The Silent Partner

Going Rogue

Well here it is! Enjoy everyone! This is a long and suspenseful chapter!

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It was just another day of regular, boring, old school. April sighed and brushed her bangs away from her face. She felt someone come over and fall into step beside her. She didn't even have to look up to know it was Casey. "Hey Casey, what's up?"

"Aw, nothin'. I was just gonna head over to the rink and practice my long distance shots." He said with a shrug. There was an awkward lull in the conversation after that. They walked out of the school side by side and continued down the block. April made her way down the street at a leisurely pace and Casey continued to plod along beside her. She let out a surprised yelp when Jones snagged her arm and suddenly tugged her into an alley. "Casey! What are you—?"

"Chill, Red. I just..." Casey glanced around warily. There was no one in the alley but them. Good. But he whispered anyway just to be safe. "...wanted to ask if you've heard anything from the turtles. It's been like, days!"

"They've been quiet for longer." April pointed out making Casey pause with a contemplative frown.

"Yeah...I guess so...but don't you think we should just stop by? And what about your kuno-whatsit stuff? Aren't you supposed to train every day?"

April replied evenly. "My dad said that since Finals Week is coming up I have to devote more time to my classes and less to my training. Master Splinter wasn't too pleased to hear that, but he was very reasonable about it. I've been so busy cramming and working on projects I haven't really had time to go down much."

Casey frowned at that. "Well I'm gonna go down. I know they've been quiet before but I just—I've got this feeling that something's not right this time. So Red, you comin' or what?"

April sighed. "Alright. Let's go."

They walked slowly down the tunnels towards the turtles' lair. The closer they got, the tenser April became. She was slowly starting to think Casey was right.

Casey hopped deftly over the turnstiles and down the stairs into the main room and glanced around. There was nobody there, which was unusual. One of the guys was almost always out watching television. Unless something big was going down. April's eyes scanned the empty room thoughtfully, but the moment she reached the foot of the stairs images flashed in her mind and she cringed.

"You okay, Red?" Casey asked worriedly as he caught her by the forearms. The fear in her eyes made his grip tighten.

"You were right Casey. Something's wrong." April said, her voice breathy and spooked. "Something happened but I—I don't...know what." She strained to use her powers further, but failed to learn anything more.

Casey's face was grim. "So what do we do?"

"We try calling them." April said evenly, her hands shaking as she pulled out her t-phone and dialed in the call.

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The turtles all jumped as the chime of Leo's t-phone suddenly interrupted them. Leo removed it from his belt and checked the caller ID before answering it. "April!"

Donatello's attention was suddenly riveted to his older brother as he struggled to hear the other end on the conversation.

"Leo! Where are you guys?! What's going on? Are you guys okay?"

Leo didn't even bother asking how they had realized something was wrong. In everything that was happening he had completely forgotten to inform their human friends of what was going on. He rubbed his temples with two fingers as he realized their human friends were yet another thing he would have to take into consideration now that they had a wacked out scientist chasing after them.