TMNT: Beauty and Dangerous (TMNT 2k12 OC fanfic)

Chapter 5: Search and Rescue

His power, I can feel its true form fester deep within him. I must take it. I must break him. I must reclaim what is mine.

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   Alex stared down at the villains as he pulled out his blade and gripped it tightly with his one hand, with the other glowing a bright blue. Shade followed behind Alex's lead as he drew out his Naginata. The Turtles, their allies and Brambleweed all looked up at the two mutant turtles, surprised and stunned of their arrival. Although the shrub people barely had a face under all the moss, grass and vines, they were somewhat able to emote a shocked facial expression underneath. "Alex! You came!" Mikey exclaimed joyously. Both Alex and Shade jumped down, with the shrub people pointing their weapons as the two turtles landed on solid ground with their weapons still drawn.

   "So, I hear that you're looking for me." Alex said to Brambleweed. "Precisely, child." the lieutenant smirked as he gestured his 'men' to restrain the two new turtles and seize their weapons. "Hey, let us go!" Shade writhed as he felt a shrub person's tight grip on his upper arms. Alex, however, barely flinched. He looked over at his brothers and allies, and he noticed Leo secretly pull out a dagger from in his wrappings and began to cut himself free. Brambleweed was oblivious to the situation going on behind his back as he approached Alex. He grabbed the turtle by the chin and fixed his gaze into his cerulean blue eyes. "Your eyes," the lieutenant started. "They hold such power." Brambleweed smirked lightly. "I will let your friends go if you come with us quietly."

   Suddenly, a Katana blade was inches below Brambleweed's neck, and he was immediately pulled away from Alex. The black-and-blue masked turtle looked to see Leo holding his weapons at the shocked lieutenant's throat. "You're not going anywhere with him." the blue masked turtle snapped. The shrub people who weren't restraining anyone pointed their weapons at Leo as he held their leader at blade-point. Using this diversion as an advantage, Alex kicked the shrub person off of him before grabbing his blade and tossing Shade's weapon over the crimson red-eyed turtle. Shade kicked off the shrub person holding him before catching his Naginata and slicing the creature in half.

   Alex then cut the restraints off the rest of his comrades before they stood up, took out their weapons and surrounded the villains. "Thanks for the last second rescue, dude." Casey whispered to Alex. "The pleasure is all mine, Jones." the black-and-blue masked turtle replied. "Fools! You cannot stop the growth of the garden!" Brambleweed exclaimed. "Soon, your world will fall into the hands of the Earth!" Leo then knocked him down and pointed one of his Katana at the thin man.

   "Not without my brother you won't!" the blue masked turtle demanded. "Y'all have to catch us first!" Mikey chimed in as he threw down a smoke bomb. Brambleweed coughed and tried to fan away the purple smoke that exploded in his face. Once the smoke was cleared, he looked to see the ten teenagers have vanished, much to the lieutenant's disappointment. "Find them! Capture Alexander and bring him to the Mistress!" Brambleweed boomed as all the nearby shrub people stopped everything and followed his command. "You cannot escape so easily." he mumbled to himself as he joined his army in the search.


   Near Madison Square Garden, the Turtles and their allies appeared in a puff of purple smoke, each of them catching their breath. "You think we lost them?" Raph asked in between breaths. "For now, at least." Leo responded as he sheathed his Katanas. The black-and-white masked turtle looked over at the seventh mutant turtle curiously. "And who are you exactly?" Rufus asked. "Does it matter to you, tuskie?" Shade scoffed as he lightly pricked his finger at Rufus' tusk. Rufus glared at Shade, his red-brown eyes turning more red than brown. "You better excuse him, Rufus," Karai said, stepping in between the two turtles. "Shade here is known to be a bit of a brute." her golden brown eyes looking over at Shade. "Whatever, princess." the vigilant turtle rolled his eyes.

   "So, what were those things?" Casey asked as he looked at Alex. "You owe them money or something?" the hockey masked teen finished. "I think they just want my power to achieve their twisted invasion goal." Alex responded, looking down at his glowing hand before lightly balling it into a fist. "Just what we needed, another invasion." Raph said sarcastically. "Yeah, but where did they come from?" April added. "The closest to something similar to this is the Creep," Donnie started. "But it's nothing more than a pile of goop and soil right now. There's no way it's behind all of this."

   "You think it made clones of itself and we didn't know about it?" Mikey whimpered at his theory. "Doubtful, this force seems to be more powerful and dangerous than that walking pile of dirt." Alex responded. "But why hunt you? Why use your power?" Rufus asked his friend. Alex looked down, his cerulean blue eyes drooping slightly. "I wish I knew." he said softly. "Well, whatever it is, we need to stop it before the situation gets worse." Leo spoke up.

   April then suddenly gripped her head. "Guys, they're coming." she said. "She's right," Alex added as he looked around cautiously. "I can feel them close by." Brambleweed's angry voice can be heard from the distance, shocking everyone. "Everyone, split up. They can't all catch us at one time." Leo ordered. Before Alex ran off, his blue masked brother gripped his shoulder. "Alex, you need to hide somewhere safe where they can't find you." Leo ordered. "I'll try to contact you once it's safe."

   "What about you?" Alex asked. "I'll try to hold them off. I'll catch up with you as soon as I can." Leo responded. Alex nodded before tightly hugging his eldest brother. "Be careful, Leo." he whispered. "You too, little brother." Leo said as he gently broke the hug. Alex nodded before he ran off towards the opposite direction. Leo looked off and he sees Brambleweed approaching with a bunch of shrub people behind him. The royal blue-eyed turtle unsheathed his twin Katana and glared down at the beings, readying himself into yet another difficult fight.


   Brambleweed stopped only yards away as he saw Leo standing his ground alone, and he gestured his army to halt. "So, where's the rest of your team, Leonardo?" the lieutenant asked with an arrogant smirk on his face. "Far away from you, that's for certain." Leo responded as he gripped his dual weapons. Brambleweed turned to his army. "Search the area and the city," he ordered. The shrub people all split up and began to wander through different directions. "I'll take care of this mere child myself." Brambleweed bluffed as he drew out a grass blade.

   "You asked for it, bud." Leo then charged at the evil lieutenant and prepared to strike. Brambleweed blocked the incoming attack with his grass blade and began to push the blue masked turtle off of him. Leo, however, wasn't ready to back down as he lowered his Katanas and knocked Brambleweed down by hitting his side. "You fight well," the lieutenant grunted as he wiped his mouth clean and picked up his weapon. "The Mistress can make you stronger." Brambleweed stood up and prepared to strike Leo. The blue masked turtle blocked Brambleweed's attack and glared into his eyes. "Thanks, but I think I'll decline."

   "Very well then." Brambleweed said. He and Leo were both locked in combat, clashing their weapons as they blocked and threw attacks at each other. Brambleweed looked at his opponent's bandaged side and smirked evilly to himself. "My goodness, Leonardo," the lieutenant started. "Whatever happened here?" Brambleweed jabbed the handle of his sword onto Leo's side, causing him to wince in pain and drop his weapons. The blue masked turtle shut his royal blue orbs tightly as he fell to his knees and gripped his side.

   Leo then fixed his gaze back up at Brambleweed before he kicked the turtle towards the light post. "You're a pathetic excuse of a leader, Leonardo." the lieutenant laughed evilly as he approached Leo. He held up his grass blade up in the air, ready to strike down at Leo. The royal blue-eyed turtle looked up at the lieutenant as he saw his life begin to flash before his eyes. "Any last words?" Brambleweed bluffed.

  Suddenly, a loud hiss was heard, and a golden amber substance was fired at Brambleweed's eyes. He cried out and dropped his sword before holding his face in pure agony. Leo then looked up and saw Karai in her mutant snake form, her white and silver scaly body coiled around the top of the light post. The mutant kunoichi lunged herself at Brambleweed before proceeding to use her snake hands to bite his thin arms. The evil lieutenant then felt his entire body go numb, almost paralyzed. Brambleweed then collapsed as his burning green eyes rolled to the back of his head before passing out.

   Karai slithered off of the unconscious Brambleweed and looked over at the shocked Leonardo before morphing back to her human form. "Karai, I thought I told you to split up with the others." Leo said as the golden-brown eyed teen helped him back up his feet. "Like I was gonna leave you alone?" Karai smirked and folded her arms. "C'mon, little brother. I thought you knew me so well." she laughed a little to herself.

   "Well, I'm glad you stuck around." Leo responded with a light grin. "We better get out of here before he wakes up." Karai ushered to the blue masked terrapin. "He's lucky that I chose to paralyze him." she said as she started to run off. Leo looked back at Brambleweed one last time before picking up his twin Katana, sheathing them back into their holsters and running off to catch up with his adoptive sister. "Let's hope the others aren't in any other trouble." he said to Karai. "Especially since they're hunting Alex." the kunoichi nodded in agreement.


   Meanwhile, Alex dashed through the streets alone. The chaos continued to brew around him and what made it worse was that some of the plant formations started to follow Alex wherever he went. Figuratively speaking, the black-and-blue masked turtle was like a beacon to these growing plants. As they got too close for Alex's comfort, he would slash his blade through the plants, collapsing once they were cut. Soon, it began to be too much for Alex, and he had to hide somewhere safe. The young turtle then dashed over to an alleyway somewhere in Tenth Avenue and spotted a manhole cover. Unfortunately, it was entangled in vines, and it became impossible to lift open the lid.

   Alex then sensed several shrub people quickly approaching the alleyway and he had to hide somewhere. The black-and-blue masked turtle turned towards a large dumpster bin and let out a frustrated groan and sigh. "I don't have much of a choice, now do I?" Alex asked himself as he hurriedly ran towards the dumpster and lifted open the top. The putrid stench of old food, stained cloths and other objects filled Alex's nose, but where else could he hide?

   Alex crawled into the dumpster and closed the top once inside. After a little while, the foul smells weren't as bad as he thought. He pulled out his tPhone, with the screen being the only source of light in the dark dumpster and looked at his messages. There were none from anyone at the moment. Alex knew that it'd be a while for Leo to hold off an entire army of shrub people, but it's too late for him to go back out and help. All he had to do was sit and wait for something to happen.

   Mikey was running through the streets, heavily panting in fear. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he had to remain focused so the orange masked turtle can have the strange plant things eat his dust. Mikey hurriedly dashed into an alleyway in Tenth Avenue and began to catch his breath. He caught himself against the side of a building and closed his eyes as he tried to absorb some relief. Mikey then opened his baby blue orbs and looked out at the city. The coast seemed to be clear, but he wasn't entirely certain.

   The orange masked turtle pulled out his tPhone and proceeded to send a massive text message until he heard the low grumbles and grunts of Brambleweed's shrub people just around the corner. Mikey shrieked in surprise and put away his tPhone as the strange creatures began to close in on him. Some of the shrub people then drew out their weapons while the others reached towards the freckled terrapin. Mikey then pulled out his nunchucks and began twirling them in his hands. "Okay, you guys wanna play rough, huh?" he chuckled nervously. The shrub people did not respond but only step closer to the orange masked turtle. "Alright, you weirdos asked for it!" Mikey then exclaimed and whacked one of the shrub people in the head with his nunchucks. The shrub person then dropped his spear and collapsed forward, drawing its comrades' attention towards it.


   Alex, still inside the dumpster, heard some commotion going on outside and proceeded to take a quick peek. He quietly lifted the top ever so slightly and his gaze was met with his baby brother trying to fight off several shrub people. "Get ready to feel the fury. The Hot Nunchuck Fury!" Mikey then shouted before he swung his dual weapons at the small fleet. The orange masked turtle whacked a few of the shrub people over the head and even used his agility to outsmart the creatures. When only two shrub people remained, Mikey converted one of his nunchucks into a Kusarigama chain. He threw and wrapped the chain around one of the two shrub people, restraining the creature.

   "Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times." Mikey said in an announcer-like voice. He then pulled and swung the chain around, sending the trapped shrub person flying right into its comrade. The last standing shrub person was then knocked down by its restrained comrade, causing them in groan in pain. "And that's how it's done, ladies and gentlemen." Mikey cheerfully gloated and he placed his nunchucks back into his belt. The orange masked turtle then began to do a victory dance and he lost himself in his own head. Alex looked out at his baby brother and saw him dance his way into the street, much to his horror. He said a small green vine slither on the ground and make its way towards Mikey. "Mikey, look out!" Alex called out from in the dumpster.

    Mikey stopped dancing as he heard Alex's voice and looked back in the alleyway. He looked and saw his black-and-blue masked brother in the dumpster, oblivious to the sheer terror in his eyes. "Oh, hey Alex!" Mikey waved with a grin. "What are you doing in a dumpster, dude?" he asked with a light giggle. The orange masked turtle was unaware of the green vine slowly coiling around his feet. Seeing this, Alex threw open the top of the dumpster, jumped out and almost flew towards his baby brother, his arms out ready to grab him. However, he was not fast enough, just as he feared, as he landed hard on the ground.


    As Alex jumped towards Mikey, the green vine tightly wrapped itself around Mikey's ankles, causing him to fall over and was quickly dragged away. "ALEX!" Mikey screamed out in terror. The scarred turtle quickly got up and ran towards his freckled brother. "Hang on, Mikey! I'm coming!" Alex called out. The orange masked turtle pulled out one of his nunchucks, pressed a small button to convert its small sickle blade and stuck it to the ground, desperately trying his best to crawl back to his brother. Mikey saw Alex run towards him and reached his free hand out towards him. The black-and-blue masked turtle reached his hand out towards Mikey, their fingertips barely touching, when the force of the vine pulled Mikey away from Alex.

   Mikey screamed and dropped his nunchuck as he was quickly dragged away, and out of sight. "NO!!!" Alex cried out. The cerulean blue-eyed turtle's cries drew the attention to several more shrub people surrounding the area. They began to slowly make their way towards Alex with many plant formations growing behind the creatures' lead. Alex was crouched down on the ground, crying softly for the sudden loss of his baby brother as bitter tears streamed down his face. A small vine then made its way towards Alex and proceeded to wrap itself around his wrist.

   However, as soon as the vine made contact with Alex, it shriveled up and died. The shrub people let out grunts of confusion, and they looked up at Alex. The black-and-blue masked turtle suddenly started glowing white as he rose up to his feet. Alex opened up his eyes, and they were glowing pure white, much to the creatures' surprise. The shrub people drew out their weapons and charged at Alex. The black-and-blue masked turtle glared at the creatures, and he unleashed a large wave of energy, knocking everything in its path down.

    Everything from about West 42nd up to West 50th Streets was blinded with a bright flash of pure white light, killing all of the supernatural plants in its path. The light was seen throughout half of the city, drawing the attention to almost everyone in the Manhattan region. The light dimmed down, and Alex suddenly stopped glowing and collapsed to the ground, softly groaning. He blinked once softly, and his eyes were reverted to normal before he felt his eyelids give up on him. With that, Alex's vision blurred, and he blacked out.


   Elsewhere, Donnie and April were at Houston Street near Washington Square Park when they saw a faint white flash of light from the distance. "Um, what was that?" April asked her purple masked friend. "I'm not quite sure, but there's no doubt half of the city saw that." Donnie responded, equally as surprised. He then felt his tPhone buzz and pulled out to see who was trying to contact him. Donnie pressed a button and Rufus appeared on his phone screen. "Rufus, what's going on?" Donnie asked as April joined his side.

   "Guys, did you see that giant flash of light just a moment ago?" Rufus asked. "Hard to miss." April responded. "No doubt the others saw it too." the red-haired girl looked back out in the city. "Don, any ideas where that light came from?" Rufus asked. "It looked like it came from Tenth Avenue between West 42nd and West 50th." Donnie said. "The others and I will meet you at West 50th in a few minutes." the black-and-white masked turtle declared before hanging up. Donnie put away his tPhone and looked at April. "You heard the turtle, let's go." the red-brown-eyed turtle said before running off with April.

   Donnie and April all met up with Rufus, Shade, Raph, Casey, Leo and Karai just outside of West 50th Street and they all looked at each other. "Where are Mikey and Alex?" the brown-eyed teen asked. "They probably aren't far from here." Leo responded. "Donnie, Raph, April, Casey, you guys go look for Mikey. Rufus, Karai, Shade and I will look for Alex." he ordered. "And keep your tPhones on so we can keep contact with each other." Leo said before he and the others went off with their designated groups.


   Leo, Karai, Rufus and Shade all walked through the area and began looking around. "You boys notice that this section of the city seems different?" Karai asked the group. Rufus bent down and picked up one of the dead plants in his hands. Once he touched it, the plant crumbled up to dust and slowly blew away from the breeze. "All of the supernatural life here, it's dead." the red-brown-eyed turtle said, turning to face the group. "You think Al did this?" Shade turned to Leo. "I'm not sure." the blue masked turtle responded sadly. Leo then looked up and his eyes widen as he saw something in the middle of Tenth Avenue. "Oh no..."

   Leo quickly ran down the street as dead plants turned to dust in his feet. The royal blue-eyed turtle kneeled down and carefully removed the decaying plant life, revealing his unconscious brother. "Alex!" Leo carefully pulled Alex close to his lap, panic and worry glazed over his royal blue eyes. Karai, Rufus and Shade quickly rushed over to Leo's side, and their faces wore a shocked expression as they saw the unconscious black-and-blue masked turtle. "What happened to him?" Karai asked. "I don't know, but he's not looking so bright." Leo responded as he pulled out his tPhone and texted Raph.

   Donnie, Raph, April and Casey all wandered around the area opposite from the rest of the team, and they began their search for Mikey. Donnie and Raph each tried calling Mikey to see if he'll answer, but they could not hear the cheerful ringtone from the distance. April tried to use her psychic powers to track her orange masked friend, but she wasn't having any luck either. "Anything, Red?" Casey asked his fellow human friend. "Nothing," April sadly shook her head. As Raph tried to contact Mikey yet again, his tPhone vibrated and a message from Leo appeared on the screen. "Guys, the others found Alex," Raph spoke up. "He's not doing so well."


   A few minutes passed as the three turtles and kunoichi waited for the rest of their team, and Alex was not waking up. Leo looked over and saw his two brothers and human friends rush over. "What's going on?" Donnie asked as he joined the others and knelt next to Leo. "I found Alex, but he's not waking up." the blue masked turtle responded as his third younger brother checked Alex. The others watched over Donnie's shoulder, all anxious to hear a response. "Well?" Raph finally asked. "He's alive, but he seems to be drained." Donnie responded.

   "Just like back at the Lair?" Leo asked his purple masked brother. "He doesn't seem like he lost his powers," Donnie responded. "Just used them up..." his voice slowed down, finally putting the pieces together. "So, Alex projected that giant flash earlier?" Casey asked, completely shocked at the discovery. "I recently find out of his powers, and I didn't know that he was capable of that." Karai said. "I just found out today." Shade added. "Is he like some all-powerful being or something?"

   "I have no idea," Donnie said. "If he really is capable to produce that kind of power, who knows what kind of damage he could do." The others began to look around Tenth Avenue, seeing all of the once dangerous plants now all shriveled up and slowly turning to dust. "Apparently, he can do a lot." Shade muttered. A soft groan pulled the eight teens' attention back towards Alex. The black-and-blue masked turtle slowly opened his cerulean blue orbs and looked to see most of his friends and family looking down at him in concern. "Alex...!" Leo exclaimed. He tightly wrapped his arms around his brother, tears welling from his eyes. "Don't scare me like that, dude..." Leo softly said, almost choking on his words from the tears.

   Alex, stunned by the sudden embrace, awkwardly returned the hug and looked at his eldest brother. "Leo...? What happened...?" he asked as Leo broke the hug. "The last thing I remembered was all these plants closing into attack me after-." his cerulean blue eyes widened in shock. "Oh no. Where's Mikey?" Alex asked in a panicked tone.

   Leo, Rufus, Shade and Karai all looked at Casey, April, Raph and Donnie. The four friends were not sure how to find the words to break the news. "We couldn't find him, Alex." The black-and-blue masked turtle's eyes grew large, and he immediately got up and ran away from the group. "Alex, wait!" Raph hollered as he and the others chased down the scarred turtle. Alex quickly ran down several yards down the street, knelt down to the ground and dug through some of the dead plants, some of which crumbled in his hands. He pulled out something underneath and clenched it tightly in his hands; it was Mikey's lost nunchuck.


   Alex turned to see the others rush over to join him, horrified to see their orange masked friend's weapon in Alex's hands. "What happened?" April asked her black-and-blue masked terrapin friend as she knelt to his side. Tears formed from Alex's cerulean blue eyes and he looked down at his baby brother's weapon. "He tried to fight them off, but they took him away..." Alex began to break down crying. "I couldn't save him..." April felt remorse for her friend and gently pulled him close for a comforting hug. Alex returned the hug, keeping his brother's missing nunchuck in his hands. And although Donnie would feel jealous whenever someone hugged his yellow banded romantic interest, he felt the same remorse for his older brother after hearing what happened to Mikey.

   April and Alex both broke the hug, and the black-and-blue masked turtle dried off his tears. "Feel better?" the red head asked her friend. Alex sniffled a little and sadly nodded. "A little..." he said softly. "I needed that... Thanks April." The light blue-eyed girl smiled and nodded in response. "So, where the heck is your brother anyway?" Shade asked. "We don't know, we tried calling him, but we couldn't hear his tPhone go off." Donnie said. "And I tried tracking him with my psychic powers, and he seemed to be nowhere in the area." April added. "I saw him get dragged away, and pretty much out of sight." Alex said, his voice slightly shaken.

   "You guys think he's out of the city?" Casey asked. "That would explain a lot." Leo responded, thinking about it for a moment. "So, what now?" Karai asked her adoptive brother. "We go out and find our brother." Leo said, determination in his voice. "But how are we gonna find him?" Raph asked impatiently. "I can track his tPhone signal." Donnie said as he pulled out his tPhone and pressed some buttons. "He appears to be out of the city, and the signal is moving fast." he added.

   "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's save Michelangelo." Karai said. "She's right, guys." Alex added as he stood up. "Who knows what they'll do to him...?" he looked down sadly. Leo rested a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We'll find him Alex, and we'll bring him home." he said kindly, filling his brother with some hope. "We'll take the Shellraiser out of the city and take it from there." Donnie chimed in. "Raph, Donnie, Karai, Alex and I will head down to the Lair, explain everything to Master Splinter and get the Shellraiser prepped so we can begin the search." Leo said. "What about us?" April asked, annoyed about feeling left out. "The rest of you stay behind and protect the city while we're out." Leo said.

   "Excuse me, but I'm not an official 'savior of New York City' here," Shade started. "I have my own things to worry about here!" he protested as the crimson red eyed turtle walked towards Leo's face. "You better get used to your new job here, buddy." the blue masked turtle responded, folding his arms causally. "We need all the help we can get, and from what I can tell, you pretty much dragged yourself into this." Leo then walked off to join his brothers. "Aw come on!" Shade whined before looking at the golden amber-eyed kunoichi. "Karai, you hear this guy?! Say something to him!" he demanded. "Sorry, Shade," Karai shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not the leader here." she then walked off to join her adoptive brothers.

   Shade just stood there, stunned as his face was flushed red with anger. "Ouch, she got you good, buddy." Casey laughed at the assertive vigilante. "Don't call me buddy, punk." Shade grumbled before storming off. "Hey! We need you!" April called out to the turtle. "Let him go, April." Rufus said. "He'll come around once he realizes the situation." April looked over and saw Shade jump off to the rooftops and look down at the two humans and mutant turtle before running to the opposite direction. "I hope you're right."


   Several minutes passed, and Casey, April and Rufus saw the Shellraiser pull up the road and park next to them. The side door chimed and slid open, and both Donnie and Splinter exited the vehicle. "Please be careful, my son." Splinter advised. "We'll be fine, Sensei. We'll be back with Mikey soon." Donnie bowed his head. The purple masked turtle looked over at his friends and noticed the group was one member was short. "Where's Shade?" he asked.

   "The punk beat it as soon as you guys left." Casey responded. "Well, in that case, I'm kinda glad you decided to go topside on all this, Master Splinter." Donnie said with a nervous chuckle. "I still fear that our small squadron will not be enough, but we will do our best." Splinter responded as he joined his son's allies. April walked over to Donnie and hugged him tightly. "Be careful out there, Donnie." she said before the purple masked turtle returned the gesture. "Hey genius, we're heading out!" Raph called out from in the Shellraiser.

   Donnie heard his older brother, rolled his eyes and gently broke the hug. He looked at his father and friends one last time before nodding his head as a farewell gesture and walking back into the Shellraiser. The door slid shut and the Shellraiser drove off mere moments later. The two humans and mutants watched to see the vehicle drive off from sight, leaving a bittersweet feeling on each of them. Splinter let out a quiet sigh from his nostrils, the others sensing worry from the older mutant. "Don't worry about them, Splinter," Casey chimed in. "The others will come back with Mikey in like, no time at all." the brown-eyed teen smirked confidently. "Michelangelo is not the only son I am worried about." Splinter responded; his gaze slightly fixed at the dead plants around the area.

   Several blocks away, Shade raced through the rooftops, looking down at the chaos below him. The invasion still brewed even if the region between West 42nd and West 50th now lacked this activity. He was about a block away from his set destination and the crimson red eyed turtle hid behind a billboard. He peeked out the side before pulling out a telescope and pointing it at Shredder's lair. "Okay, Shredder," Shade said to himself. "What is it you and the Foot are planning now that the city is in peril?" a sly and arrogant smirk formed on his lips, eager to find out an answer sooner than his enemies think.