The Shadow's Secret│TMNT

48 || Breached

"Perimeter infringe, breached!" Donnie announced. "We have incoming!" Without hesitation, I shot to my feet and followed the turtles' thundering footsteps to the monitor wall with a racing heart. I knew they were here. I knew it was the Footclan—could feel it in my bones. I just couldn't understand how they managed to find us.

"Oh no oh no!" Donnie moaned, sliding into the chair in front of the TVs. "We got two breaches!" He adjusted his glasses nervously and began typing madly while staring at the monitor. I watched in growing horror as images of black-clad Footclan soldiers bearing guns and long, weird batons marched across the screens. "Fan room!" He cried. "Weapons wall!" Leo jumped into action, taking charge immediately.

"Mikey," he called. "Flank right!" The youngest turtle nodded and took off. "Donnie! On me!" Leo hopped anxiously on his feet while waiting for his brother to stand from his seat. "We gotta go!" He yelled, spinning and running off. "Go! Go!" Donatello tore his worried gaze from the monitors.

"Raiya!" I spun and found Raphael rushing toward me from the dojo, swerving to avoid being barrelled over by Leo, then Donnie as he followed his brother.

Oh no. No way in hell am I gonna leave them to deal with these fuckin pricks!

"I need a weapon," I said, trying to sidestep the turtle before he could demand I leave or accuse me of being the cause of this. His hand clamped onto my shoulder and wrenched me around to face him. I shrugged off his grip harshly fully prepared to defend myself from the mutant's aggressive words, but before I could yell at him my eyes fell on the tantō blade and leather belt of kunai knives he held out.

"No lethal hits. And don't get close to them unless you have to," he advised, dropping the weapons into my hand and running off as I stared at him in disbelief. And I couldn't believe that he'd just spoken to me with almost no hostility in his voice.

Hurry it up, Raiya. You don't have time for this, I reminded myself, throwing the belt on overtop of my hoodie and buckling it as quickly as I could manage. Splinter's voice rang out through the lair, yelling something I couldn't quite catch. And then something exploded, rendering me momentarily deaf. I stumbled on my feet as tremors shot through the floor and walls of the lair. A thick cloud of dust rolled in from the dojo, causing my eyes to sting and my throat to tickle despite having turned away from it. Dimly, I heard Leo call Donnie's name from the dojo where the explosion went off. And then I heard new voices. And my stomach dropped like a sack of flour.

Holy shit holy shit holy shit. The sounds of a scuffle reached my roaring ears and I willed myself to calm down.

Breathe.

Inhale...exhale...

Calm.

I tucked the tantō into my belt and pulled the sleeves of my hoodie up before drawing two knives; the weight of the weapons helping to steady my hands and even my breathing. Calm, I reminded myself, stay calm. You got this.

I tugged my hood on and released another breath, my heart rate returning to normal. I got this.

"They've got tranq darts!" Donnie said, the panic in his voice instantly kicking me into action. I darted forward and slid into a crouch, pressing my side against the concrete wall and peeking around the corner. Through the dangling strips of plastic stretching across the entrance to the adjacent room, I saw Leo and Donnie laying on the floor.

"Well don't let them hit your skin," the leader replied. "Let's go! Let's move!" They scrambled to their feet, simultaneously drawing their weapons and spinning their backs toward the approaching Foot soldiers as they opened fire. I drew a flap of plastic away to provide myself with an opening. My gaze zeroed in on the closest soldier's gun and I drew a kunai back over my shoulder, then snapped it forward and sent the knife clean into the muzzle of the assault rifle, effectively halting the steady stream of darts he was firing.