Like Father Like Son [ROTTMNT]

Chapter Eighteen: His Name

Mikey studied how far of a gap it was, looking down at his kusari-fundo before shaking his head. "Not with that kind of distance."

Right. Raph spotted a fire escape on the building where they currently perched and jerked his head towards it. The clock was ticking.

The four scrambled down the skinny ladders, the guardrails rusty and sharp as clammy hands hastily grasped at them. Raph tried to keep his gaze on the stairs flying underneath him so he could focus on not tripping, but he couldn't help but sneak peeks at their target. Nothing obviously pointed at Leo being there, but there did seem to be the soft glow of...

"Oozequitoes," Mikey gasped, pausing for a moment to lean out over the rail. "He must still be there!"

Raph kept going, faster now, grabbing the railing and vaulting over it when only one floor remained. He dropped to the ground before glancing back up and behind him.

The others followed without question, landing in crouches before they all sprinted across the street. A taxi blared its horn at them, floodlights blinding Raph for a moment, but he kept going, quickly glancing over his shoulder to see if everyone had made it across in one piece.

"Uh, are we going to need to do damage control on people seeing all of... this?" April gasped out as they skidded to a stop in front of the building.

Raph craned his neck, searching for another fire escape. No luck, and it was too tall to climb it without tech. Breaking and entering it was, then.

Donnie nodded. "I'm deleting any footage of us-" Crack! Raph felt around for the door's inner lock as glass littered the ground. He found it and twisted, using his left shoulder to ram into the door and shove it open. "-as we go," Donnie finished, his phone still in his hands, fingers tapping away. "That, I can do. And we can spread rumors of a movie being filmed around here later."

They hurried inside, Raph starting to head for the stairs until Mikey grabbed his arm and tugged him towards the elevator instead. He hesitated, considering how many floors were in between them and Leo, before nodding. No need to waste a chance to catch their breath.

He was relieved the building still had power- somehow he had half expected that with their luck, it wouldn't- as the elevator slid open almost as soon as Donnie jabbed the button. They all squeezed inside of the small box, tense as the elevator hummed and started towards the floor marked RF.

"We ready?" April asked as the numbers above the doors steadily climbed.

Mikey didn't even look at her, staring straight ahead. "I've been ready for a month, April."

Donnie rubbed his other elbow with one hand, reaching back to unhook a simple wooden bo staff from his back. "As I'll ever be," he muttered.

"Stick to the plan," Raph said, swallowing. He could feel himself sweating, could feel his nervousness stink rolling off of him. To their credit, his siblings didn't point it out today. "It'll work. We've got this, Mad Dogs."

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

Mikey and April rushed out, Raph and then Donnie following. A wind snatched at Raph's mask, the tails blowing in the night breeze. Clouds drifted across the sliver of the moon, cloaking the roof in darkness, a theater curtain sliding shut as the stage was set up for the performance to follow.

Up ahead, a figure crouched at the edge of the roof. The telltale green glow of oozequitoes backlit him, the yokai apparently in the middle of releasing several into the air.

"Draxum," April said grimly, her grip tightening on her baseball bat. Raph and Mikey also got into a fighting stance, Donnie hesitantly brandishing his old wooden bo.