Thanks so much for the reviews, even though there are only four… I was expecting a lot less, since TMNT is so old.. But these were so supportive! Thanks so much!
Me: I own TMNT!
Leo: Excuse me?
Me: Oh...hi Leo! Ehehe…
Leo: Better fix your mistake
Me: *sighs* I don't own TMNT
Chapter 2
"Silence is a gift. Learn to value its' essence."
-Anonymous
"Dudes!" Mikey yelped, leaping onto the beam of a Kraang warehouse. "The bomb's about to go off!"
"Donnie, hurry up already!" Leo shouted, slicing through a Kraang and a foot soldier at the same time. It was bad enough that there was a bomb in the warehouse next to the channel 6 building, but now Shredder and his army had to come along to join the party as well.
"I'm trying my best!" Donnie screamed, cutting random wires and hacking Kraang tech.
"Well try harder!" Raph yelled, defending Donnie.
Donnie felt sweat pour down his forehead. He glanced down at the wires, sure of the ones he was going to cut. There were one of the last possible wires to cut. They had to shut off the bomb, and if they didn't Donnie wouldn't have anything else to do. Taking his pliers, it only required a quick snip before the timer turned dark and stopped. Donnie sighed in relief.
"Yes!" Mikey cheered, seeing Donnie's relief. But before they could retreat, the bomb started up again, with only minutes remaining.
"2: 32… 2:31… 2:30…"
"No!" Mikey wailed, jumping down beside a horrified Donnie.
"Donnie!" Leo shouted, landing beside Mikey. "What's going on?!"
"I can't turn it off!"
"What do you mean 'you can't turn it off'?" Leo shouted back, slicing a kraang in half.
"I mean, I CAN'T TURN IT OFF!" Donnie screamed back, clearly annoyed. "It's too high-tech!"
Raph audibly groaned from beside them.
"So what do we do?" he growled, twirling his sais in anticipation.
"We get out of here!" Donnie yelped, jumping back just as a plasma ray hit the spot where he was just crouching. He looked over to see a kraang aiming its' blaster at him, but before Donnie could react, Leo sliced its' head off, landing behind it. The Kraang brain gave a squeal and crawled away in panic.
"2:00… 1:59… 1:58… 1:57…"
"Retreat!" Leo ordered, pointing at the closing warehouse door, before dodging several plasma bullets aimed at him.
Panicked, all four of the turtles sprinted towards the door, fighting through various Kraang and Foot.
"1:35… 1:34…"
"Hurry!" Leo commanded, kicking away a foot soldier just as it was about to stab Mikey in the back. They resumed their race, but before they could get there, a dark and bulky figure fell from the ceiling and landed on Donnie, pinning him to the floor. Leo skidded to a halt with his remaining brothers, turning back and meeting the cruel, triumphant eyes of the Shredder, still pinning Donnie to the floor.
"1:00… "
"0:59…"
"0:58…"
Leo gasped awake. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he climbed from his bed, groaning as his body flared with pain.
What happened?
He wandered outside of his room, looking around groggily. He saw his father and sensei standing with his back to him, his head bowed. Leo opened his mouth to call to him, but before he could say anything, Master Splinter interrupted him.
"Leonardo."
"Sensei, where is everyone?" Leo asked, his voice full of concern.
"You don't remember?" Master Splinter asked, his voice flat.
"No… what happened to them? Where are my brothers?" Leo asked again, panic creeping into his tone.
"They're dead." Those words stuck Leo to the bone, making him freeze as his blood turned to ice. "You failed them." Master Splinter turned around and his eyes were filled with scorn, disappointment, and blame directed towards his eldest son. "You failed me, Leonardo. I trusted you to be leader."
Leo's eyes grew wide and he stuttered a response, but was cut off yet again as his sensei took a step towards him.
"I trusted you and you failed your whole family. You FAILED." His eyes were as cold as his voice, as a took another step so he loomed over Leo, who started to shake uncontrollably.
"No… No!" He cried, stepping back. "I tried to be leader, father! I would never fail thm, or you! I…" He trailed off under his father's piercing glare.
"You're not my son anymore. You failed. You're a failure."
FAILURE
YOU'RE A FAILURE, LEONARDO.
Leo took another step back before spinning around and sprinting into Donnie's lab, where he sunk to the floor and started sobbing.
You failed us.
How could you do this?
Have fun staying alive, Fearless.
Failure.
Failed.
Worthless.
"No…" Leo whispered to himself. It was true. He'd failed his entire family. He'd killed them all. His brothers' and father's voices rang through his head, making him regret his very existence.
Failure.
FAILURE.
"NO!" Leo screamed through his tears, and suddenly the lair was disappearing under his knees, and before long, was lost in darkness.
The beep of the heart monitor distracted Donnie from his studying. He jerked his head up, noticing how it was speeding up slightly. Leo lay on the table, seemingly okay, before Donnie saw his hand twitch. He jumped up and raced over to his brother, searching him for another movement. His condition hadn't changed for a week, and now was the only time he had ever moved.
"Leo…?" Donnie whispered anxiously, his hands hovering over Leo's twitching body. "Leo, can you wake up?"
Leo's eyes scrunched together tightly, like he didn't want to wake up.
"Raph! Mikey!" Donnie called to his brothers quickly before turning back to Leo. "Come on Leo, you can do it…"
"What is it, Donnie?" Raph had just set foot into the room, with Mikey following, when Leo gave a weak cough and opened his eyes.
"Leo!" The three cried in unison. Leo blinked, a confused and pained expression on his face. He opened his mouth, but Donnie shushed him quickly.
"Shhh, Leo!" He reassured, suddenly noticing the tears glistening on his older brothers' cheeks. "Don't try to speak. Are you in pain?"
Leo thought for a minute, then winced and nodded vigorously, clutching Donnie's hand tightly.
"It's okay, Leo. Everything's fine." Mikey whispered, earning a quizzical look from Donnie and Raph, which he only returned. Then they realized how distressed Leo seemed. He was breathing heavily and kept blinking hard, like they would disappear at any moment.
"Leo…?" Raph began.
"Are you okay?" Donnie finished, checking his vitals. He seemed to be doing okay physically, besides his neck wound. Leo tried to speak, but nothing came out. He gave Donnie another distressed look.
"It's okay, Leo." Donnie repeated, glancing at him. "I wouldn't advise talking for the next few days; your throat sustained serious damage."
Leo squeezed his eyes shut and looked at the again, with the same "are you real?" look.
"Oh! I know!" Mikey grabbed a notepad and pencil from a nearby desk and handed it to the injured turtle. "Here you go, bro."
Leo gave him a grateful glance and quickly scribbled something on the notepad.
Donnie read it over.
'Real?' It read.
"What do you mean by that?" Raph asked, raising a nonexistent eyebrow.
"Do you remember what happened, Leo?" Donnie asked carefully.
Leo scrunched up his face again, then grabbed the notepad.
'Everyone okay?'
"Of course, bro!" Mikey cried. "We're all here, Sensei's meditating, and April and Casey are at school." Leo sighed in relief and wrote something, before scribbling it out furiously. He looked at them in confusion again, before writing something else.
'Voice.'
"Your voice should come back in a few days, Leo." Donnie answered briskly, pushing down his worries and suspicions. "You seem really tired. You should sleep some more."
Leo began to write a protest before he was interrupted with a huge yawn. Thinking better of it, he handed the notepad back to Donnie and immediately passed out. Donnie shooed the rest of his brothers out of the room before turning back to his work. His eyes caught on Leo's notepad, and the scribbled word written on it. He held it up to his brown eyes before sighing and setting it down again. It was too confusing. Why would Leo write that? He saved their lives.
Donnie glanced at his sleeping brother in worry, then back at the word, which read:
'Failure' in slanted, rushed handwriting.
"0:56…"
"0:55…"
"0:54…"
The bomb was counting down rapidly.
"Donnie!" Raph shouted, then looked up at Shredder's masked face. "Let him go!" Shredder simply laughed.
"You think you can do anything against me, turtle?!" He sneered, unsheathing his blades and holding them up to Donnie's neck. Donnie stared up at him and tried to pull away, but Shredder held him still.
"Struggle, and I'll slice your throat." Shredder threatened, then laughed again when Donnie gulped and stopped moving. He looked up suddenly as Mikey took a step forward.
"Come any closer and I'll kill him." The three other turtles froze, glaring at him. Shredder glanced back at Donnie again. "Actually, I'll kill him anyway."
Shredder lifted his blade and brought it down towards Donnie's face.
"No!" Leo cried suddenly, leaping forward and throwing all of his weight into the kick that sent the Shredder stumbling.
Leo set up a defensive position in front of his brothers as the metal-man regained his footing.
"0:40…"
"0:39…"
"Are you okay?" Raph asked Donnie, helping him up.
"Yeah…" Donnie rubbed his neck, reflecting on how close he was to death just a few moments ago.
"Go!" Leo shouted, still facing Shredder, who was watching them closely. "I got this!"
Shredder charged, and Leo flipped over the top of him, slicing part of his arm as he flew backwards.
"We are not leaving you, bro!" Mikey shouted back, wielding his nunchucks.
"You're not!" Leo insisted, kicking Shredder in the face. "I'll be right behind you!"
"0:15…"
"0:14…"
Shredder grabbed Leo's arm and twisted it. The sound of bone breaking cracked through the room, and was followed quickly with Leo's cry of pain and the sound of his katana clattering to the floor. He then looked Shredder in the eye before slashing with his other katana and flipping out of his grip.
"The bomb's about to go off!" Donnie screamed, grabbing Raph and Mikey's shoulders. "We have to go! Leo will be fine!"
The three remaining turtle sprinted towards the end of the warehouse and burst into the cold night air. Raph immediately spun around.
"Leo!"
"0:05…"
"Leo, come on!" Donnie cried, watching as Leo landed in front of Shredder, with his back to his brothers.
"0:04…"
"What are you doing?! Come on!"
"0:03…"
Leo looked back at them and started to turn, looking as if he was going to run toward their reaching hands.
"0:02…"
Shredder took his distraction as an opportunity and grabbed Leo's shoulder, lifting him into the air. He lifted his hand and the other turtles barely saw the slash of his hand, before Leo's body limply fell to the cold stone floor, blood pouring out of his neck. Shredder looked up triumphantly and met eyes with the three remaining turtles, who were staring in in horror, shock, and anger.
"No! Leo!" Raph screamed, running into the warehouse, followed by Donnie and Mikey.
"0:01…"
The last thing the turtles saw was their older brother laying on the ground, blood pouring out of his neck, and his killer staring at them, his cold eyes glaring at them, victorious.
"0:00."
Then the world exploded.
Yeah, sorry…
I'm not really good at action scenes, but hopefully that will suffice… for now… (ehehe)
Anyways, I'm trying to update as fast as possible since I ACTUALLY GO REVIEWS OMG
Thanks so much Ani RejI, RRina, Guest, and Fireworksinthenight for reviewing! The reviews I got were so supportive it made my day and also helped me finish this chapter faster. Thanks so much!
I promise I have a plan for this story and it will actually go somewhere soon.
Thanks for reading, and PLEASE review! It really helps!
~CatOfWater
