Disclaimer: I still don't own the turtles.

QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE: Buckle up, guys. This chapter is going to be one bumpy ride. Also...WARNING. THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MAJOR FEELS.

Chapter 7

It's dark. And cold. So, so cold.

Am I dead?

Sandra certainly feels dead. But then where is everyone else? The people that she should see when she dies?

Without warning, there's a flash of something, a buzzing in her ears. Then pain. So much pain. It hurts to think, to breathe.

Sandra does the only thing she can. She screams.

~TMNT~TMNT~TMNT~

Donnie is almost asleep when the screaming starts. The bloodcurdling shrieks fill his ears, startling him out of the peaceful state he'd drifted into. He falls out of his computer chair, landing with a jolt on the hard lab floor.

The others run in, looking worried. Leo helps his brother up off of the floor. "What is it?" he yells over the noise. "What's wrong?"

Donnie scrambles over to Sandra's cot, laying a finger on the side of her neck. He pales. "Leo, you have to do the Healing Hands."

The leader's blue eyes narrow. "What?" he asks incredulously. "You know that's only for emergencies." Master Splinter had all but forbidden his eldest from performing the Healing Hands once he realized how much it sapped Leo's strength. Leo had been forced to complete the ritual during battle once; the arduous process had greatly depleted his reserves and almost gotten him killed.

"This is an emergency," Donnie says desperately. "If you don't, Sandra is going to die."

Seeing the pain in his brother's eyes, Leo relents. "Okay," he agrees quietly.

"What do we do?" Mikey asks, needing something to distract him.

"Mikey, go tell Master Splinter what's going on. He needs to know. Don, watch Sandra's vitals. Raph, hold her down." Leo's expression is grim. "If this goes wrong..."

The red-clad turtle nods, moving to the head of the cot and placing his hands on the writhing girl's shoulders. Donnie stands on the other side, and Mikey runs for the dojo.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Leo begins. "Rin. Pyo. Toh. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen. Rin. Pyo. Toh..." A glow starts to spread from Leo's hands outward over Sandra's body. But already, there is a fine sheen of sweat on the leader's forehead. His teeth are gritted, and pain lances through his head. Nevertheless, the blue-banded turtle carries on.

Despite Leo's efforts, Sandra's pulse and breathing rate are plummeting. Her face is beginning to grow pale, and her screams are becoming shorter as she runs out of air. "Leo!" Donnie cries frantically. "You need to hurry!"

But the mantra is taking its toll, and Leo is running out of energy. The twenty-year-old summons one final burst of strength, yelling the last few words. "Rin! Pyo! Toh-"

Suddenly he's out of energy, and the radiance fades from his hands before he can say the final word. Leo collapses onto the floor, his chest heaving, eyes shut tight as agony slams into his mind. He is dangerously close to passing out. But Donnie doesn't see any of this.

Instead, his attention is focused on the brunette in front of him. Sandra freezes, mid-scream, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. A strangled noise tears from her mouth, then her face relaxes, her head dropping to the side.

Donnie there in an instant, his fingers placed on her neck once more. The genius's expression becomes alarmed. No.

"Don?" Raph asks uncertainly.

Yet Donnie can't bring himself to say it. He can't tell them that for all of Leo's efforts, for the sacrifices they all made...it doesn't matter. None of it does.

He can't tell them that they failed.

Then, so softly that the purple-clad turtle barely hears it, Leo whispers something. "Sha."

Sandra gasps, drawing in a huge breath. She starts coughing, choking on air. Donnie's whole body floods with relief and he helps her sit up. "Easy, Sandra. Just breathe."

The brunette winces as her coughing fit subsides. "What...what happened?" she croaks.

The genius gives her a small smile. "Well, actually-"

"Leo!"

Raph's cry of fear sends icy tendrils shooting into Donnie's heart. When he looks over, his blood turns to ice in his veins. Leo is slumped against the wall, unconscious, his skin a sickly green color.

"What's wrong?" Donnie asks, rushing over.

"I-I don't know," Raph replies, green eyes filled with panic. "Ever since that scumbag Wolfe, Leo's been tired after doing the Healing Hands, but not like this. Don, his pulse is so weak."

"He's burning up!" the genius exclaims after feeling his brother's forehead.

"What is going on in here?"

Both Raph and Donnie snap to attention as Master Splinter enters the lab, Mikey not far behind. Sandra squeaks at the sight of the six-foot-tall rat. But Splinter's attention isn't focused on her.

His eyes dilate at the sight of his eldest son, and he hurries over, checking Leo's heartbeat. The ninja master inhales sharply. He looks at Donnie. "What happened?"

Donnie swallows before answering. "I asked him to do the Healing Hands, Sensei," he admits guiltily. "It was the only thing that could save Sandra's life."

Splinter closes his eyes, suddenly looking much older. "I had hoped that this would never happen," he murmurs.

"What is it?" Mikey asks, all the usual cheer gone from his expression. In its place is a worried frown.

The aging rat lays a hand on Leo's brow, choosing his next words carefully. "Your brother's spirit is fading."

"What does that mean?"

Splinter's shoulders sag. "He has used up too much of his chi. This is why I do not allow him to perform Kuji-kiri."

"B-But Master Splinter," Raph protests. "His chi is the strongest out of all four of us! There's no way he used it all up!"

The rat bows his head. "When you willingly give of your chi to save someone else, the energy takes longer to replenish itself. Combined with the fact that Leonardo's chi was forcibly taken from him once... It is much harder for him to recover from performing the ritual."

"That's why Leo got so weak that time," Mikey gasps. "He used his chi up on Raph, and-"

Raph lets out a growl. He always hates to be reminded that he was cause of his eldest brother's near-death. "Shut it, Mikey!"

"What can we do?" Donnie asks, hopelessness surfacing in his chocolate-brown eyes.

"Yeah," Raph continues. "Can't we go to the astral plain and help him out or something?"

Splinter shakes his head. "No, my sons. We are not strong enough to undertake that journey. All we can do is hope and pray."

"And if he doesn't get more chi?" Sandra asks hesitantly. Donnie and Raph jump, having forgotten that she was there.

All eyes turn to the brunette. "If Leonardo's chi does not replenish," Splinter answers gravely, "Then he will never wake up."

Author's Note:

Whew! What a chapter! Are you guys feeling anything yet? Horror? Sadness? Shock?

Raph: Anger at the author?

Me: *blinks* What?

Raph: Well, you're the one who wrote this cliffhanger. I wouldn't be surprised if they were angry at you right now.

Me: ...oh, crud.

Please, don't come after me with pitchforks and katana and other deadly things like Mikey's garlic-clam-jellybean-and-sardine pizza. *shudders*

Mikey: Mmm...pizza...

...Anyway, I hope I'm still doing the turtles justice. But you'd better hold on, because this roller coaster ride ain't over yet. There are some things coming up that might get a little...interesting.