Leo waited outside the door to the cargo bay, the heavy laser saw a weight on his shoulders. Raphael's bulk occupied the space to his left, and by turning his head, he could see Donnie leaning on the wall behind them.

Leo's argument that Donnie was in no shape for combat, that he should be at the helm while Mikey gave them backup, had been futile. Donnie had retorted that he was doped up to the gills and the last thing they needed was for him to pass out in the cockpit at a critical point. Leo responded that passing out at a critical point here wouldn't be much better. Donnie pointed out that he would be just as useless passed out in the infirmary bed than in the cockpit, and at least down here he could observe the space worm and find out more about it, unless Leonardo had taken to studying scientific method instead of war manuals when Donnie wasn't looking.

The fragile truce had threatened to snap, so Leo had given in when he really shouldn't. Leo played the argument over in his head, as he had done countless times before, trying to work out where he had gone wrong, where he could do better next time. As if it was a battle he had lost. That thought gave him a funny feeling, so he pushed it away. He and Donnie weren't enemies.

Not yet.

He turned to Raph. "All right. The plan is, we go in, corner it and see if we can take it out with the laser saws."

"It won't be as easy as last time," said Donnie. "It's denser now, it will take time for the lasers to penetrate. Assuming they can."

"Assuming?" said Raph.

"Yeah."

"Ready?" said Leo.

"Always," said Raph.

They eased through the door into the cargo bay, bare feet silent on the metal floors. The light pets clustered on the ceiling, pulsing and dim, a bright white spot high above that cast sharp, dark shadows below.

"What's wrong with them?" Leo whispered to Donnie.

"I don't know. Maybe they're trying to hide. I don't know how much they comprehend, but I'm sure they've noticed there's a predator out there." Donnie pulled the door closed behind him, but didn't latch it.

"You're supposed to be on the other side, remember?" said Leo.

Donnie shrugged, not meeting Leo's gaze. "I changed my mind."

Fuck it, Donnie. Can you just for once trust my orders and do what you are told? The words hovered between them, unsaid, but now was not the time to argue. He shifted his grip on the laser saw and nodded to Raph.

"You take right," said Raph.

"Starboard," said Donnie absently.

"Whatever, Don." Raph moved cautiously down his side.

Leo fired up his saw and walked down the other side, checking every crevice for a dark shape. The dim light from the laser saw made the shadows waver and dance, making it doubly difficult to tell if each dark patch was a lurking interstellar worm, or just a shadow.

He came around a cluster of crates at the same time as Raph. They exchanged a glance, then looked at the short, open distance between them and the open hatch to the engine room. He nodded to Raph and they advanced together.

"Maybe it's moved back into the pipes," said Raph as they approached the hatch.

"Could be. It's probably after the leaking neutrinos," said Donnie in a thoughtful voice.

Leo whirled. Donnie was right behind them. "Damn it, Donnie. You're supposed to be-"

"Look out!" said Donnie. Leo swung back. On the ceiling the light pets streamed in a mass away from the engine room. The shadow flowed out of the hatch and up the wall. They backed away. It flowed across the ceiling above them.

"Is it…bigger?" said Raph.

"Yeah. I think it's been feeding," said Donnie.

"Well, time to take it down." Raph charged across the bay after it. It was following one of the light pets as they fled down the wall. The light pet shot past Raph and he raised his saw. "Have some lasers, wormy!"

Leo held his breath, torn between despair at Raph's gung-ho attitude, and delight at his warrior brother's fearlessness. The space worm flashed past Raph, ignoring him completely.

"What the? Hey!" Raph whirled. Leo charged over to intercept it.

The space worm slid down the wall and shot across the floor. It caught up to the light pet and spread out, flowing over the little being. The light winked out without a sound.

"The hell," said Raph.

"Maybe it doesn't recognise you. Squishy carbon-based lifeforms might not be something it has encountered before," said Donnie.

"Squishy what?" said Raph.

"Nevermind! Take it out!" said Leo, raising his saw.

Raphael caught up to it first and brought the laser saw down on. The space worm convulsed and curled into a ball, leaving a little dying flicker of light on the floor.

"We can hurt it!" said Raphael, raising the saw to strike.

The space worm moved impossibly fast, spreading out into a thin sheet, flowing up and over Raphael. Raphael writhed under the black sheet. Leo could see his eyes, wide with horror. The saw dropped from his hand.

"Raph!" Leo cried. He bolted forward, Donnie right behind him. Alarms went off all over the ship. "Radiation levels warning," said the computer impassively.

Donnie gasped. "Of course!" He disappeared from Leo's side.

"Donnie! Wait!" Leo brought his saw down on a part of the being. It released Raphael, who lay on the floor, gasping, and turned to Leo. Leo backed away, then turned and ran, hoping it would follow him away from Raph. Something caught him, burning cold around his ankle and he fell. He kicked out at it, but it was like fighting rubber. He swung the saw down, dimly aware of the very real danger of slicing off his own leg. But the space worm must have learned, because it retreated as the laser saw came near.

There was a hiss and the thing jerked away, retreating behind the cargo boxes. Leo threw a hand over his mouth as he was bathed in greyish powder. Donnie, holding an extinguisher, forced the thing back with the spray. He painted the beast with the grey powder. It shrank, and disappeared between some boxes.

Leo pushed himself and up and staggered over to Raph, who lay on his side, retching and gasping. Leo hauled him to his feet. "Come on, bro. We need to get out of here." Raphael took a step, staggering like he was drunk. Leo shifted under his brother and half carried him out of the bay. "Donnie!"

"Coming!" Donnie turned and hobbled after them. Leo leaned Raph against the wall and leaped to pull the door closed, latching it firmly.

Raphael slid to the floor. Donnie knelt beside him. The burns on Donnie's arms were oozing fluid. Raphael's skin had a grey cast.

Two brothers down. Could this get any worse?He swallowed his guilt. "What's wrong with him, Donnie?"

Donnie examined Raph with quick, sure movements. "I think he's got radiation poisoning. He needs treatment fast."

They half-carried Raph up to the living area. Donnie scuffled through their supplies and pulled out a bottle of dark liquid. "Let's hope the dose wasn't too high," he said. He popped the cap. Raphael had stopped retching but lay on the bench with his eyes closed, clutching his stomach.

"What happens if it was too high?"

Donnie ignored the question. "Sit him up. Raph, you need to drink this."

Raphael took the bottle from Donnie with hands that shook. He sipped and gagged. "What is this?"

"Iodine. It will absorb any residual radiation in your system and reduce cellular damage."

"It tastes like shit." He held the bottle out to Donnie, but Donnie pushed it back.

"Drink all of it."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Suck it up, bro. It's that or..."

"Or what?" said Leo.

"You don't want to know."

Donnie was right. Leo didn't want to know. He had officially reached the limit of things he could deal with right now. Post-fight adrenaline ran down his back in waves. His vision narrowed. Everything greyed out except his two injured brothers.

He'd been here before, in this focused space, this place where nothing mattered except the fight. It was a relief. To let go of everything except the immediate danger. He breathed out, a hiss between his teeth. Both of them looked up at him.

"What happened, Donnie?" Was that his voice? So cool so devoid of emotion?

Donnie glanced away from him and sat down next to Raph, cradling his arm. "Our space worm appears to have a defense mechanism, where it releases dangerous amounts of radiation. That's what set off the radiation warning system." He pointed to the extinguisher, and now Leo noticed the Radiation Spill Control label. "Graphene oxide powder would have sucked up most of the radiation it was emitting."

"Can we kill it with that?"

"No. It's only going to absorb the radiation. It won't damage the worm."

"And the saw did nothing."

"The thing's too dense in a gravity environment. The saw would eventually cut through it, but I don't think it's going to stay still that long."

"Can we turn off the gravity?" He thought about trying to battle the space worm in zero G with laser saws. "Scratch that. And it's not going to care if we vent the ship, is it?"

"Nope," said Donnie.

"Fuck this," said Raph wearily.

"You shut up and drink," said Donnie.

Raphael took another swig, grimacing.

"Whoa, guys! We have a problem!" yelled Mikey over comms. The ship shuddered. Klaxons blared as red light filled the room.

"Mikey! What's going on?" snapped Leo.

"Kraang ships!" he yelled.

You've got to be kidding me. He waited for the panic to roll over him, but his calm remained. "Stay here," he said. He ran up to the cockpit. They were dead in the water here, with no engine. No maneuverability. Another blow rocked the ship, slamming him against the wall.

When he dived through the hatch, Mikey turned to him, wide-eyed. "They're calling for our surrender." The question was unspoken, but hung in the air between them. What the hell do I do, Leo?

They couldn't give themselves over to the Kraang. That would be a death sentence, a slow, painful one. But not surrendering at this point would just mean a barrage of fire until the Honour's Blade disintegrated, dooming them all to a cold, airless grave. Another shot rocked the ship.

Leo put his hand on Mikey's shoulder. His voice was gravel when he spoke. "Tell them we surrender."

Mikey gulped and opened the comm. Leo listened to Mikey advise the Kraang of their surrender, listened to the demands that came back from the Kraang commander. Any power readings that indicated weapons fire would result in immediate destruction. Failure to allow boarding would result in immediate destruction.

Leo kept his hand on Mikey's shoulder to anchor himself. His mind had blanked out. Don't give up. Don't give up. There must be something they could do. But there were enemies outside, and enemies inside, and enemies within themselves. His vision narrowed again, until his whole universe was Mikey's broad shell, his hand on his brother's shoulder. I can't fight them all. Think.

He had battled multiple enemies before. Master Splinter's training came back to him. Don't try and fight them all at once. Knock them out, one at a time. Get distance. Use your environment.

His comm set crackled. "Leo."

"Yes, Donatello?" Was that his voice? It sounded like it came from far away.

"The space worm is attracted to neutrinos. I think I can extract enough from the reactor to make a canister that we might use to lure it away from the engine room."

The world rushed back in, all colour and light. A plan unfolded in his mind like a flower, each petal perfectly proportioned, and his heartbeat kicked up a notch. "Thanks, Don. Get up here, both of you. I have a plan."