the lazarus job - tmnt (2)

seven

CHAPTER 7 

ORANGE SKINS AND ANIMAL MASKS?

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NADIA'S WARNING WAS IGNORED for the turtles simply gave her a look after she told them to run. 

"We never run from a fight," Raph spoke with a firm tone as he took out the sais from his sides and spun them around. He slowly turned his head just as the corners of his lips curled up into a smirk. "And we never leave someone behind. Even you Klutz." 

Nadia would have smiled and given him a nod if it hadn't been for the arrow that whizzed past her face. She ducked just in time for it to embed into the tree trunk behind her. Quickly, as she flexed her knuckles and glared at the attacker she spat, "They are ruthless. Show no mercy." 

"Wasn't planning to," chuckled Raph as he looked over to his brothers and nodded. Florence slowly took the pen-like shape from her back pocket and pressed the red button in the center of it, causing the small thing to extend into a massive spear. 

She held it to her side and crouched in a defensive position, giving Nadia a curt nod as she gulped, "Ready." 

"Team," called Leo, "Go!" 

Without a moment of hesitation, each turtle and girl sprung forward towards the three Raiders. Leo and Mikey fought the only woman in the trio while Florence and Donatello were left to take the other man. 

Raph and Nadia, on the other hand, were left with the biggest brute; the only man to have a massive machete in one hand, and a spiked chain in the other. 

Nadia did the first move; she ran forward and jumped up, delivering a crushing blow to the man's jaw which forced him to stumble towards Raph. The sai-spinning turtle took his sais and threw them to his machete holding hand. With a loud bellow, the man dropped his machete, allowing Nadia to run up to it, grab it, and slash it around. 

She successfully cut the man's bicep, yet it only seemed to make the man angrier. He roared out and thrashed his whole arm across Nadia's torso, successfully knocking her into a tree. The crack of her head slamming against the thick trunk made Raph cringe before he attempted to run to her. 

Instead, the man with the spiked chain walked in front of him. 

"Big mistake," growled Raph as he spun his sai and threw it at the man. With a swinging chain, the brute knocked the sai off of it's path. It clattered against the floor next to Nadia's foot, but the girl's vision was spinning so badly, that she couldn't even see her own legs. 

Raphael, with one sai left in his hand, abandoned all methods of attacking and charged like a rhino. His lips pulled back into an angry scowl as he jumped up and drop kicked the man in the chest. He staggered back a few times, a groan leaving his lips as he tried to regain his breath, but a faint squish caused the brute to freeze with an opened mouth. 

When he collapsed, Raphael got a good look at the person who killed him and for a moment, he couldn't help but take a step back. 

Nadia's scalp was slowly oozing blood and her eyes bore a look of complete savagery. The way she stood, with her blood coated machete and her panting chest, made her seem like a murderer; a cold-stone killer. 

Her hazel eyes slowly shifted upwards and upon noticing the look of hesitance in Raph's lime eyes, she slackened and staggered back. 

The machete clattered to the floor with a clang. 

She looked down to her hands, widening her eyes at the sight as she continued to stumble backward. The look of fear in her eyes was clear. 

"Nadia-" Raph called with his hands up and his palms facing her as if he was walking towards a wild animal. "C'mon, just breathe."