Together As Mutants (Book Six)

Chapter 35: Killing Shot

Annalise stands, hands shaking as a tiny trail of smoke escapes the barrel of the gun in her hand. Stockman drops like a stone and she flinches when he lands, her heart pounding.

Crap. Crap, crap, crap.

Far below, she sees Donatello and Sarina racing to the crash site, Taylor on their heels. Stockman isn't moving. He isn't even twitching.

She throws the gun down like it's suddenly too hot to handle, nausea sweeping over her, and she drops to her knees, trembling. The rebar platform is too small, too unstable, and her muscles lock as she takes big, gulping breaths.

She didn't mean to, she just...she just reacted. It all happened so fast, too fast to think.

When the gun landed next to her, knocked out of Stockman's grip by Michelangelo, she picked it up with only the intention of keeping it away from Stockman, so that it couldn't be used against the turtles, against Mikey. But then Stockman was in the crane, destroying the ground beneath their feet. She could hear the turtles, Karai, April, Casey, all shouting, trying their best to stop the crazed bug but too overwhelmed by ants to do anything.

Annalise had a view of the crane. She could see Stockman.

The rebar hit Michelangelo in the shell and a rain of sparks flew from the motor strapped to him. Michelangelo dropped, just able to grab the rebar in time to stop his fall, but not soon enough to do anything more than brace for it as it smashed into another section of the tower.

"Mikey!" she screamed.

He was still on the rebar when Stockman wound up for another blow, but he wasn't moving. He didn't respond.

"Take thizzzzz, turtlezzz!" Stockman crowed.

Annalise let her finger clench on the trigger. The shot echoed in her ears, rattled her brain, and Stockman fell.

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"Mikey!"

Raphael drops onto the rebar next to Michelangelo, gripping his shoulder and shaking him. Michelangelo groans and Raphael pulls his Turflytle goggles off just as his eyes open. He's covered in dust, bruised in more than one place, and his arm definitely shouldn't be bending that way, but he's alive.

"What..." Michelangelo starts, blinking. "What happened?"

Raphael looks up at where Annalise still clings to the rebar platform, trembling, and his jaw clenches.

"The fight's over," he says. "We won."

"Don't think my harness is working, bro," Michelangelo admits. He lets out a weak cough, blinking a few times. "Turflytle's grounded."

Raphael purses his lips, then sighs. "Maggot Boy's got you."

Raphael hauls Michelangelo into his arms and brings him back to the ground, where Destiny already has April, Casey and Karai delivered safe and sound. He sets Michelangelo down, letting him rest. Leonardo drops down using his grappling hook, moving to his brothers the second his feet touch the earth.

"Mikey, you okay?" he asks, lightly touching his shoulder.

"Head kinda hurts, bro," Michelangelo says. "And I can't feel my arm, so..."

Leonardo purses his lips. "We'll get you fixed up." He looks up as footsteps sound from behind, harkening Sarina and Taylor's arrival. His eyes narrow. "Stockman?"

Sarina shakes her head. "He is gone." She glances at the rebar pile in the centre of the construction zone and her eyes flash. "Scumbug, however..."

April lightly touches her forehead. "I...can sense life over there. Should we do something?"