Author's Note:
Ok, so here's Chapter 3! Starting this chapter the chapter's are going to start getting much longer but that shouldn't effect the time span between chapters. Also a WARNING, for near the end of the chapter is some slight angst and violence that might be triggering for some people and strong language. I just wanted to give a heads up!
~Enjoy
Losing A Friend
"We're approaching Shredder's lair." April announced from behind the wheel of the Shellraiser.
"Alright, gang. April's going to park the shellraiser in the ally of the building next to Shredder's lair. From there, we'll get into position. Everyone remember the plan?" Leo asked.
"Yes." Casey, Raph and Donnie answered. Everyone's eyes trailed down to Mikey. Leo lifted a brow, waiting for Mikey's response.
"Refresh my memory."
"Alright, one more time. For Mikey." Leo sighed as sat in front of them. "When we arrive, we're going to enter the lair by taking out the two gaurds that are posted at the side door of the lair which is closes to the security room. Casey will stay posted on the next building to keep an eye on Shredder in his throne room. Once we've entered Shredder's lair, Donnie's going to infiltrate the security room while we take posts outside to make sure nobody enters. There, Donnie will override the security system to unlock all the doors in the lair and then shut off the power. Then, we'll meet back up and travel down to the basement of the lair where the frequencies are coming from and we'll destroy the weapon and then hopefully escape without drawing too much attention to ourselves."
"Got it!" Mikey gave him the thumbs up.
Once the shellrasier was in park the turtles began shuffling out of the vehicle followed by April.
"And I'll just be here. Waiting in the Shellraiser while the action goes on a block over." She sighed as she crossed her arms while leaning against the door frame of the Shellraiser.
"I know you're not too thrilled about the change of plans, but we need someone to stay here in case we need to make a quick escape." Leo explained.
"And you picked me because you don't think I can handle myself in there?"
"No, I picked you because I can't rely on frick and frack over there," Leo said pointing to Mikey, Raph and Casey. "And we need Donnie to hack into the security as we go."
"I guess that's understandable." April sighed. "Thanks, April." As Leo walked over to regroup with the others Donnie joined April in the Shellraiser.
"At least now all you have to worry about is not running the Shellraiser's battery dead." He tried to lighten her mood. "And the fact that all my friends are in our enemy's lair about to try and destroy his most powerful weapon created." She huffed as she plopped herself down in the driver's seat.
"Well, yeah, that too. But, I'm sure it'll be fine. Just in and out like Leo said." Donnie assured her.
"Just… just try to be careful, alright?" She glanced up at him.
"I'll try." Donnie shrugged.
"Don't just try." April stood back on her feet to plant a quick kiss on his cheek "Do." She threatened before nudging him out of the Shellraiser.
The four turtles began to creep around the corners of the building, quietly approching the two guards posted in front of the side door. With a quick sprint forward and push of a pressure point, the two guards went down at the hands of Leo and Raph.
Once inside everyone toke their position's, making sure to keep as close to the shadows and as hidden as possible. "Alright, enclosing around Shredder's lair now. Everyone in position?" Leo whispered into his headset.
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Fearless."
"Affirmative."
"Right on, bro!"
"Casey Jones is ready!"
"Good. Donnie, Go." Leo ordered.
Donnie slid his satchel off his shoulder as he began to unload his digital decoder made from an old Nintendo D.S. with wires sticking out from the bottom attached to a battery like object. Pluggin in the USB cord into the device, the screen on the video game went black as a bunch of green coding came across the screen. By pressing the B button and the down arrow the password screen appeared on the device. By pressing both the L and R button the words PASSWORD CONFIRMED came across the device and the red light switched to green.
"Alright, I'm in." Donnie confirmed.
"Ok, now override the security system and shut off the power." Leo directed.
"Copy that." Donnie replied.
The three continued to keep watch when the lights above them shut off. "All taken care of." Donnie announced as he exited the room behind them, the light from his phone guiding him. "Ok, guys goggles on." Leo ordered. With the night vision goggles activated they could see in dark lair, a green glow on the area. Leo led them down the hallway before them, each making sure their footsteps were as quiet as possible. When they approached a two way split in the hallway Leo stopped them.
"You three head for Stockman's lab, I'll meet you guy's there." Leo instructed.
"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?" Raph grabbed him by the arm. "I'm just going to take another route. See if I can catch anymore glimpses of this plan before we invade so we know what we're up against." Leo assured him as he pulled his arm from Raph's grip. "No you're not. We all know where you're going, Leo. You're going to go find Karai, aren't you?" Raph toke a step forward, narrowing his gaze. "Raph, don't start this now-"
"No you are the one who doesn't need to be starting this now. She's a lost cause, Leo! What makes you think this time is any different than any other time she's betrayed us?" Raph barked.
"I have to agree with Raph on this one, Leo." Donnie spoke up. "I think we need to stick together on this one. Like you said, we have no idea what we're up against in there."
"Just- just give me 10 minutes, that's all I'm asking for." Leo pleaded. Raph averted his eyes as he pondered on his plead, Leo's gleaming eye's awaiting a response.
"Fine. Ten minutes. Not a minute late."
Leo nodded in agreement with Raph's reply before turning on his heels to leave. With Leo out of sight, Raph directed his brothers down the executed path towards Stockman's lab.
When they reached the large double doors that led to the evil scientist's lab each of them had already unsheathed their weapons, prepared for the battle that awaited them on the other side. Gently, Raph pushed the door open wide enough for the three of them to slip through. As they toke cover behind one of the wide cement pillars that reached the ceiling, Raph noticed that it was oddly quiet and empty in their atmosphere. The emergency back up lights were on overhead, giving them the opportunity to remove their goggles.
"If this was so important to Shredder, wouldn't you think it's be crawling with Footbots or something?" Mikey asked in a hush tone in case they weren't really alone. "Or maybe they're guarding somewhere else." Raph suggested. Each of them tightened their grips on their weapons as Raph stepped out from behind the pillar, taking in the full view of the room. The perimeter was round with rather large crates scattered and stacked along the walls. Six thick cement pillar stuck out of the ground and reached up the ceiling that encircled around a dip in the center of the room. The three ninjas toke a step closer to investigate the center object.
The device resembled a lot like the dimensional portal used by the Kraang to transport the krathatragons to earth. It was a large silver arch created from Kraang technology with a rather large control panel located several yards away from the portal. Tools and other devices laid scattered around the area as if the portal was still under construction. The three approached the device with caution.
"A portal?" Raph asked looking up at it. "What would the Shredder need a portal for? Especially when the Kraang have portals to spare."
"This isn't just any normal Kraang portal." Donnie stated as he ran his hand along the solid rim of it. "Judging by the wiring and its power source, this portal can teleport people across, dimension, planets, and even time!"
"Whoa." Mikey gaped as he starred up at the portal.
"Can you shut it down for good, Donnie?" Raph asked.
"Maybe, I'm going to need some time though." Donnie winced. "We'll buy you time." Raph declared. Raph and Mikey trudged up the small set of stairs to guard the doors. Once at the top of the steps, two white beams of light shot on directly over Raph and Mikey. In an explosion of black smoke around them, four Foot soldiers grabbed each of Mikey and Raph's arms, restraining them.
"Guys!" Donnie yelled as he went to run to them but more soldiers appeared, grabbing Donnie's arms. As he struggled to escape, a dark ring of laughter echoed in the room that made their skin go pale. Walking in through the open double doors was Shredder himself, his black cape gliding behind him. He marched forward past Mikey and Raph and stood before Donnie. Gripping onto his cape, he ripped it off his back and tossed it to the ground.
"Release him."
When the soldiers did as they were told, Donnie stood back on his feet. He reaching for his staff as Shredder approached him. "You pathetic turtles thought you could stop me so easily? You will all pay for your stupidity."
Donnie gave a worried glance back at his brother's before tightening his grip on his weapon, chestnut eyes narrowed in Shredder's direction. Sliding the strap to his satchel over his head and off his shoulder he tossed in the direction of Shredder's cape, it falling in front of his brother.
"You want a fight, shred-head? Then, fine. Give me all you got!" Shredder charged towards Donnie in rage. Donnie unsheathed the blade at the top of his staff and ran his direction. When the two met in the middle both of their blade clashed together. Shredder shoved him back having Donnie slide back in his stance. Donnie dodged Shredder's next attack and began landing blows on his enemy. When Shredder had had enough he back handed Donnie having him stumble back holding the side of his face as the newly formed cuts in his flesh began to burn. Swinging his blades again they made contact to Donnie's staff, cutting the wood in half. Donnie kept a tight grip on the two half's not keeping his eyes away from Oroku Saki's.
Mikey and Raph watched with wide eyes, hearts like pounding drums.
"Karai!" Leo's voice echoed through the hallway. "Karai! Where are you?"
"Well, look who's come to visit?" the sinister voice sent a chill up his spine. Karai sat on the sill of the brick window, the bright full moon casting her dark shadow over Leo's figure. "If it isn't goody three-toes himself." She jumped down in front of him, one hand resting on the handle of her sword. "I was beginning to think you'd never show up."
"I'm not here to play games, Karai. I'm here to save you." Leo declared, pulling off his goggles.
"Save me, huh? I think you got yourself confused, Leo. You see you're in Shredder's lair where all aim is pointed at you, not me" She laughed.
"No, you don't understand, Karai." Leo explained. "I'm here to rescue you from Shredder. You're in danger here. The Shredder has been deceiving you, lying to you your whole life. He's using us as pawns in his big master plan and if we don't stop him now I fear something really bad is going to happen."
"Using me?" Karai cackled as she twirled her sword. "The only one being used right now, Leonardo, is you."
"What are you talking about, Karai?" Leo asked.
"Oh, c'mon, Leo! Do you really think Hun would just reveal all of Shredder's plans to you without it being some sort of trap? They're stupid, but they're not that stupid." Karai approached him. "As we speak, your brothers are under restraint by our soldiers and awaiting their doom, and where were you during all of this? Chasing after a loss cause and wrapped up in the lies and fantasy that had been spoon fed to you since you were a baby. The world's about to come into a whole new perspective and the only thing you are here, Leonardo, is a fool!"
"Lying! Deceiving! I should've ended you the first moment I had!"
With a hard kick, Donnie was nailed in the stomach. Dropping the pieces of his staff with weak hands, Shredder's fist made contact making him fall to his knees. Holding his stomach, he leaned forward trying to consume the pain and anything that may force its way back up, keeping one hand on the ground to hold himself up.
"Leave him alone!" Raph demanded, kicking to try to free himself from the Foot soldier's grasp.
"It's time for you to meet your fate. To be put out of your misery, mutant." Shredder kicked the pieces of Donnie's staff to the other side of the room. Donnie huffed out a heavy sigh as he stumbled back on to his feet. Swinging his fist, his Shredder laughed again as his foot made contact to Donnie's chest, knocking him down again. His weak body slid across the floor before Donnie got back on his knees, his arms holding him up.
"Did you actually think you could defeat me?" Shredder roared. "You are only turtles. Reptiles!" He stomped his foot down on Donnie's shell, having him fall on to the ground once more.
"PLEASE, please stop!" Mikey begged.
"You are all nothing but animals." He grasped the top of Don's plastron and lifted him into the air.
"You son of a BITCH!" Raph screamed as Shredder's eyes met his.
"And it's time someone put you in your rightful place."
"NO!"
Donnie's brown eyes squeezed shut as the metal blade broke through his plastron and through the skin underneath, his cries were the only sound in the room. "End of the line, foul creature."
With a twist, Saki retracted the blade and tossed Donnie back on to the ground. His brother's starred with wide opened eyes, unable to muster a sound.
"Y-you... you… YOU MONSTER!" Raph shrieked at the top of his lungs.
"Release them." He ordered as he walked out of the room.
The Foot soldiers released their arms, dropping them to their knees from their struggle.
Raph stumbled back on to his feet as he sprinted towards his little brother lying helpless on the ground. Scarlet liquid ran down the turtle's arm and into the puddle on the floor, starting at the cracks and two holes coming from his stomach area. Raph began to hyprvenalate as his trembling hands hovered over his brother, trying to figure out how to help him. Mikey remained in the same position the Foot soldiers left him in. His baby blue eyes were gaping wide as he starred at the image before him.
"Oh god, Oh god!" Raph's voice trembled as he finally slid one hand under the crook of Donnie's neck and the across his torso. "Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Giving his body a slight lift, a blood curdling scream escaped Donnie's mouth having Raph release him on to his lap, shudders running down his spine. Raph had never seen his brother in so much pain in their life as his olive green hand latched on to Raph's bicep. His eyes were squeezed shut as his breathing was quick, his fractured chest rising and dropping at a rapid speed.
"Mikey! Go get April and the Shellraiser now!" Raph yelled to his youngest brother. Mikey showed no sign of moving. "D-Donnie…h-he was-" he trembled.
"MIKEY I SAID NOW!" Raph snapped in rage. As if he was slapped in the face, Mikey's breath hitched as he blinked his eyes a couple times. He jumped to his feet and raced out the door. No Foot soldier stopped him.
"R…R-Raph…I…" Don's voice trembled as he swallowed hard. "No, No, Don't speak, Donnie, please!" Raph shushed him, "Don't speak- You're going to be fine!" Don inhaled a deep breath, his chest beginning to tighten as his fingertips dug deeper into Raph's arm. "Everything's good. Ju-Just keep breathing normally a-and you'll be alright." Donnie's eyes squeezed shut as tears escaped his eye lids, his other hand clenching his stomach as it was buried in red. With a quick glance at his wound, Donnie's eyes shot back up as a small cry escaped his lips. His whole body began to tremble more.
"N-No…I can't-"
"Don't you dare talk like that!" Raph's voice was harsh but there was worry as well. "You are going to be fine! Here just… just look at me, ok?" Using his right hand, he directed Donnie's head so his eyes would meet his own. "See? Everything's fine." He forced a reassuring smile as Donnie's eyes searched his. "Just keep looking at me."
The purple-clad ninja's brown eyes were lost in his brother's lime green. The tight grip on his arm began to loosen, leaving behind three red marks. Why hadn't he noticed how bright his brother's green eyes were? They were the only things he could see now. Just two bright orbs.
"Mikey's going to get April now. They'll be here soon and then we'll get you to lair and Splinter will fix you up, ok? Splinter will know what to do."
Donnie's eyes remained starring in to his eyes, his breathing relaxed. "Everything's ok." Raph began to rock back and forth for comfort while his eyes darted around the room for any sign of their allies. "I promise."
When his eyes dropped back to Donnie's, their light was gone. His breath hitched as he bit his lower lip, eyes shut to stop the flow of tears from escaping. His hand shook violently as he wiped away the last of the blood that trickled out of the side of Don's mouth. "It's going to be ok." He assured himself. "It's ok, it's ok." His voice cracked as he brought his brother closer to him. The lump in his throat was growing unbearable as he choked out a sob. "Please." He begged, "Please, don't leave me, Donnie." He dropped his face into the crook of his brother's neck. "PLEASE don't take my brother away!" His pleads were now turning into cries. "Please don't take Donnie!"
Skidding to a stop, April and Mikey gasped at the image they ran in to find. April's hand immediately clasped over her mouth. She collapsed to her knees as she watched Raph sob into his deceased brother.
Well, there you have it! Hopefully I didn't break too many hearts with this chapter.