A Better Mousetrap.

Eleanor's POV.

Another night, another evening patrol. It's been a day since John was taken care of by my master. Now, the Purple Dragons have no choice but to wait for their true leader to return to New York.

It was the true leader that I defeated to become a member of the Purple Dragons and the Foot Clan. He's a deadly force to reckon with, let me tell you. But my size and speed gave me the advantage that night, I don't think it wont anymore.

Anywho, I'm rambling.

I was spending tonight traveling across the rooftops, in the pouring rain. Tonight, something was gonna happen. I can feel it in my bones.

Anyway, I was just crossing one of the electronic store, when the power went out. Curious, I jumped down and decided to investigate. As soon as my feet touched the sidewalk, the power returned. I quickly put my hood over my head and hid in the shadows, before anyone could see me.

The televisions inside the electronic store reported, "In a press conference today, at Stocktronics Incorperated, New York's leading new technology firm."

Curious, I stepped out of the shadows of the alley and walked to the front of the electronics store, and watched the report.

Stocktronics Incorperated... I've heard of that name before. My master spoke about it before I left for my patrol. How are they involved with the Foot Clan?

"Founder and CEO, Dr. Baxter Stockman, was on-hand to unveil his latest innovation."

The camera switched from the outside of the building, to the inside of a large lab. Inside was an African-American man in a white lab coat and neutral-colored business attire, a table with an object covered by a sheet, a young woman and a camera man.

"A wise man once said, 'Build a better mousetrap, and the world will lead a path to your door'." Dr. Stockman quoted, cleaning his glasses, "I say, 'Let the past-speaking begin'. For I, Dr. Baxter Stockman, have designed the solution to the city's ever-growing rat problem."

He reached for the sheet of cloth, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the ultimate expression of rodent termination technology, the Strocktronic Mouser!"

Under the cloth revealed a small, around the size of a human baby, mechanical creature. It looked similar to a chibi raptor, with no arms, a large head with one eye on top of its head, and clawed feet.

Something about those creatures made my blood boil in anger, but interested in how they function, and curious about the true motivation behind the creation of those mechs. With sharp teeth and clawed feet, those aren't just for speed or power.

Dr. Stockman gestured to the young woman. Her hair was a redish purple, tied in a bun. Her eyes were a shade of green, and she wore a white lab coat over a lavander shirt and brown khaki pants. She was carrying a large box.

"My assistant, Miss. April O'Neil, will release several into the simulation chambers." Dr. Stockman explained, as Miss. O'Neil walked over to a rat maze, "April, proceed, my dear."

Miss. O'Neil emptied the box of rats into the maze. A small group of rats fell into the maze, scurrying and sniffing around in fear. This made my blood boil further, as I felt my left hand ball into a fist.

Dr. Stockman put the Mouser into the entrance of the maze, "Now observe the sheer genius of my Mouser in action."

The Mouser marched into the maze and began the hunt for the rats. The rats tried their best to avoid the little machine, but the Mouser was able to out-wit them and take them out one-by-one. Bones crunched, flesh chewed. There was nothing left of the rats.

My fist tightened, I was nearly drawing blood from my hand.

"And the Mouser's search and retrieval functions are all ingeniously controlled by a remote mother computer." Dr. Stockman explained with a smile.

I heard enough! I made my way back to the rooftops and traveled across to the Strocktronics base of operations. It was a tall tower, seeing over half of the city, but not as tall at the Foot Tower, which was able to look over all of New York.

I stopped at the edge of the closest rooftop to Stocktronics Incorperated. It was quite a long jump. I reached into my backpack and grabbed a grappling hook. I threw it over to the top floor of the building. I swung over to the building and scaled it, avoiding being seen by the employees.

Once I reached the top, I recollected my grappling hook and looked through the window. Miss. O'Neil was inside a large office, typing on a computer. Something tells me she's not meant to be there.

Focusing my thoughts on feeling numb, I closed my eyes and walked forward. After five steps foward, I opened my eyes and saw that I was inside the office. I looked at the window, behind me, my tail was barely touching the window and there were no cracks in the glass.

Thank goodness. It has taken me years to perfect that technique. I'll talk about it later.

I straighed my kimono and walked over behind Miss. O'Neil.

"Being a little bit too nosy, Miss. O'Neil?" I asked her.

Miss. O'Neil jumped in startle and stood up to attack me. I quickly blocked her attack with ease. Thank goodness I was wearing my hood over my head, and wore trinkets on my tail, to make it look fake.

Miss. O'Neil calmed down and looked at me, "Who are you supposed to be? Some Purple Dragon theif?"

I shook my hand, "I'm just a friend. No more, no less."

She gave me a look, then returned to typing on the center computer. A few files flashed by, until a familiar insignia blinked on the screen. The Foot insignia.

"Never seen that icon before." Miss. O'Neil noticed.

I placed my hand over my Foot tattoo, "I have. It means bad news."

Curious, Miss. O'Neil clicked on the icon. The icon stopped blinking and the screen turned a shade of purple. Just then, a bookcase across from the console opened to reveal an elevator.

Miss. O'Neil and I entered the elevator. Miss. O'Neil pressed a button. The doors closed and the elevator moved down with a sudden jerk of speed. Miss. O'Neil and I quickly grabbed the railing for balance.

Once we recovered, Miss. O'Neil looked at me, "Okay. If you're a friend, why are you here?"

I looked at her and assured with a smile, "I'm just a girl from the streets, searching for answers." My smile fell, "And I believe your employer needs to answer a few questions."

Miss. O'Neil nodded, "Alright." Then she warned me, "But if you try anything, I'll turn you into the cops myself."

I placed my right hand over my heart and raised my left hand, so she could see it, "Ninja's honor."

Eventally, the elevator came to a stop. Miss. O'Neil sighed in relief, "Finally."

The doors opened to reveal a hallway, leading to a control center. Underneath was a factory, creating a large number of Dr. Stockman's mousers. Felt like an army.

"I don't care how bad the city's rodent problem is. This is serious overkill." Miss. O'Neil spoke up.

"Something tells me these are not for New York's rat problem." I answered, then walked ahead, "Let's find out what."

I walked toward the control center and began hacking into the central computer.

A few minutes of hacking, I found something in the files, "I was right, there is not rat problem. That was just a scapegoat. A cover-up. These things are for something bigger."

Suddenly a voice spoke from behind us, "Very good deduction, my dear."

Miss. O'Neil gasped and turned. I turned and saw the voice belonged to Dr. Stockman. He had a twisted smile on his face and a dark look in his eyes. I pushed Miss. O'Neil behind me and drew my eskrima sticks.

"Suffice it to say, my army of mousers will make me a very rich and powerful man." He explained.

"But aren't you already a very rich and powerful man?" Miss. O'Neil asked.

My muscles tensed behind me. At the corner of my eye, I saw the window of the control consel lowering behind us.

Dr. Stockman shook his head, "Ah, Miss. O'Neil. So brilliant, yet so naive. I will truly miss working with you."

Miss. O'Neil's eyes widen in shock, "What? You mean I'm fired?"

Dr. Stockman smirked, "In a manner of speaking..."

Suddenly, before Miss. O'Neil and I could react, a large mechanical arm reached in and grabbed us from behind. The arm carried us into the factory and dropped us into one of the production line of mousers. April lost her lab coat.

"I'm afraid I can't let you or your friend live, Miss. O'Neil." Dr. Stockman told Miss. O'Neil from the control center, "You both have seen far too much already. And... Well... Let's just say I have trust issues."

He typed into the center console and the mousers activated. They looked at us, ready to turn us into rat chow. I pushed Miss. O'Neil behind me, but I found that I dropped my eskrima sticks. Dammit!

Miss. O'Neil ran and grabbed a nearby fire extringuisher.

"Keep back!" She told the mousers, "I know how to use this!"

One mouser ignored her and reached to chomp the muzzle of the extinguisher. Miss. O'Neil fired the extingusher at the mouser. The foam had no effect. The mousers charged toward her. I jumped into between the two the mouser and Miss. O'Neil.

I tried to keep the mouser away from her, but the mouser was able to jump on top of me and bit deep into the left side of my torso. April took out the mouser by whacking its head with the tank of the extinguisher. She smiled.

The other mousers weren't going to give up. They charged toward us. April swung the extinguisher again, but this time the mouser grabbed the tank and chomped into it.

The tank ripped open, exposing the nitrogen gas into a large gas cloud. April and I tried to avoid the cloud and make our way to the back of the facility.

"You can run, Miss. O'Neil, but you cannot hide from my mousers!" Dr. Stockman shouted, as April opened the door to the sewers.

I quickly took hold of April's hand and we ran into the sewers. We followed the river to a sewer junction.

April looked the tunnels, "Which way out? Which way out?!"

I took hold of her hand and lead her through the middle tunnel, "Through here. It leads straight to Eastman and Laird."

April looked at me and we ran own the tunnel. April and I ran through the sewers, away from the mousers as possible. However, our path was blocked by more mousers.

How did they find us so fast?

Panicked, April ran in another direction, deeper into the sewers. However, she tripped into the water. The mousers advanced toward us. April backed into a boarded up tunnel. I stood in front of April and took a defensive stance.

The mousers jumped to attack, but their were taken out by a bo-staff, katana blades, nunchucks and sais. Seeing the mousers taken care off, April smiled in relief.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. You saved my... My..." April thanked, trying to catch her breath.

One of the shadowed figures leaned out of the shadows and smiled, "Hey. How are you doing?"

It was Mikey.

April gasped and fainted from the shock.

Mikey picked her up bridal style, then turned to his brothers.

I couldn't help but smile, "Way to go, Michelangelo. What have you got to say for yourself?"

Mikey looked at me, "Uh... Can I keep her?"

I giggled, "You guys always seem to have a good sense of timing. Always show up when there's trouble."

Raph smiled at me, "Can say the same about you."

I gave him a sweet smile, then my left torso pulsed in sharp pain. I winced and fell to my knees, holding where the mouser bit me.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" Leo asked me, kneeling to my level.

I looked at Leo, but I couldn't answer. My head began to feel light. My vision began to blur. And I couldn't move. I felt cold. I felt something warm leaking out of my side. My hand was covered in red. The last thing I remember is seeing Leo's worried expression before my vision went black and my body went numb.

To Be Continued...