A/N: My entry to the Writer's Nexus on DA for the theme Mythologized. Enjoy. WARNING: Dark themes ahead...
Ten years ago, we began to carve our names in history. A band of brothers set out to follow what we called destiny, the stuff legends are made of.
We fought, we slaved away, we did everything in our power to defeat the Shredder as his reign of terror began into a new era soon after he killed our father and master in a cowardly ambush.
Splinter gave his life to save ours so we retaliated in his name, hitting Foot Clan bases, raiding armories and snagging valuable Intel. We became the best ninjas we could be until our battle reached its epic conclusion.
I'd like to think father would have been proud if our plan, that he knew how we slaved away in his name. But I will never know. My brothers are with him now, yet myself, I am trapped in the astral plane, watching the earth for eternity until something destroys my spirit. It is torture, gazing upon what has become of our world, yet out of this dark tale there is some light. People now know our names and our faces, and are being told of our story.
I only wish we were the ones who were telling it...
...
...
Raphael was the first to be taken from us. Hardly surprising given his warrior's spirit, yet it was a shock all the same.
It had been another patrol, another Foot target, generally, just another night. But they knew that.
It happened so quickly, I could barely react in time. An arrow came out of nowhere, aimed right at the back of my head. I sliced it in half, spun, sword raised only to meet an elite guard halfway from chopping my head from my shoulders.
Panic rose within me. It was so similar to how we lost our father in sudden, brutal aggression that I felt as though we could lose another. But I had to protect them. I had to protect my brothers.
I fought back, just as my family were, each of us taking on numerous opponents at once until the rooftop was littered with bodies. The stench of blood was what stayed with me the most from that night, at least, until a silent order called the troops to withdraw.
At first I was confused. We were injured, sure, but did not seem out for the count. I was struggling to stand with a deep cut across my thigh but they'd left instead of pouncing upon this weakness. Yet it was only once I turned to my brothers that I realised why.
Raph was missing.
Somehow, the soldiers had managed to incapacitate him and take his hulking form with them. It had all been a distraction.
Yet there was no time to hunt for him. As I looked to my two youngest brothers I realised my earlier judgement had been wrong. Mikey had been hurt. Badly.
I could see from Don's gaze that it was serious, the blood flowing from his plastron signifying life threatening wounds. A soldier had forced a blade through his stomach. He was bleeding out.
My choice was this, let Don take on what was the two man operation of getting Mike back to safety and then patching him up in order to hunt fruitlessly for our missing brother. Or I could choose to leave Raph to fend for himself in order to ensure Mikey didn't die.
I sheathed my swords.
I had made my decision.
And deep down - despite the hatred I felt at leaving my brother behind, I knew it was what Raph would have wanted me to do.
To protect them at all costs.
At least that is how I try to reassure myself now.
Together, me and Don hefted Mike up onto our shoulders and began the long trek back to the lair.
It took thirteen hours to stabilize our brother, two attempts at CPR, three blood transfusions and more strips of strong sports tape than I could count to seal his wound shut. Yet by the end he was stable. He was alive.
After such a ruthless attack, I knew it to be suicide to venture out alone to hunt for Raphael, and until Mikey was conscious enough to show he could manage alone, Don couldn't leave his side. My only option for searching for our missing brother was via the spiritual plane, so gathering up incense and candles, I went to the dojo to meditate.
Eventually I found him, and what I encountered as I touched his spirit was shocking.
He was scared. Raw fear was coursing through my brother's veins, which was, of course, mingled with a stubborn rebellious streak which refused to give in to the Shredder.
Unable to grab his attention, I forced myself into his mind, seeing through his eyes, hearing what he thought, and right away I managed to gage what had happened.
Raph had been tortured. One eye socket was dark, blood dripping down his face. Some teeth had been wrenched free leaving a coppery taste I could share, but worst if all were what they had done to the rest of his body. His hands were bound, outstretched, on an examining table with his precious sais pinning him down, causing extreme agony and certain nerve damage. Then there was his lower body. To my horror, I could feel both knees had been smashed violently, leaving Raph's legs a twisted mess.
Even if we could get to him before shock and blood loss set in, he would never walk again, let alone fight.
My sorrow and rage at what these mobsters had done to my brother was so strong that it actually got his attention.
Leo?
Oh Raphael... Otōto… What have they done to you?
Nothing I can't handle... This was tinted with fear and false bravado.
Where are you? How long can you hold out for? Don's looking after Mike... I was rambling, I knew it, as did he.
We both knew the severity of the situation.
Mike... He's alright?So Raph had seen Mikey get hurt.
Hurt, but alive.
Good.
Raph, focus. I scolded him, trying my best to remain calm.
"Hey, the freak's still conscious!" A voice from behind Raph shouted and suddenly a knife was forced through his plastron. Raph roared on agony while I could only scream his name inside his head, unable to do anything but watch.
"That'll keep him down!" Now as my little brother spoke to me inside his mind,he could no longer hide his pain.
Shut it, Leo... You can't find me in time... Don't kill yourself from my sake…
The sincerity in his tone shocked me.
No turtle left behind. That's the rule.
Well not this time bro... I don't think I can last much longer. Shredder's coming to finish me off himself any moment now... They've had their fun...
Raph...
I didn't break, Leo, I really didn't… He was pleading now through the pain I could feel radiating through his system. They wanted to know where you are, but I never spoke...
I know, Raph. I know... I could feel the emotions welling up inside of me. I couldn't stop this... I was powerless.
Suddenly his panic intensified. Through his eyes I could see the foreboding shadow of the Shredder cast upon the wall opposite Raph.
Leo... He remained stony face on the outside, but I could sense his acceptance of what was to come mingled his overwhelming fear.
I'm with you, Raphael. I won't leave.
I love you. I know I never said it enough-
"Turtle. Prepare to meet your doom." Shredder's voice echoed around the room.
I know. We all do.
Tell 'em I'm sorry... They've gotta watch their own shells now. But it wasn't their fault... Or you, Leo. You have to remember that. I know you... You guys can beat him... I know you can…
"S'up Shredhead." Raph spoke aloud, defiant as ever. "Gotta say, your hospitality sucks."
Raph... I...
I know, Leo. Just don't be an idiot. You're a great leader, and I'm sorry if I made you doubt that. You're my best friend. Be strong.
I love you brother. But I can't do this without you.
"Insolent turtle! I will destroy you!"
Raph spat at him, landing right in the Shredder's eyes through his visor. He cursed violently. And Raph laughed. Despite everything, he laughed.
"Whatever, you tin can. But you'll join me soon. My bros are gonna tear you apart."
"Not if I get their first." The gauntlet was raised. I sent all my emotions to Raph, my trust in him, my never ending pride of his abilities and my trust that I always held with him as he kept me going in my darkest moments.
He blinked back a tear so the Shredder did not see him waver.
You're stronger than that, Leo. You always were. Tell the guys I'll miss them.
Raph-
"Now die!"
RAPH!
A piercing scream and sudden blackness, but it was only when I blinked and Donnie's face materialised before my own full of horror and concern did I realise the scream was my own. My fingers were digging into the sides of my face, drawing blood while tears blurred my vision. My voice faded away into a ragged gasp, and only then could I face Don, sweat soaking my skin as my chest heaved from the physical strain of what I had just experienced.
"They killed him..." I whispered, not quite believing my own ears. "He's gone..."
The pure anguish I saw in Donnie's - and later, Mikey's - faces in those admissions never left me.
They had killed my brother and in doing so dealt another emotional blow to our family.
They would pay.
We would make sure of it.
...
...
In all fairness, I don't think I ever really recovered from that night. Who would? To see a loved one die before your eyes was one thing, yet to witness it firsthand through their own eyes in the way I had was beyond traumatic.
I did exactly what Raph had told me not to and closed myself off. I put all my efforts into recalling his last words and setting them to paper, recording his life as we had done in memory of our father. Once Mike had fully recovered from his wounds and was allowed to leave the infirmary, both he and Don spent their days outside my locked door, begging me to emerge from my self-imposed isolation, begging me for details, confirmation - anything that would offer some glimmer of hope that this was all some kind of lie.
But I remained despondent.
I don't remember much of that month, but I remember what it was that finally broke me out of my daze like state. I received a message on my phone – which was bizarre in itself as I had shut off all notifications. It was an emergency broadcast from the city above.
There was a new leader for our city. A coup had occurred and all governmental officials had been assassinated, banished or had wisely surrendered their powers.
It was being called a national crisis yet no one in the city could do anything.
Over the next week there were reports of failed attempts at rebellion, various military interventions and some diplomatic meetings of which none could force the new omnipotent rule from over the city. In other states dormant groups of the Foot arose to take charge of the country until there was only one head of state, an all-powerful dictator.
His name, Oroku Saki. Everyone learnt that he was the leader of a ruthless ninja clan.
No one could touch him.
So everyone was forced to accept this new horrific reality.
The masses had bent the knee and submitted to his will, and once his powers had solidified, he made our existence hell. All mutants, innocent or guilty, were outlawed unless they served the Foot.
We became outlaws.
Anyone who knew about a mutant's existence was questioned while anyone hiding one was executed for crimes against the state. Our human allies - including April and Casey - were imprisoned for merely knowing us and were later killed for not telling where we lived. We tried to save them, yet we were too late. When we got to the detention center only a large unmarked grave was to be found of our friends.
They gave their lives to protect ours, but the final straw for me came in Shredder's first speech to the nation. I can still recall the way he turned to the camera - staring directly at me through my tiny screen - and he held up a blood stained red bandana.
The breath caught in my throat.
"This belonged to a mutant, a violent creature I have spared you – the people – from. He was the embodiment of one of the sins of this country – rebellion. He fought us, he challenged my right to rule and he paid the price. The Sin of Rebellion has been eradicated. I will banish all the Sins from this city and peace shall be our reward."
After this sickening display, I finally found clarity. My brother would not have wanted me to shut myself off like this, instead he would want me - want us - to fight.
I emerged from my solitude and finally told my remaining brothers everything.
Together we swore to save our home from this evil and get vengeance for Raph.
It was time to fight.
...
...
Of course no uprising is fast. We began our patrols again, helping citizens from the shadows and delivering small but calculated blows to Shredder's strongholds – doing enough to show we hadn't given up yet, that the unpredictable aspects of humanity which Shredder now called Sins would never disappear.
Then it was time for a major operation.
Shredder was planning to pollute the New York's water supply with a mind control serum so that everyone would be his to command – including us. We had to stop it.
We knew the mission was also deliberate ploy to lure us out, yet if they succeeded we would never be safe, thus we had to try.
Since we lost Raph we had become more aware of our own mortality, and I knew it to be playing on my younger brothers' minds. Don had spent several months building battle suits for the three of us to wear in fights to offer more protection and to also permit a wider range of tools such as grappling hooks, stun guns and rocket boosters to propel the suits into the air allowing for a speedy escape.
Once we were all strapped into our suits, I bucked them up as much as I could with words and offered reassurances, but it was clear we were all aware of the same thing. Despite Donnie's precautions, we may not all be coming home.
A final hug and we were off. We infiltrated the factory and Donnie set to work, using his suits added functions to hack into the computers and destroy files that could allow the mind control serum to be recreated. Me and Mikey watched his back, and once the Foot troops swarmed, we battled to protect our brother. For the first three waves of troops it seemed like we had a chance and Donnie had nearly completed his technical sabotage, yet as the fourth battalion bombarded us, Saki himself also showed up accompanied by a mass of new mutants. They attacked, we defended, but my suit was soon ripped apart. Mike was still going but our advantage was grinding to a halt.
Eventually Don finished and joined us in battle, however before I could call the retreat, I received a major blow to my back. I felt a sword cut deep into my shell, and all control over my body left me. I collapsed into darkness only to awake three days later facing a battered Mikey.
We were home.
But the cost was evident.
The left side of Mikey's face was a mass of burns destroying one eye and pulling one side of his mouth into a permanent grin. I was about to ask what Donnie had done to treat it when I realised...
There was no Donnie.
If there had been both of them would have been beside me, and Mikey's remaining eye would not be rubbed raw from crying.
Apparently, once I went down, they both rushed to my aid and were about to start our retreat when an elite guard threw acid at Mikey – a dishonorable, dirty trick – while another grabbed Donnie from behind and – without pause – slit his throat.
It had been brutal in its swiftness, yet that was the only comfort I could find.
Mikey couldn't even recover the body and it was all he could do to drag my unconscious form and himself from the factory using the suit's rocket boosters before stumbling – half blind – back home to patch up my shell.
Thankfully my spine hadn't been touched and Mikey had treated the wound well, patching it up with metal plates.
I told him that Don would have been proud of his work and together we broke down. We had lost two brothers to this hellish opponent and were no closer to taking Shredder down. My silent promises had not come into fruition.
That night there was another broadcast across all devices. This time Saki held up a purple bandana as he spoke into the camera.
"A second Sin has been destroyed tonight. The Sin of Invention. This mutant created machines capable of tearing down one of our major factory operations and for this, he has paid dearly."
We couldn't bear to hear Donatello's genius dragged through the mud, so we left the screens and – with Mikey taking most of my weight – we moved to the dojo to light a candle for our fallen sibling.
I'd failed another brother, but this only strengthened my resolve to destroy Shredder once and for all. Slowly we healed, we grew stronger and through it all, I remember how strong Mikey was. He kept our spirits up as much as he could and stopped me from dwelling on everything too much. Without him I would have crumbled, but he kept me up, reminded me why we were fighting and kept the spirits of our brothers alive by never changing his attitude to life. Sure, he matured, and he was no longer the easily baffled little brother we had tried so hard to protect from the world's cruelties yet he was still trying his best to look on the bright side of life. In a way I'm glad he wasn't completely the same, as I knew without his newfound wisdom, we wouldn't have moved on.
We adapted and prepared our killing blow to Shredder. On the day his new empire was to turn a year old, we did nothing.
It was to be the most heavily guarded day of the year with all troops ready to mobilise to stop protests, riots and assassination attempts.
It was the following day we were to strike.
Forces would be tired from being on high alert and security wouldn't be as iron tight. It was a risk, however we had nothing left to lose and no better option existed.
We geared up for possibly the final time and strapped three small homemade bombs each onto our beings.
We were prepared to die if it meant Shredder would fall too.
Over the course of the day we caused trouble all over the city so the Foot was spread thin before our main attack even began. At nightfall, we entered his fortress. Up we climbed until we reached the Saki's private headquarters. He lay in bed, seemingly unaware of our presence, but as we moved forth, the lights flashed on and he sat up – revealing he was – in fact – not Shredder at all, but an android.
We'd been had.
"Bravo, turtles, bravo." The real Shredder stepped forth from the shadows and both mine and Mikey's hands flew to our makeshift bombs. But before the pins could be pulled, we were tackled to the ground by two burly ape mutants and our weapons ripped from us.
I bowed my head in shame.
We had failed.
Seeing this, Saki laughed – a dark, evil sound filling the room – as he stared down to our forms as we were chained hand and foot.
"I have waited a long time for this, freaks. Now the world shall know of all the Sins I seek to eradicate from existence. Behold your fate." With a flourish he gestured to a hanging curtain on one side of the room which two soldiers tugged down and instantly bile filled my mouth. Beside me I heard Mikey choke back a sob, yet he sounded a million miles away.
In two glass tanks stood the disfigured corpses of our brothers, each suspended in green liquid to preserve their forms. Yet if their deaths and preservation wasn't bad enough for us to behold, Shredder had taken a step further into villainy and altered our brothers' already damaged bodies.
Raph's limbs were completely mangled, more so than when I had witnessed his demise, with the bones in his legs poking through the skin while his hands were weighed down by heavy shackles – the holes in his palms cut up even more so that you could actually see the inner tendons and bones. His face was the worst for me through – the eyes which had always stared at me with such loyalty and kept watch over our family with a hidden tenderness had been gouged out leaving chilling black pits while his mouth had been twisted into a silent scream.
He had been completely manipulated to appear every bit of the Sin Shredder had branded him as.
And Donnie... Oh my poor brothers...
These monsters had crudely welded metal replacement limbs onto Donnie's scared torso, clearly ripping his arms and legs from his cooling corpse and adding machinery to make him a literal personification of the possibly damaging inventions the Shredder longed to banish. Copper wires dipped behind his shell and pipes emerged from his carapace as though his entire back wasn't his own. As with Raph, Donnie's face had been manipulated into a pained scream, his open mouth revealing a metal plate behind his teeth.
They had torn my brother apart.
It was hideous, an act full of malice and devoid of honor. And it was what would happen to us.
I didn't know when I had started crying, but the tears were now rolling thick and fast down my cheeks. I turned my face to the Shredder, watching him sneer with delight at my inner turmoil.
"You're a demon." I whispered hoarsely. "They won't follow you forever. They'll learn the truth."
Again that terrible laugh.
"Oh they shall. They will follow what I tell them otherwise they will end up like you four. Take him." He gestured to Mikey. His tear-filled eyes met my own but I could only shake my head.
"Be strong." I whispered. I offered no comfort – what could I say? We were going to die and be entombed for eternity like an exhibit. It was humiliating, yet I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else from such a man as Shredder.
I could only watch as the leader of the foot stepped forth and sliced my baby brother's mouth open so his lips – already half frozen in a smile, hung open in the widest grin possible. I screamed his name yet a muzzle was clamped over my face so I could only watch in silence as Mikey's shell was caved in with a sledgehammer and his cries filled the night sky.
My gaze never left his.
He would not die alone. I was here. I couldn't save him, but I wasn't going to abandon him now.
Shredder raised his blades for the killing blow.
"And thus the Sin of Laughter is wiped from existence."
The blades fell and a hot wave of blood, bone and brain matter hit my face.
I kept my silence despite my tears.
I'm sorry my brothers... I am sorry I couldn't save you, that we failed… A thought suddenly hit me and filled my heart with bittersweet joy. Soon I would be with them again, we would be reunited at last...
However Shredder must have seen my expression change for he bent down and pulled a syringe from his belt.
"Oh no, young Leonardo. You will be my finest example - the best warning to those who oppose me." He plunged the needle into my neck and fired the contents into my system. Instantly I felt myself being torn away from my body, my spirit rising high above my now limp form as I entered the thin mid-ground between the astral plane and our world.
For a moment I was confused then I saw Shredder call some men to take mine and Mikey's corpses to two more glass containers to begin prepping us for his gruesome display. Saki faced my corpse and sneered.
"That formula will place you on a spiritual location where you are powerless to do anything except watch." He explained to my body - clearly fully aware that I would be able to hear wat he said. "Your body and spirit cannot reconnect. You are stuck now watching what the result of your pathetic leadership skills for all eternity. Your corpses will now go on display to the public and all shall see what monsters you were. The Sins of Rebellion, Invention, Laughter and Spirit will dwindle. No one will want to follow in your steps. No one will oppose me. You failed, and now you will truly know suffering."
With a sharp nod to his men, he turned on heel and left the room leaving me to watch the Foot begin to brutalise our bodies, making us look as much like monsters as they possibly could.
Alone, trapped and unable to escape I finally broke down.
My scream was deafening, yet no one was there to hear me. Nor would there ever be...
We had lost.
This was now my own personal hell...
...
...
It's been twenty years now since that night. I long ago accepted my fate to wander aimlessly through this ghost like reality and had taken to exploring how far my spiritual form could go from my body. I had been around the entire globe now three times, stopping in various countries along the way, watching morbidly at the lives that continued on unaware of the extent of suffering the Shredder had caused back home. But no matter how far I went, I always ended up in the Oroku Saki Museum in New York which told a heavily edited history of the Foot and its rise to power, yet as visitors entered they were greeted by four large glass cases, filled with green liquid.
These were the main attraction.
These were the infamous Sins.
Our bodies looked just the same as they had all those years ago, the scales just as fresh, the wounds and mutilations just as horrific. And my body still there – the sign above it labeling me "The Sin of Spirit." Below, a plaque explained how I was still out there – torn from my body and sentenced to wander through a spiritual dimension alone for my opposition to the Shredder on a spiritual level.
It was complete and utter nonsense. But who would know any different?
I'd read every word in the museum and it disgusted me how much had been fabricated to make Shredder an all-powerful, all loving leader. A whole new generation had now been born into this reality, knowing nothing but Shredder's totalitarian rule and being taught of his unquestionable might. The sight reminded me of a dystopian novel Donnie told me about as tots, and that thought brought back the usual wash of emotions.
Instead of wallowing in my grief I floated through the crowds of civilians enjoying another day under Shredder's rule when I saw a little girl before my prison grabbing her mother's hand.
"Tell me the story of the Sins, mommy!" The woman looked up at our bodies with a look of pure disgust as she grudgingly began, reading from the plaques as she told what had now been accepted as an urban myth.
"Well, once there were four beings of extreme evil. The Sin of Rebellion, the Sin of Invention, the Sin of Laughter and the Sin of Spirit. These beings were evil mutants and wanted to destroy our noble leader Oroku Saki – and used their unacceptable traits to create chaos…"
Not wanting to hear the supposed myth all over again I turned away and left the building.
This was no story with a happy ending, and for me the end was something that I would never get a chance to know. All I had now was my failures to live with, and that was too much. However there was no escaping it.
Shredder had been right. This was the ultimate punishment.
I drifted back onto the streets and decided this time I would not look back. Maybe in another twenty years this place would be no more and the Shredder would have died.
Maybe...
But then again, maybe not...
Yet if this was a myth, then I wouldn't put my hopes up. Reality had been disappointing and unlike the myths I had been told as a child, the heroes had not triumphed evil. We had lost and there was no second chance. This was reality now and it was hell.
And I had no way to escape.
And that… That is not the way we wanted to be remembered…
Just a little one shot this week. Enjoy and hate my guts for doing this! :)
Leave your reactions/ thoughts/ insults!
LL99 Out.