#outnumbered.

She dropped and Casey knocked one of the goons out with his improvised weapon. "Now, go get back up!"

April nodded sharply and bolted, a handful of the gang members trailing behind her.

"I'm gonna need it," he muttered to himself.

To his credit he did fairly well at first. The length of his weapon keeping many attackers at bay.

"I get why Donny likes his staff so much," he grunted as his plank struck a dragon across the chest knocking him back. "Is kinda heavy though," he noted and was milliseconds too slow to raise it in defense again and had to lean back avoid being hit by a pipe. It threw him of balance and as he step back to try to recover a dragon swung at his legs.

White hot pain exploded from his knee as he hit the ground and he knew he was in deep trouble. April had better run fast.

---

April had never been so glad in her life as she was right then that she been on the track team in high school and had kept up at least part of her regime since then. The goons that she hadn't immediately had opportunity to take out she had long out ran. She cursed as she came up on Casey's building and realized she didn't have a key. The fire escape it was.

---

"Hey, Case-man, what's up?" Raph answered the shellcell.

"Baseball's in season," April gasped.

Raphael was immediately on his feet. "Where is he?"

"Looking at buildings," she panted. "Ambushed. Said to get you."

"April, breathe," he ordered and started signaling to his brothers to go get their gear. "Where were you ambushed?"

Everyone jumped into action at his question, grabbing their weapons and bolting toward the elevator.

"The building. The shop he wants to buy. We were there. He told me to get you. Said he had this thing at his apartment."

Raph slammed the door to the battleshell. "Stay there-"

"No, I'm coming with you."

"April-"

"It's my fault!" She snapped. "I'm coming with you. Tell me where to meet you."

---

Casey groaned as consciousness seeped back into his already pounding skull. He blinked and tried to focus on what was around him. He was in an almost pitched black room, the only source of light was the ancient incandescent bulb that danled above him.

Casey rolled his eyes. Drama Queens.

At least his knee was back in place, he noted when he realized he was tied hand and foot to a wooden chair. Still hurt like mad though.

His eyes adjusted to the dim light just in time for the door to swing open and Dragon Face ushered in Hun.

If Casey had been slightly less concussed he might have felt more rage or fear at coming to face with the man who'd thrown him out of his family's burning store when he was younger. But he was decently concussed and honestly a little groggy.

"Don't bother tryin' the whole intimidation thing. I'm gonna cooperate," Casey announced. "I already got a concussion I don't need another. You wanna know what O'Neil told me, right?"

Hun nodded once and Dragon Face nailed Casey in the gut, knocking the wind from.

"The heck, man?" Casey wheezed. "I said I'd cooperate."

"You expect me to believe that?" Hun questioned.

"Look, it ain't like she told me a lot. Most of it ya not even gonna care about. But you wanna hear it I'll tell you."

"Go ahead then," Hun replied. He draged forward a second chair and dropped into it, folding his arms over his broad chest.

Casey took a few deep breaths before speaking again. "The ink ya guys give her is pretty low grade for the stuff ya expect her to do with it and she's always short on supplies of some kind. For gang that uses tattoos as status symbols and what not, ya not really the best at after care and maintenance. The equipment she had was functional, but it was old and not the best. Which, again kind of ironic for a gang with tattoos for the hierarchy. Usually she ended up mixin' her own colors to make sure it was the right shade of purple or to make sure it'd actually last." He looked to Dragon Face. "Also ya don't sit as good as ya think ya do and she's been secretly using numbing gel on you since the first one she did for ya cause ya wouldn't sit still otherwise.

"Ya can start askin' me questions and wailin' on me if ya want, but that's the stuff she told me about. I'm gonna learn more about what's goin' on based on ya questions than anything she told me. She wasn't lyin' to you guys about not really knowin' me. That fight was the first time I'd seen her in years. She didn't betray you and she still hasn't. Don't you think we'd be crashin' more of ya parties if we knew stuff? She's not talkin' to us about nothin'. She's just tryin' to keep her head down so she doesn't lose it. Ya lost a good one when ya lost her."

Hun raises his chin and appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Shockingly enough, I actually think I believe you, Jones. Unfortunately for you, I still can't really let you out of here alive."

"Yeah, there's a shocker," Casey complained and rolled his eyes. "I was literally unconscious when ya brought me here, and I just told ya that all I really know about what's goin' on with you is that ya probably wouldnt pass a health code inspection, but sure. I know to much."

Hun struck fast, hitting Casey in the jaw, and causing his head to snap to one side.

Casey groaned and spat blood and something hard on the floor. "Man, I just got that bridge put in!"

Shouting and crashing broke out outside the door before Hun could swing again. The gang leader turned a viscious look on Dragon Face who stepped back.

"H-he musta called for help or somethin'!"

Casey turned an incredulous look on him. "When? I been tied unconscious to a chair this whole time. Besides ya took my phone when ya knocked me out."

Dragon Face's eyes went wide.

"Ya did take my phone, right?" Dragon Face didn't answer and Casey turned back to Hun. "I get why ya so angry all the time now."

Hun grabbed Casey by the collar and threw him chair and all against the wall. The chair he was tired shattered and he hit the wall with a grunt and feigned unconsciousness.

"I'll be back to finish with you later!" Hun growled. He grabbed Dragon Face by the back of his jacket and dragged him from the room to investigate the commotion. The door clanged shut loudly and Casey opened one eye to check that he was alone.

"Yeah, promises, promises," he grumbled and managed to finagle his hands, still tied together in front of him.

---

"April, Raph, cover me while I pick the lock," Donatello ordered.

"I gotcha, Don," Raph promised. He caught a pipe with the guard of his Sai and pulled upward, exposing the woman's torso and allowing April land a punch to her in the diaphragm. "Just get in there as fast as ya can. We don't know what kinda state he's in!" He ducked as April swung a dropped bat at the Dragon running at his side.

---

Casey's head snapped up, eyes wide when the door slammed open again. He froze, knife upright between his feet as he tried to hold it steady to saw off the ropes around his wrists.

"Ah, hey, Don!" He greeted cheerfully. "Thanks for comin' to visit."

"You're concussed, aren't you?" Donatello demanded as he rushed forward to cut his friend free.

"Oh definitely," Casey answered. "I also messed my knee up cause I wasn't wearin' the brace seein' as I wasn't expectin' a fight today. Whoa!" He yelped in surprise when Don hoisted him off the ground.

"Casey can't fight," Don shouted as his brother.

"I can fight," Casey argued with a pout.

"I'm gonna have to help him out of here."

"We'll cover you," April replied. "Leo, Mikey, we need to bail, now!"

"Can I at least have my bat?" Casey complained.

"Here." April pulled a mask over his face.

"Hey, thanks, babe!" He said cheerfully.