***
Michaelangelo slid down into the water and watched as the blade sank into the sewer wall. He quickly got back onto his feet. The shadow pulled at its weapon but it remained stuck.
Mike took full advantage of the situation and slammed his opponent into the wall.
On impact, the whole scene blurred, like static on a TV.
"Whoa!"
The world spun around him and he fell back. He looked straight up through the sewer grate, the full moon nearly blinding him.
"Huh?"
***
Donatello fell back from the impact. He rolled away, just as the blade came towards him. It pinned his cape to the ground, and his bo was out of reach. He looked up at his tormentor, then over its shoulder.
"A full moon?"
An idea struck him a second before the shadow. He would have flown farther, but his cape was still pinned, and now it was choking him. Don grabbed the handle of the scythe, just below the blade, and yanked it from the ground. This freed his cape and he stood, pushing the shadow to the ground.
"I'll take this, if you don't mind. Now, let's see..."
***
Raphael dug his fingers into the dirt. He could feel the dirt pounding on his shell. He'd managed to stay above it and now he was at least one foot closer to the ground. After a pause Raphael flung a handful of dirt back at the thing trying to bury him. He heard a satisfying thud and climbed out. By that time the shadow had regained its barring and attacked anew.
Raphael leapt back and dodge, barely escaping the deadly slices. His fingers wrapped around the familiar leather-wrapped handles of his sai and he lunged forward.
***
Leonardo clapped his hands together and stopped the blade's decent. He thrust his weight to the side and disarmed his opponent.
He stood holding the scythe, then tossed it aside in favor of his katana.
"This ends now!"
He lunged forward and the sword passed through harmlessly. The image of the shadow flickered and disappeared, as did the rooftop, and the full moon was replaced by a tiny sliver of light.
Donatello stood over a tiny box next to the wall of the alley. "You okay, Leo? Everyone?"
Leonardo nodded. Donatello looked all right except for a bruise forming on his jaw. Mike was trying to get up, with obvious pain in his tail region. Raphael seemed upset, but unhurt.
"I almost had him!"
"Ow," Mike mumbled, rubbing his head. "I just had the weirdest dream."
Raphael picked Mike up off the ground. "Did it include a psycho shadow creature that tried to give you a one way ticket to the afterlife?"
"You too?"
"I'm afraid it was no dream." They all turned towards Donatello. "It was an attack."
"By who?" Leo asked.
Don looked over the box, small enough to fit in his palm. "I don't know, but I will soon."
"Great, it was a trap after all," Raph mumbled.
"Shadow!" Mike gasped. "Whoever did this must have kidnapped her. We still have to find her."
"I think someone already did," Don said, pointing down the alley. A small white angel was running towards them, followed by a taller angel dressed in black. Shadow jumped up onto Mike and flung her arms around his neck.
Kali stopped beside Raph. "Thank goodness you're all right. When Shadow showed up on my doorstep without you, I thought you might be in trouble."
"We were," Raph told her, hiking his thumb towards the box Don was holding.
"What is it?"
Don turned it over. "Maybe some VR system. Or a hologram generator. Perhaps it caused us to hallucinate."
"Hallucinate?" Kali repeated. "I think you guys better explain what happened. Come on, we'll go back to my place and you can tell me over cider."
"Sounds good," Mike said, smiling. "You want some cider, Shadow?"
He didn't receive an answer because the little girl had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He carried her all the way to the house, after picking up his candy bag, of course.
"So, what happened back there?" Kali asked, pouring the cider.
"Well, I was fighting this shadow..." Mike started.
"We all were," Don added, still fiddling with the box. "You got any coffee, Kali?"
"Okay, shadow thing, and I'll assume you beat it."
"Hey," Raph said, narrowing his eyes at Kali. "Why are you so interested in what went on in there? Maybe you set that up."
Kali rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like I have to resort to that. Besides, this sounds like it'll make a great story!"
***