ROTTMNT OC Story - The Rise of Sophie

Part 9: Train of Pain

The turtle tank zoomed through the streets of New York, all the brothers were piled in. After looking through the sewers all night, they looked up on the surface. Raph was driving to keep a lookout, Leo was on the phone with Splinter, and Donnie was working on his tracker with the help of Mikey.

"Of course, we'll be home in time for dinner dad. Sophie wanted this toy in New Jersey, and you know how Jersey is this time of year. Okay, going through a tunnel, alright dad, bye," Leo chuckled as he hung up the phone, then let out a sigh, "Okay guys I bought us like another two hours but he's starting to get suspicious. Did you hear anything from April?"

"She hasn't heard anything from Sophie either," Donnie sighed, his eyes glued on his tracker, "I don't know why my tracking device isn't working, the signal goes in and out. Why isn't it finding her?"

"Do you think she went looking for us after we snuck out? Could one of those villains have gotten to her?" Mikey asked, clinging to Donnie, and looking back at Raph for answers.

"She wouldn't do that. Sophie hasn't trained with us in years, she's smart enough to stay behind," Raph reassured, but doubt still plagued his mind as he played out the whole day in his head.

Leo tensed up, looking down at the controls. The only thing going through his head is when he caught Sophie sneaking out. He wish he could go back and ask more questions, what if she had been caught in something bad? He couldn't tell them though, it would get everyone mad. Leo shook his head out of it and went back to the controls. 

"Stop the car," Donnie shouted, and instantly the tank came to a complete stop.

"Did you see her?" Mikey asked excitedly, looking out the window for her.

"Kind of, her panic button is going off. It's faint but, it says she's down that alley," Donnie said, pointing at an alley on the other side of the street.

Raph parked the tank in the alley, the headlights illuminating the dark alley. Everyone had gotten out, following Donnie's lead. They came to a halt at the dumpster in front of them, each scared to know what would happen if they opened it.

"If it's bad, you guys shouldn't have to see it," Raph muttered, walking up to the dumpster and opening it up. 

He tilted his head, looking around the dumpster. He motioned them to come closer, and they looked down to see what looked like an empty dumpster. But the more you looked into it, there wasn't a bottom. The brothers leaned down to get a closer look, but then Mikey lost his footing and fell in. One by one they fell in after him until eventually, they crashed onto the hard ground. They were on a mountain, and below them was the Hidden City.

"How are we back here?" Mikey asked, looking up to see if he could see the entrance.

"It must be some kind of pocket portal, connecting the two cities," Donnie hypothesized, looking back at the tracker when it made a loud beeping noise, "She's here. Sophie's down here."

"Are you sure?" Leo asked, looking at the track, he couldn't believe it.

"Well come on, if her button is going off that means she's in trouble," Raph said, taking charge down the mountain.

Leo, Donnie, and Mikey trailed after their big brother the city illuminating below them. The brothers didn't know what to make of it, but they had no time for questions or what-ifs.

---

Meanwhile, Sophie sat on a bench waiting for Juniper to come back. She had done a full sweep of half the station and Juniper would do the other half. She finally had time to think about her next move. Draxum would gloat if he managed to hurt her brothers, so they must've been fine. Which did give her peace of mind, but then came to the other questions she had to answer, what would her excuse be?