Reckless. [TMNT 2012]

22. A Drop Too Far; Casey

Song: Naivety – A Day To Remember

I drop down from the rooftop and whip out my hockey stick. "Stop, fiends!" I shout at Tiger Claw and his minions.

    Raphael falls into place behind me. "Fiends?" the red-clad turtle mocks. "You've been listening to Leo too much."

    Tiger Claw twirls around with his ears flicking towards me, but he doesn't speak first. Instead, Rahzar and Fishface strut forward with their hideous faces contorted into smirks. They mimic each other's strengths as they square their shoulders and tense their calf muscles.

    "Look who decided to show up uninvited to the party," Fishface remarks, his accent taunting his voice. His evil eyes glint mischievously in the half-light.

    Rahzar's yellow gaze connects with mine to offer a challenge. His canine fangs jut out of his jaws menacingly. "Don't you know that it's impolite to arrive unannounced?" he sneers in a warped growl.

    I step forward to match his dominant pose. "Don't you know that it's stupid to steal stuff?" I fire back as I narrow my eyes.

    Fishface's expression is suddenly shadowed in surprise. "How do you-"

    Rahzar interrupts his companion. "Stealing? Naïve boy, you are in over your head. Do not testify on matters that you do not understand."

    "What's to understand about watching you take crates that aren't yours?" Raphael points out as his grip tightens around his sais.

    Tiger Claw approaches with a blank, emotionless face. "Enough," he orders sharply. "We do not have time for petty rivalries. We are leaving." He turns around and storms away.

    Rahzar and Fishface exchange reluctant glances. They simultaneously shoot dark glares at my best friend and I, before following their dictator.

    "No way, you uglies ain't getting away that easy!" I shout as I rush after them. Using my shoulders to keep me balanced, my feet leave the ground as I lunge at Fishface. I hook my hockey stick around his neck and force him into a headlock. As I tug my enemy backwards, Raphael launches himself at Rahzar to take him down as well.

    Fishface lets out a grunt and jabs his elbow into my stomach. Taking advantage of my surprise, he twists out of my hold and backhands my cheek.

    I flinch and stumble back, but I quickly regain my thoughts before another attack is launched. I whip out my taser and throw a punch at Fishface. As the steal connects with the robotic fish mutant, electric currents surge through the enemy. The scent of burnt flesh accompanies the lightshow, until the taser runs out of juice.

    I smirk at the mutant, who is lying in a pile of misery on the ground. "Pretty lit, right?" I sneer.

    Fishface catches me off-guard. He kicks his iron foot out and smacks my legs right in the reflexes. My knees buckle, and I end up trading places with the mutant. He towers over me a devious expression in his bulging eyes.

    "I believe that- how do the kids say it? You are tripping," the mutant mocks.

    I barely have time to rub the back of my head before a large, silver foot comes crashing own on me. Tears automatically flood my eyes as the foot lands on one of my kidneys and practically flattens it. I choke as I try to catch my breath.

    Fishface isn't finished, however. Keeping his foot on me, he presses it harder into my abdomen.

    I squirm and shake his leg, but there's no budging the robotic foot. My breath comes in short gaps as the pressure becomes more and more painful, to the point where my eyes are blurring over. I open my mouth to call the Raphael for help, but a quick glance at him shows me that he isn't in a better situation. He's pinned to a stack of crates with Rahzar's teeth dangerously close to his throat.

    Through my cloudy vision, I watch Tiger Claw step forward. "Enough of this," he snarls impatiently. "We have wasted too much time here. We have business to return to."

    As one, Raphael and I are released. We both launch into coughing fits while rubbing injured body parts; Raphael has his neck, and I have my stomach. We lay, collapsed on the boardwalk as Razhar and Fishface retreat to Tiger Claw's ranks. The three of them begin to walk away, but I can't let them go without a smart remark.

    "Cowards," I spit, my voice unusually high from the agony I'm in. "Can't even finish what you start."

    I immediately regret my retaliation. Tiger Claw spins around on his kitty toes and stomps towards my best friend and I. We're both too weak to move, so we can't defend ourselves as Tiger Claw picks both of us up by the throats.

    My airway is cut off as Tiger Claw carries us across the boardwalk. My vision is still unclear, so I can't see what's happening when some clanking sounds below me. Then, just as I feel my face turning purple, the pressure is gone. But with the pressure also goes the feeling of stability; Raphael and I are now falling into darkness.

    "Ahhh!" Raphael and I scream as we cling onto one another. Blackness swims around us like freezing cold air, until a painful thud ends the rush.

    I lay on my back, winded. However, the fall cleared my vision. As I am crippled on the chilly floor of the sewers, I can just make out a tiny circle of light above me. Tiger Claw's silhouette contaminates the glow. Then a manhole cover is put on it, and I see nothing else.

    "Casey, where are you?" Raphael's voice is so close to my ear that I nearly jump out of my skin.

    "Here, man," I respond as I reach for what I assume to be his shoulder.

    "Casey." I can't see him, but Raphael sounds uncomfortable.

    "Yeah?"

    "Why are you touching my thigh?"

    I quickly let go of Raphael. I can feel heat flooding my face, and I'm glad it's too dark for Raphael to see. "Sorry, I-"

    A loud, menacing groan splits the air. I'm on my feet in an instant, and a scuffling sound tells me that Raphael does the same.

    Through the blinding darkness, I can just make out a scary-looking figure with glowing black eyes. Then another shape appears. And another. And another, until an entire group of moaning, smelly creatures have completely filled one side of the sewer tunnels.

    "Um, Casey," Raphael says, his green eyes shining with fear.

    "Yeah, Raph?" I ask, though I have a feeling I know what he is going to say.

    Raphael inhales deeply and yells, "RUN!"