***
Shredder leaned forward to watch the turtle stumble backwards. She grinned as he missed a step and fell. Unfortunately, the turtle grabbed the railing along the wall to stop his fall. He did, however, hit his shell against the wall, and his face twisted in pain.
"Shredder," it hissed.
"So glad you could join us," she replied. "Your death will be at my hands, freak, but not today."
Raphael stumbled to his feet. "You'll never win, Shredder. We'll beat you again." Damn, that's cliché.
Shredder snapped her fingers and two men appeared behind her. "I think not."
The door at the bottom of the stairs opened. Raven looked up and gasped. She was pushed aside by two more turtles; these ones not in disguise, who started up the stairs.
Raphael gave Shredder a confident glare. "You were saying?"
Shredder didn't even flinch as her soldiers fell behind her. Now she was vastly outnumbered. She would not be beaten again so soon after her revival. Using the speed she knew this body possessed she sped down the stairs, narrowly avoided being tripped by Raphael and crashed past the other turtles. One of them went after her while another came down from the room to help Raph.
"You okay?" Don asked, helping Raph to his feet.
Raph pulled away and headed down the stairs. "She's getting away!"
Mike just sighed as Raph ran past him and Raven.
Raph stopped at the sidewalk and looked both ways. He saw no one on the street.
"Damn!"
***
Leonardo hesitated as Shredder pulled a sword from under her long coat. He really didn't want to risk hurting Indigo, or rather, her body. He didn't know if 'Indigo' was still alive.
"Come, turtle."
Leo drew his katana, making sure the sound echoed through the alley. They circled each other, eyes locked. Leonardo sized up his enemy. She stood a bit taller than he was, but was not as well muscled. He knew she made up for that in speed. The hateful glare did little to diminish her striking beauty.
No wonder Raph fell so hard for her…
His thoughts were interrupted when Shredder charged, sword upraised to strike.
***
Don reached the bottom of the stairs soon after Raphael. "Let's go after him."
"Not so fast."
They all turned to see one of the soldiers walking down the steps holding an impressive looking gun.
Raven gasped. "Jay! How could you do this?"
Jay just smirked. "I have my orders."
Mike reached for his nunchaku but Don stopped him.
Jay gestured with the gun. "Move."
They all raised their hands and walked back through the house. It was eerily quiet and as they passed the living room an idea struck Raven. She turned to face her brother. "What did you do with Indigo's family?"
Jay looked confused and Mike took that opportunity to knock the gun from his hands. It hit the floor and discharged twice before sliding into the kitchen.
They all ducked as glass shattered somewhere nearby. Both Jay and Mike scrambled for the gun and Jay grabbed it first. Before he could get a grip around the trigger Mike punched him in the face. He fell back against the wall, blood streaming from his nose and from in-between his fingers.
Mike threw his fist in the air. "Yeah!"
"Mike!" Raven cried. "Don's been shot!"
***
Raphael turned back towards the house when he heard the gun shots. He was about to go back in when he heard the unmistakable sound of swords hitting.
Leo and Shredder.
He took off in the direction of the sword fight, knowing that Mike and Don could take care of themselves. He had a score to settle.
He turned the corner just as Shredder's sword came down towards a fallen Leonardo.
***
"This isn't so bad."
Don gritted his teeth. "Oh, yeah, you aren't the one who got shot. You take one in the backside and see how you feel!"
Mike snickered and searched through the first aid kit that Raven had found in the bathroom.
"It's not funny!"
"Don, stay still, I have to get the bullet out," Mike managed to say between laughs. "Luckily your shell slowed it down. There. I've got to bandage it now, so no funny ideas."
Don rolled his eyes. "You're the one with his hands on my butt, and I'm the one with the funny ideas. How's your brother Raven?"
Raven looked over from inspecting the broken window. She'd been trying to avoid catching a glimpse of Don's exposed backside, although his shell covered most of it. She felt so embarrassed for him, and at her own curiosity. "He's…gone!"
Don frowned. "Probably retreated. He took his gun."
Raven sank into an armchair. "I still don't understand how this all happened. How could he do this to us, his own sister, and Indigo?"
Mike finished with Don and smiled at her. He wanted to hold her but at the moment his hands were covered in blood and he didn't want to get her nice white shirt dirty. "Don't worry, Raven, we've been through this kind of stuff before. It always turns out okay."
Don stood, using Mike and the wall for support. "We better get going. It's dark enough for us to get back home unnoticed."
"What about Indigo?" Raven cried, then added, "And your brothers?"
Mike and Don exchanged looks. "First we go home," Don said. "Weren't we lucky that the family was leaving when we got here?"
Raven stood up. "Yeah, I'd hate to see what would have happened if they had been here for this."
"Wait!" Mike propped Don against the wall and went into the kitchen. He proceed to clean up the blood as best he could. He was glad it was a red tile floor.
"What are you doing?" Don yelled from the doorway.
"Vanishing without a trace, bro!" Mike called back. "Not sure what we can do about the window, though."
***
"Shredder!"
The call startled her enough for her to miss, hitting the hard shell behind the turtle's neck. A sai flew past and knocked the sword from her hand.
Leonardo kicked her leg as he stood and got ready for another attack. Raphael approached from the opposite direction.
"Surrender," Raphael hissed, waving his other sai as a warning.
"Never!" Shredder screamed. She pulled a small white ball out of her pocket and threw it to the ground. The area filled with a thick smoke that burned Leo's eyes. He groped around until it cleared.
"Gone. Again. We better go get the others, Raph. Raph?"
He turned and his eyes fell on the body of his brother on the ground.
"Raphael!"
***