Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT. I'm still going to put them through some adventures, though.
BAH! I'm hitting a bit of a block on Separated so I might as well start the companion piece. No, you are not experiencing deja vu. Some of the wording is the same from Separated only this time, it's from Leonardo's point of view. (In third person) Enjoy!
Divided
A perfect night for patrolling. Leonardo led his brothers, as always, from rooftop to rooftop; fine tuning their skills in conjunction with searching for trouble. That was their way of being. It was unusually warm for an autumn night but that was not an issue with the cold-blooded teens. With all the natural grace of an acrobat, Leonardo executed a full twisting layout from one roof to the next. Not wanting to be out done, Raphael followed closely with a double tuck; his landing heavy and commanding attention to his presence. Donatello settled for pole-vaulting with his trusty bo, completing the landing with some expert twirls of his weapon before sliding it back in its place.
"And now, ladies and gentlebros, we bring you the highlight of the night: The Great and Most Awesome Michelangelo Executing the Bigspin!" The youngest turtle announced, speeding their way on a skateboard. As he reached the edge of the first rooftop, he launched himself into the air. Skateboard turning 360 as he turned 180, landing on the board as it hit the next rooftop. "Whoooooooooooo! Consider yourselves dusted!" He exclaimed as he sped by his brothers backwards. As he gloated, the front wheels sank into a gap in the cement and the cheering turtle went flying into a crash landing on to his carapace.
"Idiot..." Raphael muttered as Donatello shook his head and Leonardo put his face into the palm of his hand.
"It's alright, bros!" Michelangelo immediately leaping into a stand. "I'm okay!"
"Somehow, I find that hard to believe." Donatello sighed. Suddenly, Leonardo stiffened. His heightened senses gave way to the incoming threat that his brothers had yet to notice. His immediate younger brother eyed him. The hotheaded one was typically in tune with his any changes in his elder brother's disposition.
"On your guard!" He ordered, pulling his swords out. Brothers followed suit with their respective weapons as they found themselves surrounded by none other than the foot clan.
"Alright! I was waitin' for some action!" Raphael grinned, twirling his sais.
As a ninja came at him, he brought the butt of his sai square into his chest and dropped his elbow down on the hunched form of his attacker before deflecting a swing from another oncoming foe. Michelangelo expertly swung his nunchaku left and right, catching a few by the head or limbs before they could get too close. Bringing the bottom end of his bo staff on the foot of a ninja, Donatello swung around as his enemy grabbed his foot in pain and swept the staff under the lone standing limb to completely take away his balance. It was Leonardo who tapped into his vocabulary of ninja forms to access combinations of sword, kicks and flips like performing an improvised dance routine. All four were on top of their game tonight. It was still early and they had all the energy in the world. That is, until they realized that the clan members kept swarming in. Where one fell, more came in droves. The brothers were beginning to feeling the weight of exhaustion as the supply of enemies seemed non stop.
"What the shell? These guys keep comin'!" Raphael grunted, throwing a ninja into two who were about to attack Donatello from behind.
"It doesn't look like they're going to stop." The family genius shouted as he swung his bo around in a 360, leaning back to hit any who dared to surround him.
Leonardo ran through his head the possibilities of survival should they stand their ground. A quick perusal of his brothers' conditions spoke volumes of how foolish that would be. The youngest was beginning to tire as shown by the decrease in speed his nunchaku whipped. It was subtle but not for the ever observant leader. There was less power behind Donatello's swings as he struck foot members one by one. Even the strongest of their team was barely dodged a flying kick. There was something off about these men they fought. More aggressive. More focused. Something was different. No...staying was too risky.
"There's too many of them." He finally shouted to his brothers. "Pull back!"
He took the lead as they retreated, Raphael taking the tail end. The eldest brother gritted his teeth, formulating the best possible plan to lead them to safety as the four of them leapt from rooftop to rooftop. Their pursuers were close behind. Leonardo leapt down to a fire escape, bolted off the rail to a lower fire escape on the opposite building and leapt back to a lower level of the first fire escape, alternating until they landed in an alleyway. As much as he hated to split the group, their chances of survival would be better if they went opposite directions.
Raph will better protect Mikey. He may butt heads with Donnie on what to do next.
"We'll need to split up." He explained, heading for the main street. "Raph, you go with Mikey to the left. Donnie, with me! Keep your shell cells on! We'll meet in the sewer on the corner of East 30th and 3rd." The brothers split in their designated partnerships and bolted in opposite directions.
He could feel the foot hot on their tails as he and his brother rounded a corner. Every now and then, he would pause to take down a ninja or two as the purple clad one hurled ninja stars before running on. It took little effort to catch up. They carefully eyed each other before he knocked a trashcan down behind them in hopes of slowing their pursuers down. It wasn't long before Donatello's shell cell began to ring. Leonardo immediately began to imagine all sorts of trouble his beloved brothers could be in. He gave the younger turtle a nod.
"Donnie!?" Came the voice of their youngest sibling as he answered the phone, still running.
"Mikey!" Donatello breathed, relieved that they did not sound like they were in trouble. "Are you guys okay? We're still being tailed!"
"Dude! None of them followed us!" Michelangelo replied.
"What?! You mean to say they're going after us?" Donatello asked in spite of knowing the obvious answer. Leonardo cursed aloud in response. Would it have been better if he had Raphael with him now? His stamina for fighting was significantly greater than the younger siblings and escape would have been more manageable. The chance of the foot following Donatello and Michelangelo made his stomach drop. Without knowing their purpose, it was difficult to anticipate why they were the ones being chased. No. He made the right choice to divide them the way he initially chose. He grabbed the shell cell.
"We're going to have to move quick." He stated.
"What do ya want us to do?" Raphael voice inquired, brimming with impatience.
"Just head for the meeting spot, At least we'll know that you guys are safe." Leonardo responded. A trashcan landed right in front of them, causing the brothers to skid to a stop.
"WOAH!" Donatello cried out as a kunai whizzed by his head. They were immediately surrounded. A ninja managed to crack his younger brother in the head with the hard length of a tonfa. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he watched his brother crash to the ground, unmoving.
"DONNIE!" He shouted, dropping the cell to retrieve his blades. He sliced his way through the bodies that separated him from his genius brother.
"Leo! What's going on!?" Raphael's distant voice demanded from the shell cell on the ground. "Leo! LEO!"
He could not answer his brothers. His focus was on Donatello. Bringing himself low, he dashed forward, and leapt into an aerial roundhouse kick. Five men fell back. He landed crouched briefly before extending his leg as he swept around again, tripping two more and slicing four more as he brought both arms out through his whirling momentum. There was a hesitation before anymore leapt toward him. He took this opportunity to back up to his unconscious brother.
"Donnie, get up! DONNIE!" He shouted, glancing over his shoulder. That was when they jumped on him. A man hugging him around his neck, two grabbing him by each arm. "Raaaagh!" As if channeling the strength of his hotheaded brother, he threw both men off of his arm.
"LEO! DONNIE!" Raphael's voice cried out from the cell.
The man on his back threw his whole wait down, pulling him backwards as another kicked him squared in the plastron. He stumbled back as two men lassoed him by the wrists and pulled. Men gathered to grab the length of the rope and helped pull. Another two struck behind his knees to bring him down before even more jumped on his back to keep him grounded. Under the weight of all the men, it was becoming hard to breath. He watched as a man picked up the shell cell on the ground. Though dressed in foot ninja garb, there were embellishments to his uniform that spoke of his higher rank.
"Say goodbye to your brothers." He said over the receiver before hanging up the cell. He turned to the lead turtle and cocked his head to the side. "So these are the turtles who defeated Karai?"
"You're not with her?" Leonardo strained, his breathing becoming more shallow. This explained the difference in fighting these Foot clan members.
"All in due time, Leonardo." The man chuckled as if knowing a secret. "Tie him up."
"What of the other one?" One of the ninjas inquired.
"Take him, too." He walked over to the fallen turtle and poked him with his foot. "You won't need to tie him up. It's not too far from here." He then approached Leonardo with a black, cloth bag and put it over his head as his men struggled to tie ropes around him. "We have a special place for you to go."
He could feel himself being lifted and thrown into a van; his carapace hitting the wall of the vehicle. Another thump told him that his brother was thrown on as well. He threw his shoulder up and forward to get himself seated on his heels. The doors of the van slammed and not to long after, the ignition started. The thought of dislocating his thumb to pull his hand from the restraint of the ropes tempted him.
No. That would hinder my hold on my sword...I have to wait for now.
He listened as the van moved. Listened for anything to give away his surroundings. They hit a bump and the turtle went flying into his sleeping brother. With a sigh, he rested his forehead on his brother's shell.
"I'll get us out of here, Donnie." He murmured.
After a ten-minute drive, the van stopped. He sat himself up again and listened closely. He couldn't make out what was being said. The door then opened and he and his brother were pulled out. He was being guided into a building of some sort. He could hear the sound of dragging feet coming from behind him. They were probably dragging the unconscious Donatello. After walking a ways, he was pushed into a tiny room. As the metal sounding doors closed, he realized he was in an elevator. Once it stopped, he was pushed off the elevator.
"This thing is heavy." One of the men complained of dragging the unconscious turtle.
"We're almost there." Another replied.
"Where are you taking us?" Leonardo inquired, gritting his teeth. Silence was all he received. The urge to commit violence on the men was pushed out of his head as he opted to figure out an escape plan. By the number of footsteps not his own, he noted there were four men with him. Two beside him and two dragging his brother. That was when the faint groan from Donatello upped his chances.
"We better hurry!" The first man who spoke earlier said. "This one's starting to wake up." Leonardo stopped abruptly and whirled himself into a flying kick. He rebounded off of one man's chest, flipped over another man and kicked him in the back, sending him shooting forward. He turned to the other two but a loud bang and a firey pain in his right upper arm halted his movement.
"The next one goes into your friend's head if don't keep moving." The shooter warned. Begrudgingly, Leonardo walked on as the two men he knocked down slowly got to their feet. After while of walking, he felt one of them give him a shove. The ground seemed to disappear from underneath him until he landed painfully on what felt like soil. He, then, felt the weight of his barely conscious brother land on him.
"Donnie..." He groaned. His younger sibling slowly pushed himself off of him.
"Sorry..."He mumbled and groaned over his aching head.
"Donnie. I need you to untie me and get this bag off of my head."
"Right..." His brother sluggishly removed the bag first. They were in darkness. The only source of light came from a hole from above where they were thrown down. It was too high for them to reach it. "Are you alright?" He inquired of Donatello who clumsily worked on the ropes.
"A little foggy." Was the answer. "Might have a slight concussion. You're bleeding" Leonardo peered at his right arm.
"Looks like the bullet just grazed it." He observed. "I'll be fine. We need to find a way to get out of here. Maybe contact Raph and Mikey." The ropes loosened and he pulled them off his body.
"My shell cell..." Donatello patted his body down.
"They left it back where they took us. I have mine." He handed his over to his sibling.
"They left us with our weapons." The purple clad turtle noted. :I wonder what for..."
"Hard to say. This isn't the foot clan we know. They don't work under Karai."
"Then who do they work for?"
"I don't know but I mean to find out." Leonardo slowly got to his feet. "Are you good to walk?"
"Y-yeah." His brother stood unsteadily. "I'll be fine. Maybe we can find some kind of light source ahead. I would recommend the Shell cell but we might need to conserve the batteries. We can use it as needed"
"Let's try, Mikey and Raph. See where they are." The leader suggested. He listened to his brother dial one number. Silence. He dialed another. Silence.
"No signal."
"We should get moving. We can try again later."
The brothers traveled warily through the darkness; their eyes adjusting as much as possible. Leonardo hoped the other two were safe. He knew they would be worried about their situation if they didn't hear from him soon. Shaking his head, he told himself to remain focused on the task at hand. Now was not a time to worry.
Get out of here. Keep Donnie safe. Find the other two. Then, we'll figure out who really is behind all this.
Author's note: Hm. If Karai isn't behind this, then who is? Some brotherly bonding to come ahead. I do have the conclusion of the story thought out. It's the getting there that's the issue. Raph and Mikey aren't speaking to me right now but now that I have the ball rolling for Donnie and Leo, they're starting to open up again. The third chapter to Separated will be coming soon. I promise. I have it partially written. Maybe by tomorrow night? Wee! Please feed this starving author with reviews so that she may have the energy to continue this story. 3