Second day in the maze... fun for all! Enjoy xx


Chapter 12

Raph woke with a jump as the grass turned back into gravel, Don and Mikey were disturbed by it too. They got up and grumbled a chain of swear words before looking around themselves in confusion.

''Hey.. Where's Leo?'' Don asked,

''Don't know'' Raph replied, they noticed how quiet Mikey was being. They turned to face him and were confused by his expression, Michelangelo as looking up the hedge with an expression that was fear mixed with amazement.

''Th-There he is..'' Mikey croaked, the older turtles looked up to see Leonardo almost at the top of the hedge.

Leo had been up for half an hour and had spent the last twenty-five minutes climbing the hedge, he could hear his brothers calling him down and realised that they were up. He hauled himself up over the top and stood up, He looked up and his eyes widened as he gasped.

''Wow..'' He smiled, the maze reached as far as the eye could see, he was above the mist and he could see the lights above him. He looked around and couldn't believe how large the maze really was.

''LEO? LEO? LEEEEOOOOO!'' Leonardo could hear his younger brothers shouting but he ignored them, his mind was still trying to take the sight in.

''Now now little blue turtle.. I don't think you should be up there! You and your siblings should be trying to get out of the maze not stare at it! Now be a good turtle and get down'' The loud voice teased, Leo frowned at whoever was speaking'

''If you love these games so much then why don't you try competing in them?'' leo asked angrily, the commentator laughed.

''My dear turtle, how do you think I got here?'' Leo's eyes widened in fear, the commentator had been in the games and had clearly lost so they made him stay as a voice rather than a challenge. There was a sudden gust of wind and Leo almost lost his balance, he knew that if he fell he would break his bones and maybe die.. probably die... ''Looks like I'm just gonna have to make you!'' The voice sang happily. Gust after gust of wind pushed at Leo he was staggering towards the edge he had just climbed up, he covered his eyes as leaves and twigs clawed at his face. ''MOVE!'' A spectacular gust swept Leo off of his feet and off the edge, He watched as the top of the hedge soared further away. He was falling.

''LEO! NO!'' Raph yelled in worry, They hadn't heard the conversation and all they could see was their brother falling from a great height. Mikey and Raph stretched their arms out to catch their falling brother but Donnie stopped them.

''Guys don't, you'll break your arms and it won't make a difference for Leo'' Don warned, ''Either way he's gonna hit the ground and break his neck''

''What're we gonna do?'' Mikey asked worriedly, Raph shook his head with out a word. The three turtles watched helplessly as Leo plummeted towards them.

Leo closed his eyes in fear, he knew he was almost at the ground. The noise of the rushing wind suddenly stopped, everything stopped. Leo opened his eyes thinking he was dead but instead he saw he was centimeters above the ground and his brothers were staring at him. He un-curled himself and saw that his shell was floating on air, he put his feet on the ground and got up. ''What?'' He began.

''You're welcome'' The voice laughed. ''49 contest- oh.. make that 45... have fun guys!''

''4 people just died... that's.. unbelievable...'' Mikey gulped,

''It's ok Mikey'' Don smiled sadly at his little brother before turning serious, ''We better hurry up and move... we only have until tomorrow night..''

''Let's get moving'' Leo nodded,

''Which way fearless leader?'' Raph asked with a smirk,

''this way'' Leo rolled his eyes angrily as he led the way, He looked at his brothers to see they had panic in their eyes. He stopped in his track and turned to face them, they stopped quickly as Leo studied them for a moment. The panic was joined by curiosity.

''L-Leo?'' Mikey began,

''Why do you guys look so panicked?'' Leo asked worriedly, the younger turtles eyes avoided his gaze.

''It was when you were falling... we were afraid..'' Mikey admitted sadly,

''Afraid of what?'' Leo asked, Mikey looked at him with sad eyes then Leo realised. They had been spooked by his fall, they must have felt helpless... watching him fall like that, they probably thought he'd die. ''Oh.. right''

''Oh right? OH RIGHT? WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING CLIMBING THAT HEDGE? YOU COULD HAVE DIED! WHY DID YOU CLIMB IT?'' Raph yelled angrily, Don and Mike stared at Leo.

''I-I... I hoped it would help me work out how close we were...'' Leo sighed sadly, ''This maze is bigger than I thought.. I-I...'' Leo couldn't look at his brothers he felt too ashamed, He had failed them and they knew it.

''Leo..'' Donnie began but was cut short when Leo looked up at him, all the brothers stared at Leo's eyes. They were filled with guilt which they were used to seeing but there was one emotion that they had never seen in his eyes before and it chilled them to the bone. It was fear, They could see fear in his deep sapphire eyes and it didn't feel right.. Leo never showed his fear, he had felt it before but had never shown it, not even in his eyes.

Nobody said anything as Leo looked at them as if he was asking them, begging them to help. They couldn't though, they couldn't move, speak nor help their eldest brother. Leo turned around and started walking again, the others stood for a while.

''Come on'' Leo called sternly, The brothers leapt out of their skin at the sudden noise but quickly followed.

''Leo's never been scared before... he's always been really calm..'' Mikey whispered quietly,

''He's been scared before he's just never shown it'' Don corrected, ''It is weird though..''

''Why is he suddenly so spooked?'' Raphael asked curiously, ''I mean he hasn't done it this whole time till he went up there''

''Maybe we should go up and check it out?'' Mikey asked with a grin,

''I'm up for it'' Don smiled.

Leo noticed that his brothers had went awfully quiet and began to think something was up, He turned around to find his brothers gone.

''GUYS? GUYS! RAPH, DONNIE, MIKEY?!'' Leo called, there was no reply. He back tracked and out of the corner of his eye he saw a green foot shoot upwards. He looked up and saw his three younger brothers climbing the hedge, he froze in fear for his brothers safety. ''GUYS! GET DOWN FROM THERE! IT'S DANGEROUS!'' Raph, Don and Mike looked down at him with smirks,

''THAT DIDN'T STOP YOU'' Donnie called with a laugh,

''GUYS! PLEASE!'' Leo begged, they stopped and looked at him

''YOU JUST DON'T WANT US TO SEE WHAT'S UP THERE!'' Raph yelled but he knew that it wasn't why.

''NO RAPH! IT'S DANGEROUS, JUST PLEASE COME DOWN'' Leo begged,

''NO WAY LEO! IT'S A RACE NOW!'' Mikey called and the three shot up again, Leo was about to call up when suddenly something grabbed his leg. He looked down and grimaced, a pale, flaky monster was holding him. It grinned a crooked smile before digging into the ground, dragging Leo with it.

''AH! GUYS!'' Leo yelled i fright as his legs disappeared, then he realised that if his brothers came down to help him they could face the same fate. ''KEEP GOING! GET AWAY FROM HERE! DON'T LOOK BACK!''

The three climbing turtles stopped, they could hear panic in the leaders voice but it was strange. He told them to do something that they knew he didn't want them to do.. What had changed his mind? They looked down to see Leo stomach deep in the ground, he was clawing, fighting and struggling to keep above. The turtles knew what they had to do, they leapt down from the hedge and landed with a roll, they ran towards Leo and he looked up at them in anger.

''I thought I told you guys to ge away'' He growled,

''No chance fearless'' Raph growled back as he grabbed one of Leo's hands, Don grabbed the other and Mikey got him under the armpits.

''Go before'' Leo yelped as he felt a claw run down his leg, ''Go before it get's you too!''

''No way Leo'' Don panted as he pulled Leo,

''No way are we leaving you'' Mikey gave Leo a small smile before tugging wildly. Leo grimaced as claw after claw scratched his leg, The monster had clearly had enough. It let go of Leo and tunneled off else where, Leo was finally free and surfaced. All four turtles lay on the ground, they were tired after all the effort it took to save Leo. Donnie was first to get up, he went straight to Leo and looked at his legs. The claw marks were large but the monster clearly didn't want to break the skin but it was clear that if it had wanted to it would have been capable.

''You ok bro?'' Donnie asked as he helped Leo to his feet,

''Yeah.. thanks guys'' Leo panted. the turtles smiled, the fear had left the leaders eyes and he was ready to lead them to safety once more. ''Come on... we've got to get a little further before night fall... after that we have a day..'' Leo swallowed.

''So we run?'' Mikey asked with a grin,

''So we run'' Leo nodded with a smile, the four turtles laughed as they sprinted around corners and passage ways. Leo had a feeling he knew where he needed to go and it had given him new hope.

''You know, we don't have to sleep'' Raph shrugged, he and Donnie were just behind Leo and Mikey.

''We do Raph, I don't think anyone could navigate their way through here in the pitch black'' Leo called back to his brother, ''Don't worry, we'll make it''

''GO LEO! HE'S FINALLY STOPPED BEING SAD!'' Mikey laughed,

''Why should I be sad when I have three troublesome little brothers to look after'' Leo replied with a smile,

''GO LEO. GO LEO. GO LEO'' Mikey and Donnie chanted as they ran, Raph shared a look with Leo which told him the hot-headed turtle was glad to see him better.

They walked for while with no problem but then the air went cold and the turtles turned the corner. They froze in fright and disgust, there were bodies of aliens and monsters all over the ground, the bloods were different colours but they were still blood all the same.

Mikey felt sick and the whole maze was spinning around him, he fell to his knees as the colour drained out of his face. His brothers pulled him up and covered his eyes as they rushed him away from the scene. Donnie took him to the side and Mikey tried to throw up but because of the lack of food nothing came up, he just gagged dryly. Donnie rubbed his shell to try and comfort him, Mikey eventually stopped and buried his face into Donnie's chest.

''D-Donnie..'' He mumbled,

''It's ok Mikey..'' Donnie soothed, ''We need to keep going ok?''

''mmhmmm'' Mikey nodded, Don pulled him to his feet and they made their way to Raph and Leo, Donnie kept his arm around Mikey's shoulders to show him that he was there for him.

''You ok little brother?'' Leo asked softly,

''Yeah... just.. it was gross'' Mikey blushed.

''It's ok Mike..'' Raph rubbed Mikey's head fondly, ''I felt a little sick back there too'' Mikey just gave him a small smile then they all began their trek again.

The four turtles kept walking quickly, Don, Raph and Leo were rushing too fast for poor Mikey and he ended up being dragged. He tripped and fell, on his way he pulled at a branch that made a clicking noise and three bright zaps hit Leo, Raph and Donnie. They fell to the ground and lay still, Mikey screamed and cried as he rushed to his brothers sides.

''GUYS! GUYS! NONONONONOO! WHAT DID I DO?'' Mikey sobbed, he took a few breaths to calm down but he still didn't know what to do.

Donnie opened his eyes and looked around, he wasn't in the maze. Leo and Raph helped him up and he realised that Mikey wasn't there.

''Wh-what's going on?'' he asked, the scene around them fizzled before showing them the lair. It was empty until they heard a door slam closed, a red-eyed Mikey ran downstairs. He had a deep frown that the turtles weren't used to seeing.

''Stupid brothers... they had to go and...'' Mikey mumbled, he went to the couch and dug around in the cushions before finding a gun and pulling it out. The three older turtles gasped, since when had that been there? Mikey held it up to his head, ''I'M COMING BROS... NO WAY ARE YOU GONNA DIE AND LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!'' Donnie closed his eyes as a loud shot went off, He heard leo and Raph yell in fright and pain then he opened his eyes. He looked at Raph and Leo, they had their eyes closed. Then he looked at Mikey and his breath was caught in his throat, his baby brother was lying on the ground with a hole in his head. There was a bright flash then cold air was stroking them.

''What?'' Don mumbled as he sat up, They were back in the maze. He looked around before helping Leo and Raph to their feet.

''Where's Mikey?'' Leo asked, he was awfully pale but they all were.

''MIKEY!?'' Raph yelled, Donnie's stomach felt like a block of ice as he looked around for a sight of Mikey. Then they heard the sobbing.

''Mikey?'' Don asked gently as he and his brothers slowly turned the corner, Mikey was hugging three bodies, their bodies.

''OH MY GOD! WE'RE DEAD!'' Raph yelled in fright.

''No.. no we can't be.. dead?'' Leo gulped, Don frowned before touching his body. there was a gust of warm wind, he was lifted up.

''DONNIE!'' Raph yelled but Donnie was sucked away into darkness.

He opened his eyes and Mikey flung himself onto him.

''MIKEY!'' Donnie grinned as tears fell down his face, his baby brother was alive!

''Donnie.. I'm so sorry! I-I-'' Mikey mumbled.

''It's okay buddy, I'm so glad you're ok!'' Donnie laughed, ''I love you Mikey''

''I love you too Donnie'' Mikey grinned. Raph and Leo's eyes opened and grinned at their little brothers,

''LEO! RAPHIE!'' Mikey grinned, he and Donnie hugged them and they refused to let go.

''It's ok guys..'' Leo smiled as he hugged his three little brothers, ''What happened anyway?''

''I-I tripped cause I couldn't keep up and I think I hit a switch and... and you guys were shot!'' Mikey sniffed, ''It's all my fault! I'm sorry!''

''Stop apologising Mikey... Let's just keep going'' Raph grinned as they stood up together, they kept walking forward before walking out into an opening. the ground turned to grass.

''Wow.. this bit's awesome!'' Mikey grinned,

''there are 36 contestants left! time for you all to get some sleep, only the turtles seem to be close to the end.. now they have to work out which way is the exit! have a nice night!'' Leo looked at the many corridors and gulped then the lights went out.

''Just go to sleep Leo'' Raph dragged Leo to the ground, they snuggled together for warmth before falling asleep.


done! took a while... Please Review xx