Stronger

Chapter Ten

   He made his way through the sewers, checking every dark shadow along the way and flinching at every noise. He rubbed his bare arms, feeling the cold chill like never before. Just before he had entered a manhole, he had thrown away his sweater, wondering if Brief had placed a tracker on it, and decided that the risk was too great to trust.

   Because that escape was way too short, he thought.

   And now he was almost at the lair. The thought put a slight bounce in his step and he soon made it inside.

   The first thing that got to him was the silence. Before, it would get quiet, but that was like time had frozen everything but Mikey. He gulped as he walked along the rooms, seeing nobody.

   "Leo?" he decided to call out. "Raphie? Donatello!"

   Someone groaned in the living room and Mikey rushed to the sound. "Leon!" he shouted happily, throwing himself against his brother.

   His brother moaned again and rasped, "Hey, Mikey. I'm glad you are okay."

   Michelangelo pulled away. "What happened to you? And where are the other two?"

   "In the lab," his brother responded. He shifted, looking away. "I am sorry, Mikey."

   "For what?"

   "For not believing you. You were right. That man is going to use you, and is going to hurt us to make sure he has your attention." Leo sighed, looking at his brother. "How did you realize we were fighting him? Obviously you are not scratched."

   "Blame Raph," he said ruefully. "I got to the alley, but when you guys did not come, I went back. By the time I found you guys, you and Dee were out and only Raph was okay. Long story short, he told me to leave, I would not, he created a portal with your sword, and I ended up in Brief's office. He found me and I escaped."

   "What?" Leo's eyes were wide. "Did he touch you?"

   "No."

   He relaxed again. "Then he would not have been able to put a tracker on you."

   "No, but I did find my orange sweater. The one I lost a month ago."

   "You are always losing your things, Mikey, that I cannot keep track of them all. Where did you find it?"

   "In Brief's office. But I threw it away before I got here, just in case he did something to it. I think he recently found it, though."

   "Who is Brief?" Leo asked, laying down on the couch again.

   "That man. That's what he told me to call him." Mikey sighed and grabbed Leon's hand. "Bro, I don't want you guys to get hurt. And this man is dangerous. What should I do?"

   Leo smiled slightly. "Nothing. Just stay away from him and never listen to him."

   "But you guys are getting hurt!" he protested. "Because of me."

   "Mikey, we want you out of this. We will try to find a way to defeat him. Today . . . we were not ready for him. But next time, we will be."

   "Yeah, even with our special weapons we were no match for him," he mumbled. "He looks like a human, but is a hundred times stronger than one. And does he even use any weapons? Actually, those bladed ones," he said, remembering last night.

   "I do not know, but they seem to give him super strength, like Raph's Tonfas," Leon said thoughtfully. "Maybe, if we can get a hold of his weapons, we can defeat him?"

   "That is worth a try," Donnie said, limping out of the lab, catching their attention. "At this rate, I am willing to try anything."

   "But how are we going to reach them?" Raphie asked, following his slightly younger brother. A lot of red slashes decorated his body, but he seemed not to notice them.