The Red Shadow (TMNT)

The Shredder (Part One)

The team reached the warehouse with no delays. All was well, but Leo knew it was only a matter of time before something went wrong; everything was going too smoothly; but he kept his worries to himself; not wanting to alarm his brothers, and especially not Addy. She had no clue what she was getting into, but Leo could only trust that Raph did.

"Alright everyone, were here, it's time to gear up," said Leo, standing up.

"Everyone's got their Shell Cell's, right?" Donnie asked.

They all patted down their sides to feel for it and nodded, then continued with their preparations. Ropes, smoke bombs, ninja stars, and throwing knives were divvied out to equalize them and maximize their chances of success.

Addy was beginning to show her nervousness. She had never been in a real fight with weapons before and seeing all the gear they were packing made her start to shake a little bit. She was definitely feeling that she had gotten herself way over her head. Raph put both of his hands on her shoulders and said, "You'll do great, I promise."

"I would love to believe you," she sighed. He kissed her forehead and pulled back. "Don't make me a promise, if you know you can't keep it."

Raph looked a little sad, but then tensed up his face and nodded. "I always keep my promises."

Leo, Mikey, and Donnie all stepped out of the van. Raph and Addy followed closely behind, and all were looking around for any enemies.

Leo couldn't hide his intuition any longer and had to speak up. "Guys, I don't like the look of this, it's too easy. I think Shredder knows we're coming to help Splinter."

"Bro, you always worry too much," Mikey said.

This put Addy at even more unease and she tightened her grip on Raphs arm. "Leo, do you mind not scaring our newest member of the team, my blood circulation would thank you too," Raph said looking down at his arm. Addy had a death grip on him but then she loosened up. "Ha, sorry," she whispered shyly.

Addy finally loosened up enough to grab her sais from her back pockets. She wanted to not be afraid. She wanted to fight, but all of this was new to her.

They finally reached a small square shaft on the outside of the building near the loading docks. Donnie unscrewed all of the bolts and looked over his map again. "Yeah, this should be clear; no fans, and few Foot soldiers," he said with a look of concentration on his face.

"I'll go first," declared Leo, and the others followed after him.

Raph waited until the others were in the vent and then gave Addy one last look before he entered and gave her a huge kiss on the lips to reinforce his devotion and she kissed him back to show hers too.

"If you feel like it's too much, or if you feel like you're not ready just find something to hide behind. It's a warehouse so there's bound to be shelter somewhere." He said.

"Affirmative," she said in a soldierly tone, and saluted him; trying to make light of the situation.

Raph just laughed quietly and entered the vent; needing to stay close to the others. Addy kept a safe distance from Raph in case the action started, but not too far, also in the case of danger befalling them.

All of a sudden Leo stopped and held a fist in the air and the others had to stop as well. Donnie, who was behind him mouthed, "what?"

Leo just pointed to the left, signaling that that was where they needed to go; he could feel it. They continued to crawl until they heard voices faintly below.

"Splinter!" Mikey almost yelled, and Raph quickly put his hand over his mouth and gave him a nasty look.

"You wanna get us killed knucklehead!?" He growled, and gave him a slap on the head.

Leo smiled at the sight of their father but dismissed his grin when he saw how frail and worn down he was from fighting Shredder. They all leveled themselves in front of the vent opening trying to get a look inside.

Raph was boiling inside and didn't wanna just sit and watch. "Leo, we need to go now!"

"I'm just counting how many of them are down there, and there seems to be one ninja in particular wearing a different outfit." "He must be a higher rank; I suggest we stay clear of him."

"Donnie, can you get this covering off?" He asked.

"Yeah, just lemme get my.." He said digging in his satchel.

"Arrrgh for the love of.." Raph growled and pushed them outta the way and kicked the covering as hard as he could and it came off with ease.

"Or that," Leo said. "Except for the part where you compromised our position!!!"

"Let's move!" screamed Raph; "Sensei needs us!"

That was the only thing they could do at this point and they all jumped down pulling out their weapons. Addy stayed up in the shaft for the time being while the boys did their thing.

"My sons!" "You must leave while you can, get out of here!" Screamed Splinter with the energy he had left in him.

"Never!" Yelled Raph and they began fighting the Foot soldiers; putting all of them down with ease until they got to the last one; the one guarding Shredder.

The soldier withdrew their small sword and charged at Leo, throwing a ninja star at him, it landed in his thigh and he went down screaming.

"LEO!" They all screamed. Donnie was the next to try his luck. He managed to deflect their sword attacks with his bow until the last strike split his bow in half and the soldier kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying and knocking the wind out of him.

"Alright you punk," screamed Mikey, "You asked for it!!"

Mikey was swinging his nunchucks at their head but the soldier proved too speedy for even Mikey. And his chain got caught in the Foot's sword and the soldier threw his nunchuck to the side and flipped him over their shoulder giving a heavy blow to his shell and it let out a cracking sound.

The soldier put their foot on Mikey's stomach and gave a satisfied grunt, as if to say, who's next?

"That's it! "I've had it with you guys!" "No one hurts my brothers but me!" By this time both Raph and the soldier were a little more weary from fighting, but this didn't hinder their battle.

Addy had been watching the entire time and her heart sank when she realized it was Raphs turn to fight. "That guy has already kicked everyone else's shell I can't sit here and let Raph get hurt," "You've got to do something girl, be strong." Before she realized what she was doing, she was leaning too far over the edge of the vent and fell down.

"ADDY!" screamed Raph. The soldier grinned under their mask and saw this girl as a weakness to the turtle and drew the fight towards her, planning to steal her away as a term of negotiation. Addy was hiding behind a crate, exhaling loudly and hoping no one would attack her, but she muscled the courage to withdraw her sais just in case.

While the two were fighting, Donnie and Mikey managed to get back up and ran over to Leo first to pull out the blade and stop the bleeding, and then over to Sensei's horizontal body. Shredder was fast approaching them though, so they had to think fast. Mikey threw a smoke bomb at his face while Donnie picked Sensei up to drag him off to a safer location so they could deal with the Shredder. This just angered Shredder and he charged again at the two turtles. Donnie and Mikey managed to ensnare Shredder in a web of ropes leaving him defenseless and worked quickly to tie off the rope.

"Ha!" Said Donnie, "Not so tough without your little bodyguard, are ya?"

Raph lasted the longest, but eventually the soldier's small blade sliced the top of this arm. He let out a loud scream and stumbled backwards trying to hold back the fresh flow of the sticky liquid that matched his mask color. The soldier ran to look for Addy. Finding her with ease, they snatched her up and held the blade to her throat.

Raph just froze. There was never a more terrifying moment in his life and no physical pains he had ever endured could compare to this burden he felt right now and he let go of his arm; just letting his wound burn.

He couldn't bare to look at Addy's horrified face, but he couldn't look away, he was useless to her in this moment of terror, and Addy began to weep uncontrollably begging for Raph to save her and for the killer to let her go.

The soldier finally removed their mask showing messy hair and a bloody lip.

"KARAI!?" shrieked Raph.

"Life for life, let my father go or the girl dies," she growled deeply and with a sincere evil in her eyes.

TO BE CONTINUED...;)