Chapter 4

Night Dawns

Elsewhere in the city, there was a growing unrest. No sooner had the gang which had killed Kayla's family gone down when another sprang up in its place, and besides that, more were popping up in the city all the time.

From within a small, battered apartment building, sat a brooding figure. Dark Bane, as he had come to call himself, looked out from the shady blinds that adorned his window. His brows knit together as he murmured," Kayla is safe for now. But what can I do?"

He turned from the city, looking back on his scant apartment. His old life meant nothing to him now. He had nothing to loose.

Old Casey Jones and he had only met a couple of months ago. Dark Bane smiled grimly at the recollection. It hadn't been a pleasant first meeting. They hadn't quite agreed with each other's methods of dealing with the same thug… actually, it was more of a "I had him first" kinda of fight.

After that, though, there was little to keep them from grudgingly becoming friends.

Dark Bane paced in his room, contemplating. With his brows knit, he grumbled," The citizens in this city need some sort of defense. They won't protect themselves, and force that responsibility upon others. What will happen though, when the time comes that their defenders can't come to their aid?"

A thought struck him, and he smiled as he thought through the theory.

Yes… it could work.

It just might.

8~8~8~8~8

Mikey, after putting Kayla to bed, with some difficulty, sat back on the couch in the living room, breathing a sigh of relief," man… she had WAY too much sugar."

Leo looked up from his book with a chuckle," Sounds like you finally got a taste of your own medicine!"

Mikey only glared before wondering," I wonder if Donnie's got any primer books. She knows how to read alright, but she's better with numbers."

Leo chuckled," I bet April has some books we could use."

Mikey perked up," hey yeah! Maybe she can help me with getting some books for Kayla!"

Don, who was working on the remote control for the newest model of the battle shell, looked up and offered," I wouldn't mind helping you teach her stuff like science, and mathematics."

Mikey looked relieved," I was hoping you would say that. I think I'd probably just confuse her."

"Don't be too sure, Mikey, Donnie confuses us even when he's explaining things!"

The three brothers shared a life as Don grumbled," It's not my fault. Besides, Raph, you seem to be able to decipher my lingo pretty well. Maybe you're smarter then you look."

Raph grinned smugly," Who wants to look like a nerd?"

"That's not what I meant but whatever."

Leo suddenly raised his finger to his mouth. Raph and Don looked at him and then followed the direction of his gaze. Mikey had passed out, and was holding a little stuffed bear that Kayla had left on the couch.

Raph shook his head," Man, what I wouldn't give for a camera!"

8~8~8~8~8

April hummed lightly as she cleaned her kitchen, washing the floors and cleaning out her fridge. As she did so, the doorbell rang.

She paused in her work and washed her hands, going to the door, she opened it. Looking around, she realized whoever had rang her doorbell was gone. And he had left something on her welcome mat.

She screamed, loud and long.

8~8~8~8~8

The first thing April did that was rational was call her friends. Raph, Leo and Don came over right away, arriving just seconds before Casey arrived. They stared at the thing that rested on April's welcome mat. It was the head of a goat. And written in blood on the wall was a threat, a warning;

Keep out of our business.

April stared in utter confusion.

Raph looked at April," Whose business did you get into?"

April shook her head numbly," I… I haven't. At all!"

Casey was livid as he looked at Don, who was examining the thing, with some disgust. Donatello asked no one in particular," Where did they get a goat? And why would they threaten April?"

Leo was silent, his eyes narrowed as he questioned quietly," The gang… that killed Kayla's parents, were they completely wiped out?"

"If this is their work, then how did they know where to find April?" Don asked with some trepidation.

Leo shook his head before deciding," You'd better call the police. Don, we need research. See if you can find out where this goat came from. And see if there've been any police reports on similar threats."

Don nodded. Casey put his arms around a weeping April as she made the call.

8~8~8~8~8

"Good job Kayla!" Mikey cheered, as Kayla tumbled head over heels in a perfect cartwheel.

He had been busy teaching her some acrobatic tricks. She grinned as she jumped up and down," Am I getting better, big brother?"

"Yes, sweetie, you're doing awesome!"

"Better then anyone?"

"Better then Mr. Pinkie, that's for sure!"

Kayla giggled hysterically. Between her and Mikey, Raph would always be "Mr. Pinkie."

As she perfected her somersaults, cartwheels and handstands, Mikey thought to himself," She's really good. She'd make a good ninja!"

Kayla giggled as she finished with a little bow.

At this moment, he heard his brothers return to the Lair, all of them speaking in concerned tones. Raphael was ranting loudly… something about "ocultic gangs up to no good."

Mikey frowned and then yelped as kayla jumped into his arms, scrambling around to sit on his shoulders, she giggled," I'm taller then you!"

Mikey chuckled," Kid, you get an A+ for creativity."

"YAY!" she threw both hands into the air, almost toppling them both over, she squeaked and clung to him again, bending around to look at him with her wide, wide eyes, she asked innocently," What's an A+?"

"Kayla!" came Splinter's voice, calling her for her lesson in meditation.

"COMING! BOOYAH!" Kayla hollered as she slid off Mikey's shell and raced away. Mikey grinned fondly. She was so cute… He sighed slightly in memory of how she had come to be in his care, before leaving the dojo to join his brothers in Donnie's lab/room.

Don was at the computer, his eyes hardened as he scanned page after page, his fingers flying over the keyboards.

"So… what's up?"

"We might have a new player in town," Leo began before Raph exploded," WE MIGHT? WE MIGHT! THERE"S A BUTCHERED GOAT HEAD ON APRIL"S WELCOME MAT!"

Leo waited until Raph was done shouting before asking," Better now?"

"… yeah. Go ahead." Raph grumbled.

Mikey's eyes had widened considerably as he asked dumbly," Somebody dropped a goat head on April's welcome mat?

"April found the severed head of a goat on at her doorstop. There was a note one the wall that said," Stay out of our business."

Mikey swallowed thickly," Um… the message… was it written in blood?"

Raph nodded," yeah. Thing is, we don't know who wrote it. Donnie's trying to figure out where they would have gotten a goat fro-"

"Guys… I got news. The gang's got a name."

"Yeah?"

"Moloch's Chosen."

There was silence. Broken by Mikey's plaintive questioning," What the heck is a Moloch?"

Well... yes, it's gonna get a bit heavy from here, but not too much so. Please review and let me know what you think! Love it or hate it! :D