"Don't give up now, Raph."
"Hm..."
"We're almost there."
Raph sighed, tiredly. "Where, Don...?"
"I don't know." The other turtle shrugged, defeated. "But we need to keep going as far as we can."
The red clad mutant turtle coughed and his whole body quivered over Don's shell, making him stop to help him regain his balance. Just thinking about the reason why they were wandering in the woods, all battered and tired, hungry and weak made Raphael shiver and squeeze his eyes shut, feeling the pain throughout his entire body. He opened his eyes again, lifting his face to check his brother s condition out. If Don was as hurt as he was, then they would have a problem. Donatello was covered in wounds, a few gashes, but yet he was in a better shape than Raph. Slowly, he went ahead, step by step, helping his older brother to continue walking, letting him lean over his shoulder, carrying him. Both were feeling sore, their bodies burning in pain, screaming at both to lay down and just rest for days. But they couldn't stop. For sure Bishop was already sending his men to hunt them down. Either that, or he would do it on his own.
They have tried to escape before several times. Every attempt would end up in more sick tortures and scientific experiments and they couldn't stand it anymore. Raph could see how Donnie was becoming weaker every day; he couldn't live it down knowing that his brother wasn't going to make it, so they tried one last time. Luckily enough, this time they managed to really escape, but with a high cost: Bishop's henchmen found out the mutant turtles escaped when they were still inside the BUILDING, trying to make their way out of that never ending nightmare. The men opened fire, both Raph and Don were shot. One of the men aimed for Don's head, but Raph noticed it and pushed his brother away just in time, receiving the bullets on his place. Already severely hurt, they were only able to run away because Donatello was able to create a diversion by making an advanced piece of technology explode. The big mess gave them the fortunate opportunity to escape.
Don felt Raph slowing down. His older brother was a lot heavier than he would ve imagined and he was feeling too weak to keep going. Not with that speed, anyway. Panting, he sat Raph down against a thin tree, and sat on the other side, breathing heavily while staring at the dark and cloudy sky. It was breaking dawn, but the atmosphere around them was still dark and silent. No a bird singing, only the wind murmuring and leaves falling from the trees, making soft and almost inaudible sounds.
Suddenly Raph gasped, having a breathing attack again. He felt a small amount of blood coming out of his mouth; his wounds were deeper than he thought and they hurt a lot, but in fact, he almost couldn't feel anything at that moment. In complete frustration, he realized that they wouldn't make it alive, and miracles weren t just his thing. At least he wouldn t survive. His legs were numb and his vision was blurry. Suddenly, he felt Don's hand touching his own. The other turtle was still in the same place of the tiny tree, while facing the sky. He looked as fragile as a porcelain doll, lips trembling. Probably nervous about their dark, short, coming future. However, he still searched for his brother's hand, to be sure that he could make him feel that he was still there for him too. Closing his eyes, Raph held his bro's hand tightly. And waited.
A few minutes later, Don thought he heard something near them. Looking at his left side, he now was sure he heard something, now coming from his right. Heavy steps. Various clicking sounds. Raphael growled, opening his eyes with some effort, looking around. Bishop's men came out from behind the trees, pointing heavy firearms at the two turtles. They were surrounded.
Raph tried to get up, but the sudden pain in his chest made him stop from moving, moaning in pain again. Not letting go of Raph's hand, Don moved to his side, breathing slowly, his gaze a mix of seriousness and distress at the same time. He knew what was going to happen.
The soldiers froze in place for a few seconds. There was someone coming through them. The black suit with the white BLOUSE, the long, also black tie, adding the short hair and dark glasses; there wasn't any doubt, even if they barely could see anything ahead of them, the brothers knew it was Bishop.
Raph could feel his heart pounding faster now, he only wanted to jump towards him, attack and tear that damned man apart, but his body didn't obey him anymore. Don was quiet and tensed at his side, like he was waiting for his demise.
"Well, well, well..." Bishop's voice broke the deep silence of the forest, while he stood in front of the turtles. "So you didn't like the time we spent together? I did everything there just for you, and yet, you tried to run away..." He sounded so sadistic that Raph even coughed twice, interrupting him.
"I'm not going back there again, you son of a bitch." He scoffed, glancing furiously at the man. "Not alive."
"Oh, too bad for you..."
Bishop lifted his right hand above his head and his henchmen around them pointed their guns at the two mutants. Raph and Donnie looked around quickly. Raph's lungs were hurting like hell but he kept groaning angrily, while Don still seemed sad but now, somehow his gaze seemed kind of determined. Raph glanced at him and noticed a single tear running down his brother's cheek. He tried to move again, now he was mad and there was no pain that could hold him down to prevent him from fighting to protect his brother, but Don's grip on his hand tightened, making him stop again.
"I don't need you alive anymore."
"Don't you dare..." Raph managed to whisper, but it was too late.
Bishop snapped his fingers and the men opened fire against them immediately. Raph closed his eyes startled and curled on defensive, feeling a few bullets penetrating his flesh, but it was way less than it should've hit him. The shooting stopped after five seconds that seemed like an eternity. Raphael's body was on fire, the pain now too strong again, but if those goons were supposed to kill him, they had the worst aim ever. He dared to open his eyes again, but what he saw stopped his heartbeat for a moment, like a hand was squeezing his heart.
Donatello was right in front of him, in a protective position; his head down with blood dripping from his whole body. Just then Raph realized why he felt just a few shots: Don placed himself as a living shield to protect him. The red masked turtle couldn't even breathe, gasping terrified at the sight of his brother. Donatello slowly lifted his head with much effort, trying to look at Raph to make sure he was fine, but he couldn't. The muscles of his limbs didn't work anymore and he fell over Raph, panting and choking on his own blood that now was coming out from his mouth.
"Don... No... No, no, no, fuck, Donnie, don't do this to me now!" Raphael cried, desperately. He cupped Don's face in his hands, trembling, to make him look at him. The other mutant could barely keep his eyes open, but he still smiled softly at Raph and mumbled weakly. "Raph... I'm... Sorry..." And with that, his eyes closed, his face fell completely into Raph's hands, as he stopped breathing.
An applause was heard.
Raph lifted his gaze to face the man in front of them. Bishop was clapping his hands slowly, with a sarcastic smile on his lips, advancing towards them.
"Oh, how cute. One of the freaks sacrificed himself to save his brother's miserable life... It's so touching, so movie-ish."
He walked around them, Raphael was now slowly putting his brother's lifeless body aside, never taking his eyes out of Bishop.
"How dare you..." Raph's voice cracked in response, faintly, but full of the most pure rage. "How dare you call Donnie a monster!? You just fucking killed him! You fucking killed my brother, you son of a bitch! We never ever did anything to you in the first place, you attacked us first! Who's the monster here?"
Raphael tried to get up once more, leaning against the tree. The Bishop's men aimed at him, ready to shoot him down, but Bishop made a signal for them to stop.
"Hang on, gentlemen. This one is MINE. This should be interesting."
Taking impulse, pushing away from the tree, Raph launched himself against Bishop, his fist aiming at his face, but the man wasn't there anymore and the turtle lost his balance, falling to the ground. He breathed hard a few times and jumped again, trying to hit the man many times, but every attempt ended on a clumsy fall back to the ground until Raph was on his knees, gasping for air again.
"Are you done already?" Bishop smirked maliciously. "Now it's my turn."
Raphael didn't even see that one coming. Bishop kicked his plastron with so much strength that Raph stumbled backwards. He had no time to react. Bishop was already behind him, pulling the tails of his red mask, tearing it off and kicking his shell, sending his face on the ground once more. The man threw Raph's mask over the puddle of blood that was under Donatello's body.
"You're no match for me, mutant." Said Bishop, putting his left foot over Raph's shell, pinning him to the ground. With a SWIFT move, he turned the turtle's body so he could face him. "You never were."
Then he grabbed the edges of his plastron, lifting him up and throwing him over the other turtle. Raph coughed again and tried to get up once more, but it was useless. He was defeated.
Suddenly something cut through the air, landing next to Raph. It was one of his Sais. Then, small metal balls were thrown near them, immediately dispersing a heavy white smoke, making it impossible for the men to see anything ahead them. Bishop turned around, looking for the intruders of his personal party, but there was no movements nor sounds around them. For a few seconds he kept looking until one of his men gasped and fell to the ground unconscious, a shadow behind him moving fast and hitting other man. On the other side, the same thing was happening. Two shadows running and jumping, one of them knocking the men out using nunchucks and the other fighting them with twin katanas. Furious, Bishop ordered his men to open fire against them, but most of them were already beaten. Then, Bishop heard something behind him and turned again, noticing that while he was distracted by the other turtles, Raphael was trying to reach his Sai. He smirked and stepped on his hand, making the darker turtle scream in agony.
"Raph!" They could hear Leo and Mikey scream at the same time while finishing the last guys and turning their attention to them. Bishop pulled out a gun and aimed to Raph's head, making a signal for the others to stop.
"One more step and you can kiss your brother goodbye." He said calmly, as if it was nothing. Leo and Mikey tensed and stopped in their tracks, looking from Bishop to their brothers. The amount of wounds and blood covering both turtles' bodies made Mikey's stomach flip and he dropped his nunchucks, holding his plastron.
"Don... Raph..." Mikey almost couldn't speak, his voice barely audible.
"What did you do to them, Bishop...?" Leo asked in a serious, tense tone of voice.
"Oh, don't ask silly questions when you already know the answer." Bishop replied dryly. "They helped me pretty much... Too bad they didn't want to collaborate, it didn't need to end this way."
Bishop stepped with more strength on Raph's hand and he cried again. Leo hold his katana firmly, growling at Bishop. Mikey bent down to get his nunchucks again but froze when he heard Bishop's gun clicking. "I told you, move, and he will die."
Just then Leo noticed something. Bishop was keeping an eye on them and forgot almost completely about Raph and Don. Don was still cold, motionless, but Raph was moving again, this time silently. With his other hand, he reached his Sai. 'Raph, don't...' He thought to himself, he wanted to tell him to stop, but it was too late. Raph stabbed Bishop's ankle, making him take his foot off of his hand and stumble backward. It was now or never.
Leo and Mikey jumped to attack the man, but while they jumped, Bishop was faster. The sound of the shooting didn't stop the turtles anymore and they attacked Bishop with all their strength and speed, forcing him to retreat and move away from the injured brothers. Leonardo and Michelangelo wouldn't stop for anything. Annoyed, Bishop started running away.
"It was funny, but I have no time to be fooling around with you, freaks. My researches won't be RESUMED by themselves. But I'll be back to get you too."
Mikey tried to chase him, but Leo hold his shoulder, making him stop.
"Leo, he's getting away!"
"We can't do this, Mikey." Leo replied sadly, turning his head to their brothers. Mikey followed his gaze and his expression changed from angry to worry. Both ran there and knelt by their side. Cautiously, Leo took Raph off over Don, lying him down at his side, checking for his vital signs, exhaling relieved when he saw that Raph was still breathing. Mikey did the same with Don, a bit reluctant with all that blood, but then he realized that...
"Leo..." Mikey whispered, his eyes already wet. "Don is... He is..." He couldn't finish the sentence, lowering his head and crying. Leonardo's gaze jumped from Raph to Don and Mikey, he didn't want to believe that. Suddenly Raph coughed weakly, having a breathing attack. Leo and Mikey turned to him quickly. He opened his eyes and glanced at his brothers, moaning in pain.
"Why did you... Take so long...?"
"W-we didn't know where you were..." Leo explained. "Usually it was... Don who always knew how to track down the hideouts of our enemies..."
"He's gonna be okay, right, Leo?" Mikey whispered, calling their attention. He was looking down, Leo couldn't see his face but since Raph's head was lying on Leo's lap, he still could see his little brother's desperate and almost hopeless expression. "Raphael will survive, right? We're gonna be okay... Right...?"
"Mikey..." Raph mumbled, coughing and having difficult to breathe, making the two look at him again. "Promise me... Promise me you'll never stop smiling..."
"What?" The younger lifted his head startled. "No, Raph, don't talk like that, please! Leo, tell him everything will be fine!"
But Leo just lowered his head, closing his eyes sadly. Mikey couldn't believe that. Raph turned to his older brother, grabbing his hand weakly. "Leo... Take care... of him..." He coughed once more, his vision blurred in red. "You both... need each other..."
"I promise you, Raphael." Leo said in a low tone, holding his hand firmly. Slowly, Raph closed his eyes and his head fell to the side, exhaling one last time.