Chapter 11: Broken

It was after midnight when Leonardo finally returned home. His day-long search had been fruitless, and when Raphael and Donatello contacted him a little while ago they reported that they didn't find anything either. Leonardo was tired and disappointed, but there had been one bright spot throughout all this. He had been able to spend the entire day with the one he loved.

Pausing outside the lair, he turned to Lotus and took her hands. "I'll see you in the morning, my love," he told her softly. "Sleep well."

Lotus smiled, gave him a lingering kiss goodnight, then slipped silently away. Flush with happiness, Leonardo went inside. In the room they shared, each of his brothers were already in bed, though none of them were asleep yet. Raphael was sitting up reading a comic book, Donatello was tinkering with something, and Michelangelo was tossing and turning restlessly under his covers.

The ordinarily cheerful turtle looked depressed, but his droopy demeanor lifted a little as Leonardo came into the room. "Any luck?" the orange-clad ninja asked hopefully as he hopped out of bed.

Regretfully, the ninja leader shook his head. "None. But I did learn a couple of things."

He repeated what he had been told at the aquarium, along with finding out that Elizabeth didn't live in her apartment anymore. When he was finished, Michelangelo shook his head in disbelief. "Lizzie wouldn't run away."

"But she did just have a seriously horrible day," Raphael reminded him. "Maybe she needed a change of scenery."

But the young turtle was adamant, insisting that Elizabeth wouldn't run from her problems, no matter how upset she was about something. He was convinced that something was wrong—and considering that all of her personal belongings had been left behind, Leonardo was inclined to agree with him.

Before the conversation could continue, an unexpected guest dropped by. Sensing a presence approaching behind him, the blue-clad ninja quickly turned around. To his surprise, he saw Usagi in the next room. "I am sorry to disturb you all so late," the soft-spoken rabbit said, "but I just had a strange experience that I thought I should inform you of."

The reptilian quartet exchanged puzzled glances before Leonardo turned back to Usagi with a nod. "Go on."

"Earlier this evening I happened to be visiting a garden introduced to me by the young lady Michelangelo brought to the shelter a time ago," the furry samurai began as he stepped through the bedroom doorway. "When I saw her tonight, she—"

Before he could finish, Michelangelo bolted forward and grabbed the startled lagomorph by the shoulders. "You saw Lizzie?" he cried. "Where?"

"I just said I was in the garden," Usagi reminded him with a frown.

Leonardo quickly urged his excited brother to let go. "Easy now. Let him talk."

Michelangelo quieted, but he listened with agitation as Usagi continued.

"I did not feel right about leaving her alone, but there was more to the situation than I could see. I believe she is in some form of trouble."

"Did she say that?" asked Leonardo.

Still frowning, Usagi shook his head. "Not precisely. I could sense that she was deeply upset by something, but what little she said to me did not make much sense. She claimed that a recent accident stole her sight, but I cannot be certain if she was telling the truth."

Michelangelo made a face. "Why would she lie about something like that?" he wondered.

The white rabbit shrugged his small shoulders—a gesture he had no doubt picked up from the four of them. "I could not say. Any more than I could say why there were so many rats surrounding her."

There was a slapping sound as Raphael's comic book slipped out of his hands and hit the floor. "Say what?" the red-clad turtle asked dryly.

"She was surrounded by rats?" Leonardo repeated in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. The whole time I was there it felt like they were watching me in anger. It was as if they were guarding her."

While Raphael and Donatello came tumbling out of bed and Michelangelo rushed to grab his weapons, Usagi watched them with a frown of concern. "I could take you to where I saw her, if you like," he offered. "Although I fear she may not be there any longer."

"No need," Leonardo told him grimly. "We know exactly where to find her now."

Elizabeth lay curled up under her velvet and silk blanket so tight her chin was pressed to the tops of her knees. Tears streamed freely down her face as she sobbed, but she didn't care. She didn't care if the rats saw. She didn't care if the rats told. She didn't care, period.

It had hurt. A lot. She had begged, crying, for him to stop, but her pleas had been ignored.

"You'll get used to it," her captor had told her.

She had done no such thing, and she was left with lingering pain long after he was done. Elizabeth didn't know where he was now, but she could hear the sound of him snoring somewhere in the distance.

As she lay there alone, blanketed in heavy, impenetrable darkness, she came to realize something. She was no queen. The Rat King only wanted his heir and a way to sate his lustful desires. If anything, she had become his personal whore. If this was all life had to offer her now, she wondered if she wouldn't be better off if her frightened assumption that night she was first taken underground had been proven correct after all.

Once upon a time, her thoughts heading in such a dark direction might have disturbed her, but now she felt nothing but a numbness deep inside. A numbness that spread through her as she continued to cry, trying but not quite succeeding in choking back her disgust, her shame. The tears on her face felt cold, while the pain between her legs burned.

All of a sudden the bed shifted under someone else's weight. Elizabeth jerked up with a frightened cry—but then something soft and warm pushed into her hands. Her form sagged in relief, and she grappled to scoop Frederick in her arms, hugging him close as fresh tears filled her eyes.

"Don't ever leave me," she begged in a whisper.

"Never," her long-time friend vowed. "You're my best friend and I love you. It's you and me forever."

Sniffling, Elizabeth kissed the top of his head. "I love you too. Forever."

It had been a long time since any of them had needed to follow the corridors that led to the Rat King's domain, but Leonardo remembered the way. "Down there," he instructed, pointing with one of his katanas.

"You know, I'd really be thrilled if we never had to deal with his Royal Nuttiness again," Raphael groused.

"Who is this Rat King?" asked Usagi as he kept pace with the rest of them. "Is he a rat, like Master Splinter?"

"No," muttered the turtle in red beside him, "he just thinks he is."

Leonardo paused at the head of the group, trying to recall which of the three paths that faced them was the quickest. "I think we take the left one," said Donatello.

The blue-clad leader led the way down the tunnel to the left. As they turned a corner, about a dozen rats darted out of the way of their pounding feet, scattering in every direction with unhappy squeaks.

"We're getting close," Leonardo called over his shoulder.

"And now he knows we're coming," added Raphael.

"Good," said Michelangelo darkly. "Then he won't be surprised when my fist breaks his face."

They continued on for several more minutes, turning corners and sloshing through murky water, until they emerged in a large, open area that Leonardo recognized as the Rat King's throne room. It was empty except for a group of rats edging back to one side, backs arched and teeth bared. Their tails were sharply slapping the concrete floor as they hissed.

A few seconds later they were joined by their self-appointed king, who looked like he had just been pulled unwillingly from a deep sleep. "What do you want?" he demanded irritably.

His sleepy eyes blinked at them before focusing in surprise on Usagi. "The bunny? Something told me you were going to turn out to be trouble."

Michelangelo stepped to the front of the group with a growl. "All right, you slimy piece of filth, where's Elizabeth?"

"You mean my queen? She's resting. You really shouldn't disturb her."

"Your queen?" echoed Raphael. "Ew."

"Not your snappiest comeback, dude," his orange-clad brother said dryly.

"Sorry. I'm too nauseated to think of anything better."

"All right," said the Rat King hotly, "out! All of you!"

"Not without Lizzie," said Michelangelo, teeth clenched.

"I'll never let you take her. She's mine."

They had already expected to have to fight their way to her, and they were poised to storm their way past—but just then the girl in question appeared in a nearby doorway. There were dozens of rats clustered around her bare feet, some of them hissing in the same angry way the ones in the throne room were, while others sat down on their haunches and watched her in a manner that reminded Leonardo of an obedient dog.

Clutched tightly in Elizabeth's arms was one of the biggest rats he had ever seen. She held him protectively to her chest as she lifted her head. Her face was lined in concentration, like she was listening hard, and she took several deep sniffs. Her eyes stayed shut.

The rat in her arms also had its head up, like it was making a quick scan of the room. It suddenly twisted around and made a chattering sound near Elizabeth's ear. The small girl stood up straighter. "Usagi?"

The fearless samurai immediately responded to her call, hopping over the heads of the rats surrounding her and drawing his swords ominously when they tried to pounce on him. He soon stood between her and them, their teeth and claws little match for his blades. The cluster of rats still sitting hunched at Elizabeth's feet didn't move.

Both Michelangelo and Raphael darted in the Rat King's path as he tried to move in Elizabeth's direction. "All of you keep away from her," the insane human snarled. "I told you, she's mine."

"You have no right to claim someone against their will," Usagi told him coolly in return.

This earned him a smirk. "She certainly never said no."

Elizabeth's cheeks turned a shame-filled red. "I never said no because I was afraid you would kill me," she said blackly. "Now I almost wish that I did, and that you had. I'll die before I'll ever let you touch me again."

Michelangelo, who had been listening closely to this exchange, turned a paler shade of green, while at the same time a burst of color flared in his cheeks. His eyes snapped. "What the heck did you do to her?"

"Nothing that's inappropriate for a king to do to his queen," was the smug response.

"Why you sick—!"

As the furious turtle lunged, with his brothers close behind, Leonardo heard Elizabeth mutter that she was no one's queen. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as she turned around and knelt, facing the group of rats still hovering nearby. She whispered something for a moment, and then, to Leonardo's amazement, they nodded their heads and formed a protective circle around her and Usagi. They hissed and snapped at the other rats, forcing them to move back.

"What do you think you're doing?" the Rat King cried furiously. "You're going to let her escape!"

"You can save your bellowing," Elizabeth said calmly. "They won't be listening to you anymore."

As if to prove it, she stretched a hand out and placed it on Usagi's shoulder. "Please take me out of here," Leonardo heard her whisper.

The rabbit nodded wordlessly and started forward. The hissing rats tried to bite at their heels and leap at their shins, but the ones Elizabeth had whispered to fought them off. Usagi grabbed the young girl's hand and took off running.

Enraged, the Rat King made a move to dart past the reptiles he had been battling, but Michelangelo kicked him back sharply. "It's you and me, dude. You'll touch her over my dead body."

The ensuing fight between the two might have been violent and brutal and come to an even worse end, but after exchanging only a handful of blows with the fired-up turtle the foul human realized he was outnumbered and outmatched. The next thing they knew, he had tossed a smoke bomb and fled as they gagged on the fumes.

"Come back here and fight," Michelangelo ordered between coughs.

"Forget him," Leonardo choked. "Elizabeth is safe now. Let's go find Usagi and get her out of here."

Usagi kept a tight grip on Elizabeth's hand as the two of them ran through the dank corridors. At first the other rats chased after them, their foul jaws snapping, but as the ones guarding the young lady continued to fight them back, they slowly retreated, until only their allies remained. Knowing that they wouldn't be welcomed back after what they had done, these too ran off into the darkness one by one, until he and Elizabeth were alone.

The white rabbit slowed to a stop, panting to catch his breath. "I believe we are safe now."

The darkened tunnel they were in was silent, although over the sound of his own labored breathing and the rapid beat of his heart, his ears suddenly picked up a strange rumbling somewhere in the distance.

It quickly drew closer, like a giant animal that was bearing down on them. Usagi looked over his shoulder but saw only darkness. "What is that?" he wondered with a frown.

Elizabeth pulled her hand from his to wipe sweat off her face, then adjusted her hold on the large rat she carried. "Just a subway train. Are there tracks somewhere nearby?"

He took a look around and realized that they were standing beside what looked like a deep, wide channel, with a series of metal rails lining the bottom. "I believe so," he responded. "Are we in any danger?"

Even though he had been here for several years now, he still knew so little about this world. Elizabeth flashed a faint smile before feeling for and resting her hand on his shoulder. "Not as long as we stay up here. The horn might hurt your ears, though."

As if in response to her words, a sharp noise rang out, almost making him flinch. A dot of light appeared at the far end of the tunnel. "We had best move on, then."

Elizabeth gave a nod, and Usagi turned to peer down the other end of the tunnel, wondering which direction would lead them to the surface.

Before he could decide, the rodent Elizabeth was holding let out a high-pitched yelp and tumbled to the ground. The small girl's hand flew from his shoulder. Usagi whirled—and saw that the Rat King had his hand clamped over Elizabeth's mouth, his arm locked around her waist. The tiny human kicked and fought with all her might, but her efforts were no use as she was dragged backwards.

"Try to stop me and I'll dice you into a stew and wear your cute little paws on a chain around my neck," he warned savagely.

Usagi snorted, unmoved. "I do not see how you will manage that without any fingers."

As he spoke, he lifted a katana and swiped neatly at the hand gripping Elizabeth's waist.

The Rat King recoiled with a howl of pain. Blood poured from the gash on the back of his hand. His grip loosened and Elizabeth tried to bolt free, but he seized her hair with a grunt and yanked her back again. With his free hand, he fumbled to pull something from his belt.

Something small and metallic glinted in his grasp just before he threw it at Usagi. The skillful lagomorph was already tensed and ready, and he gave a hop as the hissing object sailed towards him and kicked it out of the air. It flew to the other side of the tunnel and exploded when it hit the far wall, the sound all but lost under the rumble of the rapidly approaching train.

A second later the rumbling was all he could hear, and when the powerful horn sounded again he cringed. The light shining at the front of the machine was blinding.

As Usagi was shielding his eyes, he heard the Rat King yell out in pain again. Squinting through his fingers, the samurai saw that Elizabeth's rat had latched onto his leg, his impressive teeth gnawing sharply at his booted foot.

Growling in fury, the foul-smelling human kicked violently, sending the rodent flying. Usagi tried to see where he landed, but as he turned his head he was blinded by the light again. The train looked like it was on top of them now, and it roared like a wild demon as it rushed by them so hard and fast it created a burst of wind.

The Rat King still had Elizabeth in his grasp, and her hair and skirt billowed in the gusts as he shifted her in front of him, holding her in place like a shield.

"Coward," Usagi hollered. "Let her go and face me!"

But the mad being started to back up, apparently planning to hide behind the small female as he made his retreat. Only he wasn't able to retreat very far; he had only taken a few steps when he was suddenly jerked back, so hard and unexpectedly he lost his grip on Elizabeth. The shaken girl sank to her knees and scooted to the side, until she was pressed up against the wall. In the rapid blur of light and shadow cast by the subway train as it continued on by, Usagi saw vague flashes of green fists as they cut through the air.

When the train was finally gone and the tunnel fell silent again, the Rat King had vanished. Michelangelo was taking Elizabeth by the hand and helping her to her feet. "You okay?" he asked gently.

Elizabeth nodded absently. Her sightless eyes were open and lifted, like she was listening for something. A frown touched her lip. "Where's Frederick?"

Behind them, the others were hurrying to catch up. "Who's Frederick?" wondered Raphael as he joined them.

"Her pet rat," said Michelangelo.

"She has a pet rat? Jeez, no wonder he..."

Raphael stopped himself sheepishly as the orange-clad turtle shot him a look. Elizabeth wiggled from his grasp. "Frederick," she called loudly.

Usagi looked around, but there was no sign of a large rat nearby. His gaze eventually drifted to the lower section of the floor, and to the tracks below. He felt his stomach pull tight. "Oh..."

It was all he could say. Seeing the look on his face, Michelangelo followed his gaze to the tracks. His eyes widened and he swallowed uncomfortably. "Yikes."

Beside him, Elizabeth let out a huff of frustration. "What 'yikes'? What's going on? Where's Frederick?"

She started moving away, fully determined to find him despite her lack of sight, but the young turtle quickly grabbed her and pulled her close to him. "I'm so sorry," he told her, swallowing again. "He...fell."

"Fell? Where?" Elizabeth demanded.

"On the tracks," Michelangelo answered, his voice a mumble.

For a moment the young redhead looked blank. Then, as realization sunk in, her face twisted in pain. "No..."

Michelangelo hugged her tightly as she burst into tears. Usagi watched with a saddened heart, having no doubt that the loss of her friend was far from the only cause of her pain.

"He can't be gone," she sobbed. "He just can't! It was always supposed to be the two of us..."

"It's okay," the turtle holding her whispered as he stroked her hair. "Just let it all out."

Leonardo let out a heavy sigh as he put his katanas away. "We should go."

Elizabeth suddenly wrenched from Michelangelo's arms. "But I don't have anywhere to go," she cried, stricken. "I lost my job, and they can't have kept my apartment this long. I have nothing. No one."

"You've got us," Michelangelo reminded her quietly.

But the young girl was inconsolable, and she hid her face in her hands as she continued to sob.

"Is this true?" asked Usagi. "Does she no longer have a home?"

Leonardo nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so."

"It'll be okay," Michelangelo told her. He started to reach for her again, but he checked himself. "You can stay with us for now. We wouldn't mind."

Elizabeth shook her head in response. "No. No, I want to go with Usagi."

The rabbit stood straighter in surprise. "Me?"

She nodded, sniffling. "Yes. Please take me back to the animal shelter. I want to be near Hyena. And..."

Choking back a fresh wave of sobs, she buried her face in her hands again. "I can't stay down here another second."

Looking at someone so full of pain and sorrow, Usagi could not find it in his heart to refuse. "I will take her," he said softly. "I am sure Obento will not mind."

Michelangelo looked like he wanted to raise an objection, but he kept quiet for once as Usagi reached out and took Elizabeth's quivering hand. Her fingers curled around his tightly. "I'll come check on you first thing in the morning," Michelangelo promised.

Elizabeth didn't respond as she and Usagi started walking away. She kept silent during the entire walk to the Far East Animal Society, her eyes tightly shut as tears trickled ceaselessly down her face.