Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Places III: Ruin ❯ Chapter 9

Part 9

At first he struggled to find the trail. Long scratches covered every building where screamers skittered over the walls and deep gouges in the rock, left by demon claws, pitted every rooftop in sight. Running from the occasional pack of feeders only made it that much harder to find the path that the monsters had taken into the city.

Screams and gunfire carried on the night air from the other side of the island. He had no way of knowing who was winning. A loud explosion set all of the monsters screaming as their overly sensitive hearing drowned in the noise, and he nearly fell to his knees with them. Taking shelter in shop with smashed windows, he knelt in the corner and waited for the sound to pass. He figured the noise came from the army destroying the bridges to keep the creatures from spreading.

As the last echoes of the blast faded away, he sighed and leaned against the counter. Jewelry sparkled almost invisibly in the darkness, scattered amongst a handful of screamer bodies that had slashed themselves apart after slamming into the glass displays. He wished the jewels were swords instead, but he knew it wouldn't help if they were. He'd never found a sword shop yet that had anything but beautiful, useless ornaments shaped like swords. If only Shredder's elite were nearby, he could have killed one and taken his swords.

"It figures," he whispered to himself. "The first time I want a ninja around, they're all gone."

Finally the night fell silent again. Knowing the other monsters would soon return to the street, he stood up and looked out the window, careful not to lean out too far. Once he was sure he was alone, he jumped out and started running again.

Since too many clues made the trail impossible to find, his only choice was to follow the most indistinguishable, messy path. The more marks he found together where demons and screamers and feeders ran side by side slashing at each other, the closer they'd run before spreading over the streets and buildings. When he found more body parts strewn along the trail, he knew he was close.

To his surprise, the trail led to the docks and ended at a large ocean-faring ship with an iron hull. It had no identifying marks and looked nothing at all like any battle ship he'd ever seen in his history books, although it looked a little like a cruise ship without windows. A damning swath of scratches and gouges in the concrete pointed at its gang planks which were still down and covered with the blood of whoever had been closest when they were lowered.

"A boat?" he wondered. Although the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. When monsters overran the island, the best place to be was off the island. He stared at it and sighed. He couldn't see any way onboard that didn't involve walking straight up into its hold.

"Can't be that bad," he said to convince himself. "I'm sure everything left the ship already."

For a moment he stood still and listened to the wind, straining to catch the slightest noise, the softest tap of feeder footsteps nearby. He only heard the sound of waves pushing against the ship and the wind moaning through the broken windows and open doors of the nearby. With all the monsters spreading farther away, he was perhaps in the safest part of the city.

And his brothers were about to pop up somewhere unsafe. All of the shoreline couldn't be devoid of monsters. Even worse, he knew there had to be at least a handful of the demons that could swim out there, and if they found his siblings before they could get out of the sub--he had to tell them, warn them to come here--

--but he'd destroyed his only means of communicating with them.

Cursing his stupidity, he turned from the ship toward the nearest warehouse and went inside. An office stood right next to the door so he went in, ignoring the blood splattered all over the walls, and pushed the mangled corpse off of the desk. There was no telephone but he was in luck. A small cellphone tumbled out of the body's breast pocket and hit his foot. Perfect.

First he tried the phone Donatello had rigged for the lair, but after several rings, he figured that they had already left. After tapping on the desk for a few seconds, he wondered if April still had her cellphone. Two wrong numbers later, he finally remembered the right number and heard her exasperated voice.

"Casey," April scolded, "I told you not to call. Go back to bed."

"It's not Casey," Leo sighed. "It's me."

"Oh my God, Leo! Where are you? Are you okay?"

In the background, he heard his brothers voices mingling together as they all tried to get her attention. Then she yelped as someone managed to pluck the phone from her hand.

"Leonardo, where are you?"

He froze, his breath catching so that he couldn't say anything. Splinter's voice didn't sound at all like the last few months, careful not to say anything that might hurt him. Instead he sounded like the night Leonardo had begged to have his responsibilities reduced. Cold. Demanding.

"Answer me."

Leonardo put the phone down and took several deep breaths. The smell of blood and the cold air coming in from the door brought him back. He wasn't in front of Splinter. His father was probably miles away, far out of reach. Swallowing once, he raised the phone again.

"--still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here," he said, hoping his voice wasn't shaking as much as he thought it was. "And you're not the one I want to talk to. Give the phone to Raphael."

"No. Your behavior has been irrational and dangerous to the entire family. You will speak to me."

"You..." he whispered, feeling as if he'd been punched. "You..." He shook his head once. He didn't have time to argue. "That wasn't a request. I'm not talking to you and I'll hang up if you don't hand the phone over right now, you--you damn arrogant rat!"

"Whoa, I was right. Someone's still got Splinter issues."

Raphael's voice. A weak laugh slipped out of Leonardo before he could stop it.

"I didn't think he was gonna do it."

Not all that far away, seated next to Donatello in their submersible, Raphael looked out a porthole at the murky water so he didn't have to see Splinter's glare. He was surprised April's phone managed to receive the call, but they were nearly at the surface now.

"I don't suppose you called to say you were heading home?"

"I...I wanted to make sure you didn't come up in the wrong place."

"What? Wait, did you find out where they're coming from?"

"Came from," Leonardo corrected him. "It's a ship. I don't recognize the type, probably a stripped out freighter."

"A ship? You sure they came from there?"

"Of course." The slight to his tracking skills stung his pride. "Right now all the feeders and demons are gone. It's the only safe spot in the city. If you come out anywhere else..." He let the thought hang, unable to finish it.

"Wait, where are you? I can't track you, remember?"

Leonardo blinked. He had no idea. Hoping the blood hadn't destroyed everything on the desk, he leaned over the stack of papers and lifted the top page. "Um...Mediterranean Coastal Freight. I can't tell what the warehouse number is, it got pretty messy in here."

He heard Raphael say something to Donatello. A few seconds later, Raphael came back on.

"No problem, Don found it on the map. He says we're pretty close. Leo...stay put. We'll be there soon."

"I..."

"Please. Leo, don't--"

Closing his eyes, Leonardo snapped the phone shut.

He didn't stand still for long. If he rested too long, they might catch up to him. Pausing just long enough to make sure the coast was still clear, he made his way to the ship and walked up the gangplank, finding himself inside a large cargo hold. A scattered handful of screamer and feeder bodies lay on the floor amidst a couple shallowpools of blood. Considering what had been stored here, the lack of blood dripping from every surface made him wonder just how fine the enemy's control over these things was.

Against the side of the wall he spotted a ladder that led to catwalks over the hold, so he climbed up and found a metal door hanging open a few inches. Wincing as it screeched, he pushed it open.

Back in Donatello's submarine, Raphael sighed and snapped the phone shut, tossing it into April's lap. "Damn it."

"He went inside?" Mike asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course." He raised his hand to hit the dashboard controls but paused in midair, sighing in resignation and letting his arm fall. "We'll be lucky if he doesn't lock the door behind him."

"I could try calling him back," April offered.

"But you don't know the phone number," Don said.

"I've got caller ID," she said, flipping it open. After pressing a few buttons, she smiled. "Here it is. It's a cell, too."

"How can you tell?" Mike asked, leaning over his seat to look. "Aren't the numbers the same to it?"

"No, the cell phones get a different string than land lines." She glanced up at Raphael. "You want me to try?"

He considered it, then shook his head. "No. If he didn't throw it away already, he definitely will if we call him. We'll just have to hope he calls us again."

They surfaced without incident, coming to rest against the edge of one of the piers. Raphael went out first, sais at the ready in case he met a straggling screamer, but all he saw were scattered body parts and streaks of blood. Grimacing, he motioned for everyone else to come out.

"Careful," he warned them. "Don't slip."

After they climbed up onto the pier, he took the chance to look around a little more. He didn't know how Leonardo had managed to track the creatures across the city, but now that he was here, he easily made out the smears of blood that covered most of the dock, narrowing up and into the nearest ship.

"Okay," he said. "Let's go get Leo back." He thought he'd said it quietly, but his little brother heard him.

"What if he won't come back?" Mike asked.

Everyone fell silent as Raphael considered it. He knew very well that his big brother wouldn't willingly come home, at least not yet. He'd have to prove to Leo that there was no way he'd hurt his family, and right now he wasn't sure he could do that.

*

Meanwhile, heading into the depths of the ship, Leonardo decided that he liked this place even less than the game. At least in Stockman's dimension, the halls were wide enough to swing a sword. Not that he had a sword, of course, but the narrow steel corridors felt like they might suddenly collapse in on him. The whole ship felt more like a dungeon, especially when the metal creaked and groaned. The dark red lighting made everything look painted in blood.

And he was lost. The halls were straight enough, but there were so many doors and stairs that he no longer knew where he was. He finally decided to go up whenever he could and hope to find someone to kill.

He stayed alert for any stray sound, any metallic tap that sounded like it shouldn't have been there. He wasn't too worried about encountering any monsters since he knew he would hear them long before they came close enough to attack, but he did worry about meeting whoever was controlling them.

Shredder was dead. Stockman was dead, although the scientist seemed to specialize in coming back from impossible situations. He probably didn't know this new enemy and that worried him, especially now that he was alone. Ninjas and vicious aliens and mutants, those he could handle on his own. If there were too many, he couldn't count on his brothers to help him. If strange scientific gadgets and chemicals were involved, Donatello wouldn't be there. If the attack were mystical, Splinter couldn't help him face it. On his own, he felt their absence keenly. He missed their constant banter and it hurt to know that he wouldn't hear them again.

So wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't hear the shuriken aimed at his back until it was so close that he had to dodge, putting him low to the ground as he turned and looked for his attacker.

A ninja, and not just any ninja but one wearing a foot emblem. Leonardo laughed in relief. He didn't care where this one had come from or if a new branch of the foot clan was taking over in New York again. He was just happy that in a moment he wouldn't have to worry about not having his swords. This ninja had been kind enough to bring him a pair.

Not too far away and only one flight down, Raphael and his family stopped suddenly as familiar laughter echoed through the metal passageways.

"That's Leo," Mike whispered. "He's okay!"

Raphael didn't mention that he didn't think they had the same idea of 'okay', especially considering what he knew would make Leonardo laugh right now. The thought disturbed him. Leonardo had only restrained himself because he was trying to find his way back amongst his family and friends.

Splinter had once worried that Leonardo had tasted the joy of slaughter. Raphael just hoped his brother wouldn't give into that side of himself so much that he would lose himself in it.

TBC...