The Casey Chronicles (5 page)

Knowing he had to protect April,
Donnie sized up the Dark Ninja Robot, trying to figure out the best plan of attack. He knew it could fly, but could it fight?

Donnie spun his
bo
staff and charged forward. He swung full-force at the robot's head, but the Dark Ninja Robot was too quick for that. With a simple, effortless move, the robot caught Donnie's staff in midair.

April tried to run, but something started pulling her back. She felt a hot, almost-liquid substance bundling her arms together. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. A bright crackle of energy coiled around her like a glowing rope. It was the Dark Ninja Robot's plasma whip!

“Let me go!” April pleaded.

She tried to wriggle free, but it was no use. The Dark Ninja Robot was much too strong.

She waited for the robot to finish her off. Lucky for her, it had a sophisticated ID scanner. It quickly recognized her.

“System override,” the Dark Ninja Robot announced. “Do not destroy April O'Neil. Capture for the Kraang!”

And with that, the Dark Ninja Robot activated its thrusters and began to fly away with April in tow!

Karai gasped. This wasn't the plan! Using her spear, she knocked the robot off its flight path, bringing it and April to the ground with a thud.

The Dark Ninja Robot studied Karai. “Threat detected,” it announced. “Eliminate threat.”

Karai backed up cautiously.

Seeing his opportunity, Donnie ran past the robot to April.

“Are you okay?” he asked, helping her up.

“For once,” April began with a relieved smile, “I'm actually glad the Kraang want to kidnap me.”

Meanwhile, inside the
Shellraiser
,
the other Turtles kicked their rescue efforts into high gear with the help of their best tracking device. They finally had a bead on April's coordinates.

“Left, Leo!” Raph barked from his navigation station. “The signal's getting stronger!”

Leo turned the wheel hard, banking around a corner and into a park. It wasn't long before the
Shellraiser's
headlights flashed on a familiar figure … the Dark Ninja Robot! The metal warrior was gaining ground on April and Donnie.

Leo hit the brakes, cut the wheel, and sent the
Shellraiser
spinning into a high-speed three-sixty. At fifty miles per hour, the vehicle was like an unstoppable wrecking ball of pure steel, slamming into the Dark Ninja Robot and sending it flying through the air. It hit a nearby brick wall with a crash, the impact frying some of its core circuits.

“Oh, yeah!” Mikey cheered. “Firing manhole covers!”

Mikey squeezed the trigger and opened fire on the Dark Ninja Robot. A barrage of manhole covers bounced off the robot's face.

Mikey screamed, “Eat it, Chrome Dome!”

The Dark Ninja Robot suddenly stood up, alert. It shook off the damage and activated its heat vision, slicing the incoming manhole covers with ease. The iron disks fell to the cement in cauterized lumps.

Now it was the robot's turn. It lashed out with its plasma whip, catching Mikey off guard in an electrically charged corkscrew. The robot tore Mikey away from his cannon and threw him aside.

Leo and Raph leaped out after him not a moment too soon. The robot made a beeline toward the van and flipped it over. It bounced off a wall with a crash.

Leo watched the
Shellraiser
roll to a halt. It was scrap metal now. “Aw, I just waxed her,” he groaned.

It was then that the Dark Ninja Robot resumed its target practice with Karai. The robot went after her with everything in its arsenal: heat vision, plasma whip, and plasma sword.

It was an impressive sight, and Mikey geeked out accordingly.

“Dude, I so want plasma
nunchucks
,” Mikey said, salivating over the robot's sizzling weapons. And then, looking up at his tech-savvy brother, Donnie, he added, “Can you hook a Turtle up?”

But Donnie wasn't listening. He was focused on one thing: the exposed wiring on the robot's back! It must have come loose when the
Shellraiser
banged into it. Maybe this cybernetic warrior had a weak spot after all!

“Guys,” Donnie announced, “I think I know how we can take that thing down!”

Though it was welcome news at that moment, the other Turtles were still sore about Donnie's bailing on them back at the Kraang lab.

“Oh, are you on this team?” Raph said with a smirk.

“Yeah, way to ditch us, dude!” Leo piled on.

Even Mikey was mad. He blew a raspberry at Donnie.

April piped up over the commotion, coming to his defense. “Go easy on him, guys! If it wasn't for Donnie, I would have—”

Wham!
Karai silenced her with a surprise scissor kick to the gut. “I don't need that stupid robot to finish you,” Karai yelled.
“Hiyaaa!”

“April!” Donnie shouted, his heart racing.

Leo stood in his way. “I'll help April,” he assured him. “You guys take down—”

“Chrome Dome!” Mikey shouted, completing his brother's sentence. Even in the thick of battle, Mikey didn't want to miss the opportunity to name the bad guy.

As Leo began brawling with Karai, Donnie heard a crash from behind. Then another. And another!

Chrome Dome had finished off the remaining Footbots, throwing their still-sparking parts into a pile of garbage. Now the only things standing between it and April O'Neil were the Turtles!

It was elimination time.

Chrome Dome charged at them, swinging its plasma sword with terrifying precision.

It tracked every one of the Turtles' somersaults and dodges, but it couldn't land a hit. The Turtles' simultaneous ninja moves were too frenzied for the robot. They were nothing but a blur of green.

This allowed Mikey to trap it with his secret
nunchuck
chain! With Raph's help, he wrapped it around Chrome Dome. The robot couldn't move!

Now, it was Donnie's chance to jump in and do a little rewiring.

He leaped onto Chrome Dome's back, tearing away the system panel and ripping out some of its circuits. The robot spun out of control. The Turtles hung on for their lives as the robot's body revolved like a gyrating top, whirling them around and around at supersonic speeds!

The g-forces sent everyone flying to the ground. Mikey pulled himself up, trying to shake off his dizziness. He was seeing double, but one image became clear.

The plasma sword!

It must have been thrown to the ground with everyone else! Mikey grabbed the futuristic weapon as fast as he could. He tightened his grip around the handle, and plunged the white-hot electrical blade into Chrome Dome's back, frying its circuits for good.

The Dark Ninja Robot slowly sputtered, the last of its power draining away with a fading hum.

Mikey smiled, knowing they had pulled the plug on Chrome Dome.

And that wasn't the only battle where the Turtles could claim victory. It was clear that Leo had bested Karai once again. As April stood safely away from the action, Karai was on the ground, staring down the razor-sharp end of Leo's
katana.

“It's over, Karai,” he said.

“For now!” she replied, throwing down a ninja smoke bomb. In a flash, the Shredder's evil daughter disappeared. When the dust settled, it was the Turtles—and their best friend, April—who were left standing.

Together.

This was cause for celebration. But Mikey didn't realize it. He was still too entranced by the awesomeness of the plasma sword. He pulled the glowing blade from Chrome Dome's back and studied it. “Can I keep it? Can I keep it?” he begged.

April smiled. It felt good to have her friends back. But it also felt like her entire body was going to be bruised tomorrow.

“That … wasn't … too difficult,” she wheezed as Leo helped her up.

“Easy does it,” he told her. “It's over now.”

“I just need to catch my breath.”

Donnie, Raph, and Mikey joined them.

“Thanks, guys,” April said to them with a smile. “I just wanted to say …”

But she trailed off, her eyes widening in panic. The Turtles were confused.
Just wanted to say what?

And with a gasp, April remembered, blurting out: “Oh, my gosh! I forgot about Casey!”

April raced out of the park toward the hockey rink.

Donnie just sighed. “
That's
what she wanted to say?”

April threw open the doors to the hockey rink, her mind reeling. Was Casey okay? Was he hurt?

To her surprise, he was just fine. In fact, he seemed to be having the time of his life, finishing off a Footbot with his stick.

“
That
is how you play hockey!” Casey said, standing victorious over a pile of Footbots.

“Casey! Are you okay?” April cried, running out onto the ice without any skates, slipping and sliding.

“Of course I am,” he said, catching her in his arms. “Steady there, Red.”

He held her close, her heart beating fast. They smiled, staring into each other's eyes. In that moment neither of them had to say a word. They both felt it—they were going to be more than just study partners.

Casey had never seen April so happy.

And neither had Donnie.

He was secretly watching them from the stands. Even though he had April back, her heart belonged to someone else.