Drag Me Down- Alternate Ending
A/n: As promised, here is the alternate ending to Drag Me Down. If you have not read it, I suggest that you do before reading this, otherwise it will not make a lot of sense.
-Donatello-
The book felt heavy in Don's hands, as if he were holding a pile of bricks instead of a bound pile of papers. The old, faded leather cover stared back at him ominously and Don felt a shiver run down his spine. He shook his head and mentally berated himself. He was being irrational. It was just an old book after all. But despite this mental mantra, Don couldn't help but worry that it wouldn't work. For weeks he had been pulling the lair apart in search of the book, the book he needed so desperately to save his brother and his family. Many a night he had been awake, unable to sleep, drowning his insomnia in pot after pot of strong black coffee. But now that he had the book in his hands, he didn't feel as assured as he thought he would. What if it won't work? That was the line that kept repeating itself in his mind, like a skipping record. What if it won't work?
"Hey, Don, you ready?"
Don turned to see Leo standing in the doorway of his lab. He had removed his mask, and Don could see the dark circles that shadowed his eyes. It made him look years older. Don knew that if he removed his mask, his eyes would look like that too. But despite the ruggedness and deep shadows, there was still a spark of hope shinning in Leo's eyes mixed with his fierce determination.
What if it won't work?
It had to work; for Leo and Mikey and Don himself, and especially for Raphael. They had no other option, no other back up plan. This was the final trick they could pull, the final shred of hope they could hold onto. If it didn't work, they had nothing else. It would be over, and they would have lost.
"Ready," Don said, forcing himself to straighten up and curl his lips in a smile of determination and reassurance. Putting one foot in front of the other, he forced himself to look light and casual, and ignore the feeling of the book weighing him down like an anchor at sea.
Mikey was already in position when Don and Leo entered the room. Diego was tied down securely on the table, his eyes dark and foreboding. Checking to make sure the bonds were nice and tight, Don did his best to ignore the withering look Diego was sending his way. Leo wordlessly handed Don a candle and match, which he preceded to light with a steady hand. Mikey had done a good job of pouring the ring of salt around Diego, and had checked it two or three times to make sure he had gotten it right.
Taking a deep breath and clearing his throat, Don slowly opened the book to the page he had marked. Mikey and Leo shared a quick glance before focusing their attention back towards Don.
What if it won't work?
Don licked his suddenly dry lips and cleared his throat again, looking down at the words scrawled across the page, trying to keep his hands from shaking.
"What makes you think this will work?" Diego demanded angrily. "It's just some stupid writing in an ancient language. It doesn't mean anything."
"We'll soon see," Don replied, trying to keep his voice calm.
Diego scoffed and made a show of rolling his eyes. Don tried to ignore him and quell the butterflies that were fluttering around in his chest.
"De cornu tenet, noctis ignis de, cistern tua fata," he began.
"It's not going to work," Diego said again, though there was a frown darkening his face as he squirmed uncertainty in his bonds.
"Redire praecipio tibi, exi ab eo quod anima,"
Leo and Mikey held their breaths and watched on in a mixture of hope and fascination as Diego's discomfort began more pronounced.
"AH!" Diego suddenly cried, throwing his head back in a pained scream as his body convulsed and withered on the table.
"I think it's working!" Mikey shouted.
"Post corpus ad, domum iura…"
"I will kill you all, I swear!" Diego screamed, his teeth clenched in pain as he continued to convulse. "You will all suffer! AH!" Another cry of pain was ripped from his throat. Shadows started to circle the table, a moving black wave as dark smoke started to drift from Diego's skin.
"Sanguinis et dolore, et ibi in perpetuum, fatigari in Dei omnipotentis nomine!" Don shouted, fighting to be heard of Diego's scream and the whirling black mass of shadows that oozed from his pours.
The withering mass of shadows rolled and contorted around Diego and the loud crackle of flames filled the room.
"Fight him, Rap, fight him!" Don shouted, dropping the book on the floor.
Diego howled in frustration, feeling the forces of Hell pulling him back down.
"If I'm going back there," Diego growled to Raphael, "you're coming with me."
There was a bright flash of light and Raphael felt a cold hand clutch at his ankle. "No!" He screamed, fighting to shake it off.
Diego grinned and suddenly they were both falling, falling, falling into the endless flames.
-End-