"Alright, here's the basic idea," Raphael said. It was late morning, almost noon. Mikey was still with Leo, Raph and Don still getting over their headaches as they listened to Raphael, and Raphael's two brothers were keeping an eye – physical and magical – on Leo's condition. "Raph, you will be put into place by Donatello. You will stay there and will the foundation to be stable."
"What?" Raphael sighed at his counterpart's question and massaged his forehead.
"Imagine Leo is a castle, okay?" The two facing him nodded. "Raph, you will be the rock under the castle. Imagine yourself like that. Then imagine that the castle is being attacked. The rock – you – must keep steady. You have to hold or else the whole force – attackers and defenders – will fall. Okay?"
"Got it now," Raph muttered, rubbing his temples.
"Don, your duty is to follow me through the castle. You will look for anything out of the ordinary; even as small as a dust mite. You'll know when something shouldn't be there; it's part of the magic you wield."
"Okay."
"What should I do?" Mikey asked, coming in with a sheepish grin. "Leo's fine. Well, you know. Dead." They all winced and Mikey sat down heavily next to Raph, who flung an arm around him comfortingly.
"You will be the "food" for the "defenders"," Raphael explained. "You will pull the power like Michelangelo taught you to, and you will drive it into us. Gently. If you do it quickly, or "startle the herd" as it's known, you could send us into shock and quite possibly the backlash would kill Leo and you."
"Oh." Mikey's eyes widened and he looked down. "Why can't Raph do that? He's stronger than me."
"You have that power," Raphael explained, patting Mike on the shoulder. "Raph can't do such a thing; it's like a fish trying to breathe air. Not only would he fail, he'd die. And if you tried to shoulder the foundation, you'd be crushed under it."
"You mentioned something about Leo and "Healing". What was that all about?" Don asked, trying to change the subject before Mikey started crying.
"Leo's channel – that's what these are called – is difficult to see. He actually is gifted with them all. When we go in, we could possibly blast them all open accidentally. He might or might not live from such a thing. The chances are low, though, so I feel safe. The one was can open right now is Healing. It'll help him because he will need to Heal his mind. Our Leonardo had Healing, too, but it was very weak. His main magic was something we call the Power of Hurt. He could sense anyone he wanted to, and more importantly, would be alerted when they hurt. That's how he always found us. As far as I can tell, your Leo has that, too, but in lesser quality."
"How many does he have?" Raph asked, jealousy sparking in him for a very brief moment.
"All of them, which puzzles me. The Dragon King probably nudged them all open slowly, so it didn't hurt or alert him. The Healing and Power of Hurt are two that are easy to spot. The rest are kind of fuzzy, but if they are at the power I believe them to be, he could kill with a thought."
Raph and Don shuddered. Mikey leaned into Raph and turned his face into his older brother's shoulder.
"If he did that, he would never forgive himself. He'd feel like he was dishonorable. And he'd be right. The Ninja God would claim his soul," Mikey sniffled quietly.
"The Ninja God?" Raphael asked suddenly, peering at Mikey.
"He sold his soul to the Ninja God," Raph said. "He was granted the "right", if you can call it that, to die instead of us. In return, the Ninja God got his soul. We got it back, but the deal holds. If one of us dies or Leo does something dishonorable, he is taken to join the Ninja God's army."
"Hm. I have never met the Ninja God, at least, not under that name," Raphael mused. "What is the matter with that?"
"If I get killed, I wanna die," Raph exploded angrily. "I don't want Leo to die instead. We need him, dammit!"
"I'm sure he knows that. But you can tell him yourself, later. We are all ready and this is easier dealt with the sooner we tackle the problem. You three need to sit at the edges of the room, and we "veterans" will sit closer."
Professor Honeycutt, Leatherhead, and Casey were gone, so it was just the brothers, Beth, Ralph, and Sky still in the lair. All six brothers met in the lab and quietly seated themselves. Raphael was at Leo's head, his brothers to his right and left and near Leo's side. Raph sat directly behind his counterpart, and Mikey sat between Don and Donatello. Michelangelo closed his eyes and touched Leo; the rest followed suit.
Raphael's POV:
It was chaos inside Leo's head. I winced and waited for my brothers to find me in the "field" that stood outside the castle of Leo's mind. They found me, Don clinging to Donatello's mind like a tick. He transferred to me and I sent a thought to Mikey. The youngest turtle was ready for it; he "cast" a line like Michelangelo had taught him to and I caught it. Down that line came power, enough for our mission and more. I felt the "lava energy" and knew it was being fed from a magma pool under us.
Raph's support reached us the next moment; I Felt the "ground" under us solidify nicely and the chaos stopped tossing the "dirt" around. It was all mental, but it helped me to visualize such things so I could tell people where to go and what to do.
With these turtles supporting me, I looked at the castle and watched for any flicker of motion. It was completely dark, except for a light shining from the highest room in the tallest tower.
"Just like a fairy tale," I commented to anyone listening. "That's our target. That's where Daggerwing's being holed up. And that's where he's escaping from."
"We're ready," five voices told me. I "nodded" and "walked" towards the castle. It was soon looming over me; I could feel the walls around it and almost whistled out loud, impressed at the power. Though Leo didn't know he was doing it – since Daggerwing was manipulating the energy, the force-field wall was strong enough to let me have doubts about my ability to break it.
"Lend me your strength," I ordered Mikey. A large stream between us opened, and I felt the Power collect in my core. Turning it into a mage-bolt, I "threw" it at the wall and watched as it dissipated, the energy dissolved. Donatello and Michelangelo requested more power and also began hammering on the wall. I joined them and we managed to create a hole large enough for us to squeeze through. Daggerwing knew we were coming, but so what? We would be ready for him.
I led the group through the "halls", perfectly ordered and neat. Leo's organizational skills are amazing, I admitted to myself. Each "room" held knowledge and memories, and all of the rooms were connected by hallways. Each "room" also had a "short-cut door" that led right into another one that held relevant information. It was very tidy and nothing was dusty. Had I not known this was the mind of my eldest brother's counterpart, I would have thought whoever owned this mind was too stupid to know anything or not even a true human – or turtle, whatever.
I found the staircase we wanted and started ascending it. Daggerwing's imps and demonets, or little demons, attacked us. Mikey fed us power and we beat them back. Don pointed out a door I had almost missed. What surprised me was that there was dust on this door, unlike everywhere else.
"That doesn't belong here," Don said firmly. "In fact, I'm thinking it isn't even Leo's."
"It has to be," I argued. "It's in here, and this is Leo's mind."
"Agreed, brother, but let us see what lies beyond this door," Donatello chimed in, a little nervously.
"No!" I mind-shouted. They winced. "You know I do not invade people's memories or go beyond the doors. I only traverse the hallways. And while you are guided by me, you will not approach that door. You will leave it and all the others alone. Understand?" I knew I was being a little harsh, but ever since I had read a murderer's mind – and learned his darkest secrets – I knew I could never be able to do such a terrible thing again.
"Understood," the other three said. Mikey and Raph also sent a pulse of thought that indicated they knew.
"Good. Keep moving." I cleared my mind, knowing that to keep it dwelling on that door was very dangerous. I needed my full concentration on the task at hand; defeating Daggerwing and reversing the effects of his imprisonment. We would leave Leo with the wings, scales, tail, and horns, but he wouldn't grow any more and if I could, I vowed to make his body shrink a little. His wings were in good hands, so to speak, and his body could be smaller. It would put less of a load on himself and his brothers, at least.
We finally reached the last door. I gripped the handle in my mind and took a deep breath before flinging it open and lighting up the inside. I was surprised at what I found.
I Felt everything, but had this been a real castle, King Daggerwing would be in human form. He would be standing over Leo, who was tied at the ankle and wrist and looking very unhappy. Also, great pain radiated from Leo.
"Let him go and leave, Daggerwing," I snapped, Feeling Raph's foundation shift a little as he Felt Leo's pain. Mikey's channel of energy snapped open, making me wince a little, before slowing back down sullenly. Don disappeared all together.
"Back off, Mortals, before I do something neither of us would like," Darkwing ordered, his "voice" booming. He grabbed Leo's horns – still intact – and pulled the turtle's head back. A dagger appeared in his other hand and he placed it against Leo's throat.
The foundation shook a little more and I closed down the link I had with Raph so the hothead couldn't Feel what was happening. Mikey's viewing couldn't be helped; I needed that energy.
"Go back to your world, Daggerwing" I snarled. "Let him go and leave!" I struck at him with a blinding thunderbolt, pushing him away from Leo before he could damage the turtle and cripple his mind forever. Donatello and Michelangelo "ran" forward and grabbed Leo while I advanced on Daggerwing.
They pulled Leo out of harm's way and then backed me up as Daggerwing triggered a trap spell. It hit my shields with the fury of a raging bonfire, tearing at my shields I had hastily thrown up. So occupied, I didn't notice when Michelangelo threw a bunch of "magic bombs" at Daggerwing. They exploded and tore away a few parts of his shields.
Donatello launched subtler attacks, like flaming snakes that were small enough to force themselves under Daggerwing's shields and then "bite" his toes or even crawl up his clothing to distract him.
I continued with the large lightning bolts, and Michelangelo chucked more "magic bombs" and "grenades" at Daggerwing.
We finally had him down, kneeling in the dust. His last shield was torn away by a fire storm I sent sweeping over him. He looked up at us, too tired to do anything but glare. I walked forward and placed both hands on his head before launching a full attack right at him. He screamed and vanished; Leo's body in the corner move and groaned.
"Let's get out of here," I ordered, picked up Leo's feet. Donatello grabbed his head and Michelangelo started weaving the magic to transport us back into our bodies from that room. While he did that, Donatello and I moved Leo into a lying position, much like he was in already in the real world. He lay in the middle of that room, and I Felt him stirring. He was still dead, technically, but his mind was wakening.
"We're ready," Donatello called, standing nearby the portal. We all jumped through quickly and it snapped shut behind us.
Back in the real world…
"Oooh…" Raphael groaned as he rubbed his temples. He opened his eyes and checked everyone; they were still out cold but waking. He closed his eyes and massaged his head again. Raph, Don, and the Michelangelos copied him, but Donatello was holding a remote that looked familiar.
"Who wants to do the honors?" he asked quietly, shivering voice a sign that he was exhausted as well.
"He'll be safe," Raphael added when Mikey glanced at him. "His horns are going to grow back in any time, and he's in no danger of turning full-dragon or hurting any of you."
"I'll do it, then," Mike offered, taking the remote. He put a hand on Leo's shell before looking at everyone. Raph nodded for him to get on with it, and Mikey took a deep breath before pressing the green button.
Leo inhaled sharply and the screen on the back of his shell flashed. He panted and looked around, squinting at Raphael. Concerned when Leo didn't say anything, still sprawled, Raphael touched him.
The energy coursed through him, causing him to cry out in pain and yank his hand back. Everyone reacted at once; they cried out as well.
"What?" Donatello demanded, hand hovering above Leo's shell. He cursed fluently, surprising everyone, and Raphael felt a shield bloom over Leo. None too soon, either; a furious storm of energy broke loose. Leo twisted, hands clenched, and Donatello grabbed Mikey's hand. The younger turtle, too scared to do anything else, tapped into the magma flows and gave his brother's counterpart much-needed energy.
"We've got an even bigger problem," Raphael sighed as he watched Leo wrestle with Don's shield, trying to break free. "He's gone berserk."