TMNT is the property of Mirage- hey! I got the new Leo- you squeeze his legs, and his arms "spin"- sweeeeeet...

Bishop

True to their agreement, Leo and Raph made sure that the others wouldn't be involved once they had located Bishop. When Raph had called to Leo that he'd found him, they had both taken off down this private corridor as fast as they could go, following the twists and turns as if they knew the way instinctively.

Their fight with Bishop had given them hope- they had wounded him to the point where he'd had to flee- and in the process, from the first moment when Raph had stabbed the unsuspecting man, they had managed to place every tracking devise Leo had "liberated" from Don's work desk on their enemy.

A few of the beeps indicated that he'd either found or accidentally dropped some on the way, but Raph and Leo followed the strongest group signal on the tracker, which never wavered.

Twist, turn, the corridors were a maze in this underwater bunker, but Leo and Raph unfailingly followed the signal.

They ran into a small group of armed guards.

"Halt!" the man in charged ordered.

Raph was already on him as he gave the wavering order to "fire!"- then he spoke no more. Leo's katana, dripping blood, were coated in more as he and his brother ruthlessly and swiftly dealt with these men who stood between them and their revenge.

Neither one allowed himself to think about anything other than Bishop; there would be time for remorse later.

The remainder, though armed with heavy firepower, were none the less hesitant to use it in this underwater facility. It mattered little to them that Bishop had time and again assured them it would be safe- they had not relished this assignment, this location- this entire deal!

Swift, brutal, and hopefully painless, Raph and Leo dispatched as many as they could before the rest turned tail and ran for their lives.

No time to worry about the dead and dying.

More running, more running.

More fighting.

More blood.

And the two brothers were almost identical in their appearance, the blood of many staining them to the point that they were leaving a fairly grisly trail for the others to follow.

More running, more running- one more turn, one more brief battle where the weapons and skill and determination of two well-trained Ninja were no match for the panicked resistance of a handful of well-armed men- men who did not want to die for any reason!

They found him in the training room- a large "dojo", well-stocked with the latest in training equipment and plenty of weapons- and only one way out.

Inside was Bishop and his six so-called "super soldiers".

They were dressed all in red, Ninja-style, from the tabi boots to the hooded masks. Their weapons gleamed in the light, sharp and dangerous- one had katana, one sai- one wielded the naginata, a long pole with the razor-sharp curved blade at the end. A fourth one was twirling the chain end of the kusarigama, a long-range weapon that looked like a short-bladed scythe with a long weighted chain attached, while the fifth and sixth stood ready with the shinobigatana- the short "ninja" sword, complete with long chord for easy retrieval.

"Look, Leo! Wannabes!" Raph laughed, eyes on Bishop the entire time.

"Kind of reminds me of one of those really bad martial arts movies Mikey always wants to watch," Leo grinned in return, eyes also on their target- yet neither one took the planned resistance for granted. "You know, with the really bad dubbing?"

"And how about that? They're all that stand between us and our old pal Bishop. Hello, Bishop," Raph continued to grin, ready to finish this one way or the other. "We never really got to chat earlier. How's the evil scientist business?"

Bishop was suffering, but slowly healing. His arm where Leo had chopped off his hand had sealed over- it was a freaky sight, no scar, no anything to indicate that he'd ever had a hand. The wounds they'd inflicted on him in the lab were not visible- but he was suffering. Blood took time to regenerate, and Bishop was coated in enough to alert the Turtles to his weakened condition.

He was sure that the internal injuries would heal with time- and he intended to have that time!

"Ah, the mutated freaks have managed to track me down," he said, showing his usual arrogance. "Ready to let me finish what I started all those months ago?"

"Oh, something is going to be finished today, you can count on it," Leo said grimly- and with a grin that matched Raph's in deadly determination. "We guarantee it."

"You freaks may have corrupted my Slayer, but you've yet to face my most powerful of men. And they are incorruptible." Bishop gloated. "But you are stingy, offering only two of you to fall to my 'super soldiers'. Not much of a challenge for them. They had been looking forward to fighting that poor excuse for a father of yours, but even he knew he'd not fare well. Gave up at once. And now here are you two, by yourselves, getting ready to take on six of my best. Fools to the end."

"I guess so, pal," Raph laughed, and he deliberately turned and, with a showy flourish, disabled the computerized door so no one could get in- or out.

The gesture was not lost on Bishop. He actually looked a bit worried.

"It's hardly a fair fight, Raph," Leo said, absently wiping one of the more bloodstained katana on his wrist band. "I mean, there's three for each of us."

"Yeah. The first part, though, that seems fair," Raph, twirling his sai, nodded in thought. "But there is Bishop. Hmmm... I guess we'll have to share him."

"You two are pathetic," Bishop snarled in defiant return. "Gentlemen, attack."

It was a violent, bloody fight.

Words cannot describe the battle.

Both sides sustained serious injury.

The 'super soldiers' had that strange, unnatural ability to heal- but not at the rate of the Slayer or even Bishop. They were skilled and deadly, and the fight was vicious.

Leo and Raph, working on sheer adrenaline, were doing more damage to these six than what they were doing to them.

The chain end of the kusarigama snaked out, entangling Raph's left wrist. At the same time the man wielding it gave a mighty yank, hauling Raph towards him and the waiting business end of the weapon.

But Raph went with the movement, accelerated his own speed by breaking into an unexpected run, and both sai did their job- the left blocking the short blade, the right piercing straight through the owner.

Leo, faced with the two carrying the shorter shinobigatana, was impressed with their fighting skills. He smiled to himself. Good. That would make this all the more easier. There was no honor in killing the unskilled-

Leo looked as if he were performing a graceful kata- only this one resulted in the loss of limbs.

But they could heal. And the guys couldn't.

It was a violent, bloody fight.

"Well, the trail is easy to follow," Mike said grimly, as they came upon the remains of the first group of guards who had tried to stop them. Though the corridor merged with another, it didn't take long to find the bloody footprint of a turtle pointing the direction that the two vengeance seeking brothers had taken.

April kept her eyes averted as much as possible. She had known that it would be gruesome. She had witnessed such horrors a lot this year. But it didn't stop being horrendous.

They couldn't talk Splinter into waiting in the Battle Shell. He insisted on going- he had to stop his foolish sons, he kept insisting, and they knew that it was impossible to keep him from accompanying them. So Leatherhead was carrying him, while Casey and Mikey led the way, and Don and April provided close cover protection- after all, Leatherhead would be hard pressed to fight while assisting Splinter. Honeycutt brought up the rear, carrying Don's bag of tricks so the turtle could be free of the distractions.

Another group of unfortunate guards were discovered. The blood was making it hard to travel through the area quickly; the floor was slick with gore. April could feel her stomach churning as the smell of death assailed her nostrils; she swallowed again and again to keep from throwing up. She would have felt ashamed at such a happening.

Next to her, Don could feel his stomach churning as the smell of death assailed his nostrils; he swallowed again and again to keep from throwing up. He would have felt ashamed at such a happening.

Now they could easily see the foot prints of both turtles as they ran down the hall; in the distance they saw an open door, and literally skidded to a halt, cautiously approaching. From where they were they could hear the battle.

They entered to find themselves in a chamber that resembled a combination resting area and monitoring station, equipped with couches for relaxing on as well as workstations that seemed to allow visual access to all parts of the facility. At the far end was a large door that had no knob or apparent way of opening it except by an electronic combination.

The sound of fighting grew louder as they approached this door.

Right outside the door, the sound of the fight could be heard plain as anything.

The yelling, the cursing; the literal noise of fighting, the clash and clang of steel on steel; the sickening sound of flesh being pierced by razor sharp steel; the throat tearing screams of those whose flesh was being pierced by razor sharp steel; the shouted commands of Bishop, demanding that his men "Kill them! You are stronger than them! Pathetic bastards, KILL THEM!"; and the words spoken between brothers bent on ending this here and now.

"Donatello! Open this door! We must stop them! We must!" Splinter, forcing Leatherhead to put him down, was almost frantic in his desire to get to his sons, to prevent this suicide!

But Don, Honeycutt, and Leatherhead were not having any luck with the disabled computer lock. Honeycutt tried again and again to correct the damage; Don and Leatherhead desperately tried to electronically jimmy the lock.

A monitor attracted Mikey's attention. He looked closer.

"The fight! I can see the fight!"

It was a small monitor- the larger ones were not working, and this one, small and in black and white, was not showing the best picture. Much damage had been done to the system. April and Casey joined Mikey, crowding around this tiny "window" into the next room- while Don, Honeycutt and Leatherhead continued to desperately try to open the door. Splinter, leaning heavily against the wall, kept his eyes riveted upon their work, poised to enter as soon as they could open it.

"Raph, behind you!"

"Got him! Duck, Leo!"

"Fools! You are just prolonging the inevitable!"

"Then do us a favor and die already! Hyyyyy-yahhh!"

"I will destroy you both!"

"Here's a present from my brother Mikey!"

"And this is for Master Splinter!"

The blood was flying. So were the body parts.

The screams were deafening. Some of the cries of pain came from the guys- but these were immediately followed by battle cries in Japanese and English. These they did to encourage each other, and it worked- they couldn't heal like these "super soldiers" but they had their own healing in the strength of each other, in the defiant strength of each other!

April couldn't watch. Even though the reception and picture were not very good, even though the feed was in black and white, she couldn't watch.

Even Casey had a hard time.

Now there were only five standing.

Now there were only four.

Now only three- Bishop and the boys.

"So much for super-soldiers," Raph said coldly.

Bishop wasted no more words.

The resulting fight was even worse than what had just taken place.

The camera feed to the monitor was damaged. The images were blurred to the point of being unrecognizable.

Then it gave out all together.

But the sounds- the sounds were horrible!

They seemed to go on forever, though it was probably only ten minutes.

They could hear Leo, but not Raph.

They could hear Raph, but not Leo.

They could hear Bishop, but not the guys.

Horrible gurgling sounds! Horrible gurgling, choking sounds greeted their ears! Horrible horrible- the noise of something soft being hit repeatedly with something hard- the gagging of a throat that has been severely injured- the swish through the air of a weapon being quickly and powerfully swung at an enemy, ending in that abrupt noise of metal striking bone... the groans... the whimpers... the gasps...

The silence. The heart-stopping silence.

Splinter stood frantically outside the room, calling to the boys, while the trio tried every way possible to unlock the computerized door.

"My sons! My sons! Answer me! Leonardo! Raphael, my son!" he kept shouting, while April supported him and tried not to show her fears for their lives.

"Stupid computer locks!" Don shouted, hitting it with his fist once before Leatherhead stopped him from injuring himself.

"Here, let me help," Casey finally said, and, with the help of Mikey, smashed the door as hard as possible with one of the couches present in the room.

Leatherhead pushed the heavy door open, and they all stood frozen at the sight.

The brothers were standing in the middle of a blood-coated room, dripping with gore, surrounded by bodies and body parts.

In front of them- what was left of Agent Bishop.

Mangled, hacked into several pieces; head smashed in places so that brain matter was spilling onto the floor; so much blood. So much blood.

Bishop had been dealt with permanently.

There would be no sequel to his evil.

April recoiled in horror at the carnage. Casey gagged and struggled to keep control. Mikey averted his eyes for a moment, then forced himself to look at his brothers.

Splinter gasped at the sight of his sons. They stood there, holding each other up. Leo and Raph were supporting each other physically and emotionally. They were drenched in blood- both their bandanas were red with blood; their feet were covered up to their ankles in blood, as if they'd been wading in pools of it. They swayed slightly, then steadied each other, breathing hard it appeared; gasping it seemed, from emotion and exhaustion.

And yet they made no sounds.

They couldn't move, it seemed. They were frozen in time, statues in a gory tableau of retribution.

They were victorious, but not jubilant.

And they strangely looked at peace.

They were bleeding so much, Splinter feared for their lives.

Don, Mike, Leatherhead and Casey, all four fighting the revulsion that touched even the giant Crocodile, got them to move out of the room- "Come on, guys... that's it, slowly... that's the way... almost there..."- and April, seeing no other survivors, partly closed the damaged door.

They collapsed together, once outside the gruesome room.

"They will die together," Splinter feared in a whisper, then banished the thought from his mind, and determined to save their lives, began ordering everyone with practical commands to do what he wanted.

"My God, you guys are going to bleed to death!" April muttered, trying to take care of Raph's immediate injuries with Mike's and Leatherhead's help.

"You should see the other guys," he laughed weakly. "Here, Mikey- I borrowed this," and he handed Mike his 'chuk, dripping with blood and brain matter. "Bishop said thanks for thinking of him... uhhh..."

"Most of this... is theirs, anyway... " Leo managed to say, as Splinter and Casey tried to take care of his worst wounds with the items at hand, while Honeycutt discovered a small adjoining room where first aid supplies were kept, returning with the welcome items that were desperately needed; everything that Don and April had packed wasn't enough for the extent of these wounds. "Most of... this is theirs.."

"Dude, that is not true," Casey contradicted, putting pressure on a particularly deep cut on Leo's arm while waiting for Don to make a thick bandage to put over it. "Sit still! Let us get a bandage on this!"

"We will discuss this later," Splinter said sternly to the two, "but for now, let us get you home!"

As Casey, April, Mike, Honeycutt and Splinter helped the wounded out of the facility and into the Battle Shell, Don and Leatherhead made sure the place would never be used again. Once the word came that the place had been evacuated of all survivors (including the remainders of Bishop's men and the "volunteers"), the timers were set. Don left in his sub; Leatherhead opted to swim.

The explosion rocked the area for a half-mile, sending a geyser of water high into the air and startling local fishermen.

Bishop was dead.

Now it remained to be seen if Leo and Raph would join him.