sound. I promise you that."

"Well, shit, Leonardo," She began, a soft chuckle followed. "You sound like a proper knight in shining armour. Throw in a chocolate milkshake and a cheeseburger and I'll be about ready to bend the knee."

"Oh, I like the way this girl thinks," Michelangelo added cheerfully, rubbing over his stomach. "I'd love a cheeseburger right now. Extra cheese."

"I thought you'd lost your appetite?" Raphael asked, playfully shoving his younger brother by the shoulder.

"That was, like, ages ago."

"I'm afraid you'll have to settle for a foodless rescue I'm afraid." Leonardo told the girl.

"That's a shame… oh well, a girl can only dream."

The elevator slowed down and came to a halt. "We're here." Donatello said. With a ding, the doors opened up to reveal the long, dark corridor that Paige had mentioned. Lights flickered eerily, and they could hear the soft sound of a slow whooping alarm in the distance.

"You know," Michelangelo grimaced. "why can't they ever build like a fun, happy coloured hallway for a change? Why do these always have to be so depressing and scary looking? Add a bouncy castle or an ice cream cart or something, ya know."

"They're not build for fun, Mikey," Donatello said, shaking his head. He frowned when he checked his wrist computer. "Reception cut off abruptly, but we're not that far down... to lose the signal like this – most likely they've got a jammer set up."

"Heh," Raphael huffed. "totally not shady or anything."

"Let's go." Leonardo said, stepping into the corridor.

"How about you guys go ahead and deal with those monsters and save the girl," Michelangelo said, staying behind. "I'll man the elevator, and make sure it stays put."

"Come on, chucklehead!" Raphael growled, pulling Michelangelo along.

"We're in the corridor, Paige," Leonardo spoke into the radio. "We should be there soon. Did you manage to see how many creatures attacked you?"

"I didn't exactly wait around to count, but… about eight or nine?"

"Which means there'll be about four or more creatures out there, at least," Leonardo told his brothers. "guys, be careful - keep your eyes open."

"I say, let them come," Raphael grinned, whirling his sais as they continued ahead. "I'll slice and dice right through 'em."

The brothers walked until they reached the lobby. A large wooden desk stood in the middle of the room, a wall behind it, with large broken down entrances on each side. High, steel doors were barely hanging from their hinges. On the wall a simple logo of a mountain ridge was depicted, but no name was attached.

Dead bodies of the humanoid creatures that had attacked them lay scattered on the floor. From behind the large desk an off-hook phone sound was howling ominously.

"Well," Donatello began slowly, and continued. "that's convenient…"

"A little too convenient." Leonardo commented dryly.

"Yeah…" Michelangelo said. "The cleaning lady is gonna have a field day."

Raphael rolled his eyes at his little brother, smacked him over the head, and slowly investigated the area. Quickly realising there was not much too it. With the exception of the desk, and the dead monsters, it was empty.

Donatello wracked his brain on what could have happened here. Clearly these creatures did not kill each other, not when they were all scattered around like this. Some were even ripped apart.

When Donatello walked behind the desk, he saw the lower half of a dead guard still sitting in his chair. It was a gruesome sight, and Donatello swallowed thickly as he picked up the howling phone to place it back on its holder. He took a look at the computer in front of the dead body, but quickly concluded it was too trashed to use. Pity, it might've been able to provide more information about this place.

"Guys, I think this is only the precursor to something significantly worse." Donatello warned, and quietly he and his brothers moved towards the left of the area, into a corridor that lead to a large circular metal door.

"I think this is the place." Leonardo said.

"Now what? You think she ain't gonna freak out once she sees us?" Raphael said.

"Paige, are you still there?" Leonardo asked into the radio.

"Physically? Yes," She replied. "Mentally? I checked out about three hours ago. I think I'm gonna need some serious therapy after all this."

"We're right outside the door… but before you open it. I want to warn you. My brothers and I… we don't exactly look… human."

There was a long uncomfortable silence.

"Leonardo, you're making it sound very dramatic… and disturbingly ominous."

"I'm not trying to scare you."

Paige did not respond, and for a while Leonardo began to think she had decided to not trust them after all. Michelangelo did not look worried, though. He simply leaned back on his heels as he folded his hands casually behind his head. Humming a tune Leonardo was unfamiliar with. Raphael remained unfazed, crossing his arms in front of his plastron whilst glaring daggers at the door. As if trying to will it open with his mind.

Leonardo turned to Donatello, who shrugged his shoulders. Perhaps he needed to try and convince Paige that they truly were not the bad guys. Otherwise he would have to let Donatello force the door open. However, that would definitely create more distrust, and Leonardo preferred not to go that route. When he was about to lift the radio back up to his face the doors hissed as they opened up.

As the thick steel moved aside from the circular opening, it revealed a young woman standing in the middle. Leonardo first noticed the large, bloodstained pipe wrench she held in her right hand beside her hip. She wore the hospital guard outfit, her white blouse stained with dirt and blood from her bloodied left arm, and she was favouring her right leg. Dark auburn hair was pulled tightly back in a ponytail, strands of her side parted fringe hung in disarray over her fierce dark blue eyes. Her face was stoic as she tried to understand what she was seeing. On instinct, she clenched her jaw and held her breath as she tightened her grip on the pipe wrench.

"Don't be scared –" Leo began as he moved foward, but was rudely cut off.

"Yeah, like that's gonna convince her." Raphael mocked.

"We're the friendly turtle neighbourhood watch," Mikey quipped, beaming a buoyant smile. "One rescue from some seriously ugly monsters coming right up."

Paige opened her mouth to speak, but remained silent. She looked at them quizzically, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes as her brain tried to comprehend the existence of the four humanoid turtles standing right in front of her. Leonardo patiently watched her expression change from bewilderment to mild suspicion as her dark, bushy eyebrows scrunched together. Then, slowly, her eyes grew wide with panic.

"What the… Fucking hell?!"

"Told ya!" Raphael said, slapping Leonardo on his shoulder with the back of his hand.

"We're not going to hurt you –" Leo began, holding up his hands, palms open, in a means to show he meant her no harm.

"Not you – THAT!" She yelled, lifting the pipe wrench to point at the hallway behind the brothers.

The four of them, surprised, turned around and watched as a large burly man filled up the end of the hallway. It grunted as it took a step forward, and growled as it watched them from afar with glowing, yellow eyes. If the other humanoid creatures had looked like large, lanky and emaciated corpes with bones protruding under their pallid skin. This behemoth was the complete opposite with its massive gargantuan body. Gray, thick flesh was stretched over large, burly muscles. It fanged, toad-like face glowered at them, and with its giant fist it smashed the wall, denting the steel with ease.

"Uh-oh," Michelangelo gulped. "Don, I think we just found your something significantly worse thing."

"You don't say." Donatello replied, and the four of them reached for their weapons.

"Get in here!" Paige shouted, quickly limping towards the control panel by the door.

"I ain't running from a fight!" Raphael growled, spinning the sais in his hands.

"Then let's call it a tactical retreat," Leonardo urged, sheathing a katana before pulling on Raphael's arm, but he did not budge. "Let's go!"

The giant monster roared, and began to sprint forward with an incredible speed that should not have been impossible with its massive body.

"Now, Raph!"

The four brothers quickly leaped into the room behind them, and Paige immediately closed the entrance. A loud, menacing bang shook the steel door. The five of them stiffened in alarm, listened quietly as their hearts furiously pounded in their chests. A long, frightening howl thundered out in frustration from the other side. Several more times the door rattled as the monster smashed against it, and with each pound the five of them held their breaths as they waited. While time passed, painfully slow, each nerve and muscle was on edge. Luckily, the thick steel appeared to hold out against the monstrosity – for now.

Eventually the pounding on the door had stopped, and Michelangelo turned to the woman, "So… friend of yours?"

Thank you for reading.