Thus Always to Tyrants

Chapter 2

Word of the day: Demarche

The word démarche refers to a course of action or a maneuver, and especially to a political or diplomatic maneuver. Démarche is also often used specifically for a petition or protest that is presented through diplomatic channels.6

The three turtles ran through what used to be a neighborhood, talking to April the whole way. "Okay April, we've pinpointed your coordinates and we're headed that way, can you tell us what you see?"

"I-I see leftover Kraang goo on the walls, a barricaded staircase, an open fridge with a flickering light..."

They all scanned their eyes across every broken down house they passed, seeing if any of them fit the description. "That's really good April, keep the deets coming." Donnie said, also attempting to keep the woman's mind off of the injured Raph in front of her.

She took a deep breath and continued. "Outside on the windowsill there's some action figure wedged in between the frame...."
"Got it!" Mikey said, turning to that very house. Leo smiled. "Nice work, Mikey!" Before they could rush in, they asked if April had cleared the house. "Not yet, me and Raph had just stumbled in here to hide." Donnie put his back up against the door and his battle shell came off, a metal hand extending out of it and handing him a small device. It looked like a telescope. He dusted it off slightly before bringing it up to his eye, squinting. "Be careful in their, guys, I see three things giving off heat in that house." He threw his thermal scope back into his battle shell as it latched itself back onto him. Leo and Mikey drew their weapons. "Remember Mikey, no portals until absolutely necessary. You need that extra strength just in case, got it?"

Mikey nodded at him. "Let's go get our brother, Leo!"

"Aannddd sneak attack." Donnie side-kicked the door open and walked inside, his wristband beeping with every move that he made. There was April in the kitchen, kneeling down next to what looked like Raph's body.
"April!" Mikey whisper shouted, sliding on his knees to get next to her. She smiled with relief and hugged him. "Hey guys, I'm okay. But...you should come see Raph."

Leo and Donnie glanced at each other unknowingly before kneeling down with them. Raph was breathing heavily, his face and chest bloodied. Leo's eyes widened and he took his brother by the hand. "Raph...?"

Donnie's breath was shaky and he wasted no time grabbing his tools from his pouch. "Everyone take two steps back." He said, lowering his goggles onto his face. "Finish clearing the house, the extra warm-blooded thing I saw was upstairs. Be careful..." He turned to face them. "It didn't exactly look human."
They nodded and took one last glance at Raph before ascending up the staircase. April gripped her bat and held it close to her, taking quiet but big steps. Mikey held each end of his kusari-fundo, his long cape swaying with him.

Leo reached the board barricades and smirked. This was easy. He pulled out his odachi swords and practically sliced them in half as they fell to the floor with a thunk. They made their way to the hallway, which had many closed doors in front of them. April quietly counted to three before opening the first door on the right, swiftly turning around to take in each corner of the room. "This one is clear." She whispered.

Mikey wove his hands together and caused his eyes to glow bright orange, seeing directly through the wall of the second door. "So's this one!"

Leo opened the third and peeked around the corner before swinging it open all the way. "And this one." They all looked to the fourth and final door at the end of the hall. They backed up into the wall and signaled to each other. April was gonna knock on the door to see if they would get a response, then Mikey was gonna call out in case it was a person in need. Then Leo would rush in.