Raphael's sais were the first thing they took, but far from the last. He had created a bit of distance, and time, spinning, kicking, and relishing the satisfying grunt of pain as his foot connected with a throat. He grimaced when he glanced at their growing numbers, pissed that he was outnumbered, and now, so foolishly weaponless. Two of them had somehow latched onto his arms, snatched him back to the earth as he was flying into a leap, and hurled him against the wall, hard. Restrained, and burning with humiliation that they had actually pinned him, Raphael lowered his head, and tried to channel his rage into something more productive than animalistic frenzy. His lip curled at the words. Was he not an animal?
His sais had somehow clattered to the ground, and he felt their loss as a wound. He snarled when one of them casually flung them over the side of the building. Weaponless, and now outnumbered, he span into another kick, and hurled his arm into the solar plexus of another. He felt the rib bones snap as the soldier fell to the ground.
They warily inched away from him. He took the brief interlude to breathe, and glare at them all, as he surveyed the rooftop for some deliverance, or advantage. He grimaced when he saw there was none.
"You guys must be studying the abridged book of ninja fighting." He hurled the insult with the hopes that at least a few of them would rise to the bait. He couldn't take them all on, but he could definitely take out the ones stupid enough to come within striking distance. He pummeled one with a fist, dropped into a dead roll and somersaulted into a wide circle. Confused, they scrambled out of his way to avoid being crushed, and Raphael shot to his feet, satisfied that he bought himself a bit more time and a few more feet free of them. Warily, he rose, heaving.
He gave them all a smirk for their troubles. "I mean, come on….how do you guys expect to beat me?"
The answer was viciously clear when he saw their reinforcements swell out of nowhere, and come slinking towards him. He grimaced when he saw that each one already had their weapons-a cruel assortment of chains, bos, blades, all brandished, all ready as they slowly lurched towards him, and enclosed his precious few feet of space.
Raphael's eyes bulged as he crouched to the earth in a defensive pose. "Good answer…..good answer!"
The sarcasm was the only way he had to mask the fear. Swallowing back the bile in his throat, Raphael grimaced at the burn. Puking his guts up at this point was a bit beneath him. He drew in a cleansing breath, tried to calm the fear that was surging through him, tried to channel it into the bright, frenzied rage that could possibly keep him alive for a bit longer.
He pivoted to glance at the shimmering dome of abysmal blue, and the roar of the indifferent city he could very well be dying now to protect. Dying….Raphael's guts clenched when he thought of his ending being played out here on a lonely roof top, slowly taken down, bone by broken bone, gradually, literally shattered by blade, by fist, by chain. His last breath would be witnessed by his killers, his absence probably unnoticed, or even welcomed by his brothers.
He really wished now that he hadn't been such a sarcastic ass to his brothers. Did they know that he loved them? Would they find his battered remains on the roof? Who in the hell would think to look here, anyway? He let the thought of being beaten to death curl into his soul, come to rest in the pit of his guts, let it fester into strength. They'd have to kill him first to make the tortured thought a reality.
Apparently, they had found their guts in numbers, and they were slowly circling him. The distance he had created was being casually, slowly eroded as they continued their languid, casual pace. Raphael pivoted, spinning around to keep himself closed off from attack as he looked for an opening through their demented little circle. It was like a perverse game of ring around the rosie, only it would be him doing the falling. His impromptu plan of striking the chance when it presented itself was miserably failing now. It could only work if they came close enough to strike.
Heaving, Raphael dropped into a crouch, tucking his legs underneath him, centering himself into the best position. He only had a second or two to get the flip right. With a grunt, he shot upward, hurtling himself high above the fight, and into the air. It felt like flying as he ducked his arms into a roll, and arched his legs to land. His intent was simply to leap away from the fray, and bolt like a rabbit. It was normally not in him to admit defeat, but it would be nothing less than suicide to fight them all.
He felt the blinding pain of the thick, cruel chain as it collided with his chest, and flung him back to the earth. Raphael was slammed into the ground, shell first-the most vulnerable position. He shuddered with the agony of the concrete nearly shattering his shell, and he grunted for precious air. It only came out as a choked whimper. Torpor, and ice slithered over him as he tried to rock himself upright. One of them slammed a fist into his already thudding head. He heard the crack of a fist, the icy numb ache, and barely noted the next blow at all.
He tried to crawl away from the ravaging hits, tried to pull his limbs and brutalized skull into the confines of his shell. It was only his protective instincts that were coming into play now,he could not do anything else. The beating halted at the grunted order of one of them, and he slowly staggered to his feet, swaying and nearly collapsing. The world swam, the ground beneath him rippled and his breath only came in short, choked gasps. He raised his arms in a defensive stance, tried to defend himself, through the haze of pain, and his decreasing ability to remain upright. He no longer dealt the blows, he simply swayed to them.
Another blow to the head. It didn't feel like pain any more, it just felt like a dull thud. He heard the crack of the blow, and felt it slam into his face. He collapsed, again, and tried to crawl away on hands and knees. They wouldn't even allow that. One of them slammed a knee into his chest, drove it into his gut as Raphael let out a strangled whimper. He was sucking in air, now, but his ravaged insides wouldn't allow him to breathe…..
Raphael felt violating hands inch their way over the rim of his shell, as they flipped him over, lifted him, and then slammed him into the concrete. He was hauled up the stairwell, and gleefully subjected to the pummeling of more concrete to his skull as they watched his head bounce as it bounced into each step.
He grit his teeth, screwed his eyes shut at the searing ache that burned its way to his very core. Something wet dribbled down one cheek. He did not know if it was blood, or a tear. His breath was coming in staccato choking now-snatched and broken off in hitching gasps. It was a sickening wheeze that seemed to require almost too much pain to continue.
He felt himself being dragged and abruptly lifted, his arms dangling, their human hands over his opened his eyes, and saw the sky. It was swallowed by the sea of black hoods as they suddenly swung him into the air. Was this his ending, then? To be flung off the roof, and thrown to the bowels of the city, to die like trash in the street? Would his brothers find him? Would he want their last sight of them to be his broken, splayed wreck smeared on the concrete?
Raphael opened his eyes, and saw himself…Squinting at his reflection from the skylight, he saw the wilted, bruised, bleeding thing they had reduced him to. He looked more like a beaten corpse than anything else. He stared in wonder at himself as they shifted position, centering him over the glass, and rotating him until he was splayed over the glittering obsidian surface.
He heard the gleeful, savage cackle as they let him go. He plunged downward, unable to do anything else besides fall. The glass shattered beneath him, the shards rising and bearing down like teeth. He saw the fragmented shafts of sunlight pooling down over the broken glass, glimmering off his bloodied shell. He heard the breaking of the skyline, and saw the diamond shower of crushed glass as it fell with him. He saw the floor rising up to meet him.
There was only the agonizing flare of pain over his entire body as he felt bone, shell and body collde at last. He heard the bewildered shriek of his name, the voice piercing his disoriented mind like a lance of light. His name was whimpered in absolute horror. And the last time he heard his name, it sounded like a requiem.
He felt human hands, small, frail, and quivering lacing against his throat, his head gently cradled, the eerie wet of tears. April? How….
The thought flickered, and died when he heard Leo's bellow of his name. Raphael could barely make out the blue mask, and the eyes huge with agony as his brother lay a finger against his throat and hissed out, "He's alive, barely."
It sounded like a snarl. Raphael's splintering awareness was only coming in vague snatches that broke through the pain. April had somehow raised him a bit more upright, her arms braced over his chest, her tremor like an earthquake as she held him in the chaos. Leo's grip on him had tightened into a protective tether, as if his brother intended to snatch him like some angel of deliverance.
Raphael heard his broken voice beside him. "Hang on, Raph, we'll get you out of this. Please, please, hang on…" It was an invocation.
Raphael had never heard that fractured tone coming from his strong brother, never heard that plea laced with so much pain. It was harder to bear than the blows. Raphael felt Leo's hand in his own.
"Don't let go, Raph. Don't let go!" Raphael felt the darkness crashing in, the pain dulling to a throb, the ache diluting into sedating torpor. His breathing slowed, as April screamed his name and clawed at him in desperation.
Raphael tried to force open his eyes, tried to obey the pleading for him to answer. He tried to squeeze Leo's hand back in reassurance, tried to apologize, tried to choke out that he loved them, and he was so damn sorry…..
He could do nothing more than groan out an unheard plea, before he finally crumbled into oblivion.