Night of Death
How long he'd been asleep Don didn't know, but suddenly his eyes flew open. It took him a moment to figure out he was awake and that it wasn't morning yet. He heard the blanket on Mikey's bed on the other side of the room rustle. Sitting up he peered in the darkness and saw his brother sitting up in bed as well.
"What is it?" Don whispered.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"I dunno, sounded like a crash or something."
The boys looked at the door to their bedroom, straining to hear something, then jumped when they suddenly heard a voice shouting. Mikey let out a little yelp in surprise and the brothers shared a startled look. They didn't recognize the voice that had just shouted, but before they could wonder anymore they heard Yoshi's familiar voice shout as well. The words were indistinct, but the urgency was clear.
Suddenly Don felt very afraid. He'd never heard that tone in his father's voice before, one of fear. His head snapped to Mikey when his brother slipped out of bed. Quickly Don got out as well, not wanting Mikey to leave the room by himself, or wanting to stay by himself for that matter, they had no idea what had just happened or who that other voice belonged to. But before they reached the door another, louder, crash sounded, freezing them both on the spot. Again they heard their father's voice shout something, but this time it was more of a command.
Sharing another look Don and Mikey nodded at each other in silence, then crept to the door. Mikey reached it first and slowly and silently turned the handle, quietly opening the door just wide enough to peer through. Huddling together to look outside they saw the door to their other brothers' bedroom open as well. Mashimi's head poked out, and he spotted them as well.
There was an argument going on downstairs now, but the sound of hurried footsteps coming their way drew their attention. They saw Splinter rushing up the stairs and Don felt his heart plummet into his stomach at the look on his face. He looked…scared? The old rat reached them in what seemed to be one stride, grabbing the door to fling it open wider. At the same time he motioned frantically to Mashimi, "Mashimi, get your brothers! Now! Hurry!" he whispered urgently. Mashimi's head ducked back inside his room
Feeling even more scared now, Don looked over at Mikey and saw fear in his brother's eyes as well. There was something going on downstairs, their father might be in real trouble! Don looked back up at Splinter, wanting to ask him what was going on; why wasn't he helping their father?! He wanted to go downstairs himself, help somehow when another crash sounded, making Splinter whip his head back towards the stairs, his ears flat, but he didn't move. And then Don knew that he wouldn't be much help himself. If even Splinter was running away, then what could a 10 year old do?
Mashimi, Leo and Raph quickly ran from their room to Don and Mikey's, all three wearing their masks now. Splinter quickly followed them in and shut the door behind him, barely missing his own tail.
"Listen to me, children, do not ask questions. We need to leave, now, and we must do so quickly and silently!" Splinter told them in a whisper again, his voice raw, and quickly walked over to the window, pushing the curtains aside to open it.
"But, uncle Splinter, what about…" Leonardo started to ask but Splinter's hand shot up, instantly quieting Leo.
"Please, no questions. Just follow me, and keep quiet!"
The boys shared a scared look but quickly moved to obey. Don grabbed his mask as he rushed past his bed, putting it on while the others climbed out onto the fire escape with Splinter's help. Don went out last, following Mikey who had also grabbed his own orange mask and was holding it in his hand now.
There wasn't enough room for all of them so Splinter whispered to them to start to climb down, his ears frantically whipping around to catch every sound that could be heard. The moment Don's feet finally hit the fire escape he felt Splinter grab his elbow and move him along, following the others down to the alley. He felt a sense of dread and it was growing with every second.
Once gathered in the alley Splinter motioned for them to follow him again and quickly led them to the manhole Don now knew was there. They all quickly slipped inside one by one, Splinter going last so he could replace the cover above him. They were cast into complete darkness and Don felt a hand slip into his. Mikey. He gave his hand a quick squeeze.
"Remain quiet," Splinter whispered so quietly Don had to strain to hear him, "I have to ask you to practice every bit of stealth we have taught you these years, children, your lives may depend on it."
Alarmed Don felt Mikey tighten his hold on his hand in fear and tried to force some calm into his mind. It didn't work. What was going on? What about their parents? Were they alright? Splinter however continued talking, issues orders as if they were in the dojo instead of a dark and smelly sewer. He had sort of hoped to never come back here again after their little misadventure two years ago.
"It is too dark to see, so you must rely on your other senses. Do as we practiced, and follow me. Hold each other's hand to keep from losing each other!"
Don felt a hand on his arm and reached out to take it. This hand had five fingers. Mashimi. He continued to keep a tight grip on Mikey's hand.
Suddenly Mashimi pulled him along and Don nearly stumbled. Quickly he shook his head, reprimanding himself. He had to focus! Taking a deep breath –and instantly regretting it with this smell around him- he tried to rely on his other senses. Straining he tried to hear everything around him and heard the footsteps of his brothers. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to focus on that, noting he didn't even hear Splinter who must be walking in the front. There was one set of footsteps between Splinter and himself, that meant only Mashimi walked in front of him, Raph and Leo must be walking behind Mikey. Yes, he could hear them, three sets of footsteps behind him. They were loud though. And come to think of it, so was he.
He did his best to quiet his step, but he didn't have a lot of experience walking anywhere but on nicely kept floors. This floor in the sewer was wet, dirty, gritty and he felt something sticky and mushy now and then. How was he supposed to keep quiet in all that?? But Splinter was doing it, and he had asked them to do so as well. Biting his lower lip Don tried to shift his body, get into a better position for stealth. It wasn't easy with a brother on either hand but after a few minutes he started to notice a change, they were all walking much more silently now. His brothers must have noticed the same thing and adjusted their pace as well.
However even while focusing on keep quiet his mind started to wander back to the house. What had happened? What were they running from? Or who? Who had their father been shouting at? While still scared, Don felt a growing need to speak up, ask questions, figure out what was going on! Were they really running for their life as Splinter had said?
Suddenly he felt Mashimi squeeze his hand and then felt himself be tugged around a corner. Quickly he squeezed Mikey's hand, to warn him of the change of direction. Relieved he didn't hear any of his brothers behind him stumble or make any more sound than they had been. So far so good. Where were they going however? Did Splinter know? Or were they just running blindly now?
Don then forced his frantic mind to slow down, reminding himself that Splinter was a Utrom guardian that roamed the streets at night. He was even wearing his blue guardian's uniform right now. He knew his way through the city. Don just hoped that included what was below the city as well.
It took what seemed like hours before Mashimi suddenly slowed down and Don realized Splinter was suddenly standing next to him. He could vaguely see his uncle's form now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness.
"Leonardo, do you have any reason to think we have been followed?" Splinter suddenly asked softly though his voice still held the same urgency as it had when they had left the house. Don figured Leo must be in the back.
After a moment of silence Leo answered, "No, master Splinter," automatically falling into student mode at the authority in Splinter's tone. Don wondered if his brother was feeling the pressure of what appeared to be an important question.
"Good, neither do I. We will be going up over here, children, follow me."
After a few moments of hearing just the slightest rustle of Splinter's clothing, Don suddenly saw a patch of light appear above them. Apparently it was still night though, there was artificial light coming from several different sources on the street. Surprised Don blinked at it, it had felt like they had been walking for so long that he thought it must have been morning already by now. How long had they been walking?
Mashimi let go of his hand as he climbed up after Splinter. Don looked behind him and saw Mikey's nervous face in the little light that made it down through the manhole. He squeezed Mikey's hand once before letting go of him, making his brother send him a little smile. Quickly Don scrambled up behind Mashimi, taking care to make as little sound as possible.
Surprised he realized they were right outside the Utrom nano technology office, Leatherhead's home! He made room for his brother's to climb up after him and looked around the street. There weren't any people in this area at night, but even so he suddenly felt very conscious of their presence here. Only Leonardo and Michelangelo were wearing shirts at the moment, and even that was not enough to hide the glaring fact that they were not human. Don looked at Splinter, feeling new twinges of fear now, but saw that the rat was very aware of their position and was trying to get them to hurry up so they could move to a more secluded area.
As soon as Leo climbed out Splinter put the manhole cover back in place and urged them to quickly move towards the Utrom building. It was completely dark -as any company would be in the middle of the night- and Don feared they wouldn't be able to enter. He was surprised however when Splinter opened up a secret compartment in the wall, tapped in a code, and watched as the door first clicked, then opened up to admit them.
"Hurry inside, boys, nobody must see us!" Splinter hissed as he kept looking around them to spot any possible humans.
Doing as they were told the brothers hurried inside and knowing their way ran to the area that held the entrance to the actual underground base, a room that looked like an ordinary storage room. Before they could enter however the door opened in front of them and a man came out that they recognized as one of their Utrom teachers. He spotted them, and judging by the surprised look on his face -his robotic face- he hadn't been expecting them at all.
"Boys! What are you…? …Splinter? What is going on? Why are you here?" he said as he moved past the brothers towards Splinter who had quickly followed them after making sure one last time that nobody had seen them, and locking the door once more.
"Something horrible has happened, Neila," Splinter answered hurriedly, his voice for the first time since their flight sounding strained and hoarse. Hearing it made Don shudder in fear.
"Let us go down, quick, I must speak to the council at once, we may all be in grave danger!"
"Of course, Splinter, follow me. We'll contact the council at TCRI at once," Neila said.
Feeling his heart beat painfully fast Don and his brothers quietly followed them into the storage room.
"Uncle Splinter? What about mom and dad?" Mashimi asked as Neila toggled the hologram that hid the entrance to the Utrom base below before leading them all through it.
It seemed like Splinter wasn't going to answer at first, but then he shut his eyes for a moment and seemed to be in pain.
"Uncle Splinter?" Don asked alarmed, making Neila turn around and look at them.
"This is not the time, children, I will…But first we must get help. We…I shall explain everything later, when we're all safe," Splinter said, his voice nearly breaking, not looking at them. Not understanding why exactly, but Don suddenly felt tears gather in his eyes. This was bad, he knew it was.
But again they were quickly rushing onwards until Splinter said something to Neila in a low voice. Don couldn't make out what he said, but the Utrom had opened up his robotic midsection by now and Don could see a shocked reaction on both Utrom and robotic face. Then Neila nodded at Splinter and slowed down while looking at him and his brothers, "Boys, come with me. I'll take you somewhere where you can wait until we…until we can sort this out," he said, and started to lead them in another direction as Splinter broke out into a jog and quickly disappeared from their view.
"No! We should go with uncle Splinter!" Leonardo protested and tried to follow, only to be stopped by Neila as he held out a robotic arm to catch him.
"No, Leonardo. Splinter needs to hurry and get help. We cannot slow him down and endanger even more people by doing so."
Confused Leo obeyed and Donatello lifted a hand to shift the wet purple cloth around his eyes a bit as he watched his brother's shoulders slump. It was a good thing his mask hid his tears, they had other things to worry about right now, like what was going on and where were their parents??
They boys were led to a room that often served as one of their classrooms. Neila told them to sit down which they quietly did so, sharing scared glances now and then. They were left alone when the Utrom told them he'd be back with something to drink for them.
"What's going on?" Mikey wailed the moment the door closed, his voice thick, and Don could see that the orange mask was showing damp patches.
"Nobody is telling us anything!" Raph growled as he got up, walked over to the door, and kicked it as hard as he could. The metal door didn't even move.
"Calm down, guys, I'm sure that…I'm sure uncle Splinter has everything under control," Mashimi said in a voice softer than usual. Don couldn't be sure with the mask over his older brother's eyes but he thought they looked rather wide.
"Then why did he make us run through the sewers?" Raph demanded, "Without mom or dad!"
"I think somebody attacked our home," Leonardo said, his voice also quivering a bit, "And that dad stayed behind to fend off the enemy while we escaped."
"But what about mom? She can't fight, she should have come with us!" Mikey insisted.
"We never should have fled in the first place!" Raph shouted, and kicked the door again with a growl, "We should have stayed behind with dad and fought!"
"We're too young…" Leo tried to reason, but sounded like he actually agreed with Raph. Even Don agreed with Raph, though logically he knew they wouldn't have been much help against a skilled enemy.
"We need to find out what happened," Mashimi suddenly insisted and got up as well, though he didn't go any further as he apparently didn't know what to do next.
"Let's find uncle Splinter," Leonardo offered, also getting up now.
Don frowned at this, "We don't know where he is though."
"Well, you're the smart one, Don, where's the communication room in this place?" Mashimi asked him, sounding half sarcastic, half hopeful.
Unfortunately Don didn't know and shrugged, "There's several actually, I don't know which one he went to…"
Mashimi sighed and Don felt a spark of anger. It wasn't his fault he didn't know! Then he suddenly got an idea, "But I know how to get to Leatherhead's room from here, he'll help us figure out what is going on!"
The others quickly agreed to this idea and soon they were dashing through the hallways that were sometimes organic and sometimes metallic, following Donatello whenever he made a turn. The few Utroms they encountered watched them zip by with surprise.
While they were all more or less familiar with this place from their frequent explorations when they were here, Don had spent a lot more time here during the last few years, taking more lessons from the Utroms and learning more about their advanced technology and general experience. He knew more about the function of the many underground rooms and areas, which led to what, and what shortcuts could be used. Leatherhead had also recently gotten a new room, one closer to the lab he had found himself working in more and more these days and except for Don, the boys hadn't seen it yet.
Landing after another short ride through one of the many organic transportation tubes Don ran around a final corner and skidded to a halt in front of a door, "It's here guys!" he panted, and quickly knocked on the door.
They all waited, intently watching the door, but nothing happened. Don stepped forwards and knocked again, louder this time, reminding himself again that it was still in the middle of the night and that their friend was most likely deep asleep, "Leatherhead! Wake up! It's me! Don!"
Again they waited a few seconds, now sharing a few nervous looks, and again nothing happened.
"You sure it's here, Donnie?" Mashimi asked.
"Of course I am!" Don answered without looking away from the door, slightly irritated. Finally he reached for the panel next to the door and pushed a button that would let them enter if the door wasn't locked. It wasn't.
They hesitantly walked inside the dark room, hoping not to startle their friend, when Don hit the light switch and revealed an empty bedroom. Surprised, and feeling a dread sense of disappointment wash over him, Don walked to the middle of the room and turned around. It was definitely Leatherhead's room as they recognized his belongings, but he wasn't there. The large bed he slept in was empty.
"Where is he?" Mikey asked confused.
"I don't know…" Don replied, feeling useless all of a sudden. It had seemed like such a good idea, but now they had run all the way here only to find out they had done so for nothing. If Leatherhead wasn't in his room then he could be pretty much anywhere. And while this particular Utrom base wasn't as large as some of the others in the city, it was far from small either.
"Hey, you guys remember when Leatherhead once told us he'd sometimes go to the lowest level just to be by himself?" Leonardo suddenly said, looking around at them.
"You think he might be there now?" Mashimi asked.
"Where else would the guy be in the middle of the night?" Raph said, slightly grinning now.
So once more Donatello led them to the closest tube that would lead them to their destination, and without trouble or delay they got to the lowest level. This time they didn't encounter any Utroms on the way down and the hallways seemed emptier. They spread out, calling their friend's name, but didn't take them long however to realize that he wasn't here either. This area wasn't very large and he should have heard them shout by now if he was here.
"Where is he?" Mikey asked sadly when they had all gathered back together again and slumped down against a crate.
"Maybe we should get back. Professor Neila must be worried about us by now," Leonardo suggested half heartedly.
Nobody made a move to return however and they all gathered around Mikey, sitting down on the floor or leaning against the crate as well. Don sat down next to Mikey and pulled up his knees. Again worried thoughts rushed through his mind. At least while he'd been focused on getting to Leatherhead he'd been able to ignore the fear he felt, but now that their search had officially failed, it all came back twice as strong. Why hadn't their mother at least come with them, surely she didn't think she could fight off whatever attackers had come to their home?
But, what if they hadn't been attackers? What if they had just been, like, ordinary burglars? And the reason they had all had to flee was because they didn't want them to find out mutants lived in the house? That would explain why their human parents stayed behind while the mutants all fled. Well, and Mashimi, but maybe Splinter hadn't wanted to leave him behind with burglars in the house. Don glanced at his arm, hating the green tinge all of a sudden. He'd never hated it before, but if it was the cause for their run into the dark night while leaving their parents behind…
His mind then reminded him that this theory didn't explain Splinter's distress, or his warning that they might all be in danger. And besides, if there really had been burglars, clumsy burglars that didn't know anything about ninjitsu, then Don was pretty sure his dad and uncle Splinter could have just knocked them unconscious without anyone getting hurt or finding out about them.
Slowly he wrapped his arms around his legs and lowered his head to lean against his knees. What was going on…
Again he didn't know how much time had passed, but suddenly they all sat up straight when they heard a familiar voice call out their names.
"Leatherhead!" Mikey shouted excitedly and scrambled to his feet before rushing off with Don and his other brothers quickly following.
They found their tall friend standing next to the tube that had led them here. He was wearing the white lab coat he always wore nowadays. When he spotted them running towards him the alligator looked relieved and hurried over to them, "My friends, I was so worried when I could not find you!"
"We were looking for you, LH!" Raph said, almost laughing from the broken tension.
"Yes, I figured as much when I saw you had been to my room."
"How did you know we'd been there?" Leo asked puzzled.
"You left the light on," Leatherhead answered dryly.
"Oh, oops, sorry," Don said sheepishly.
"That is quite alright, my friend. I'm just glad I remembered to look for you down here. Everybody is looking for you."
A few guilty looks were exchanged as they realized they hadn't told anyone where they were going.
"We just wanted to know what was going on, nobody was telling us anything so we hoped you could maybe help us find out," Mashimi explained with a sigh.
Leatherhead nodded his head, and Don frowned at his friend. He didn't seem surprised at all.
"Leatherhead? Do you know what is going on?" he asked him hesitantly. His heart dropped when Leatherhead sighed, lowered his head, and nodded.
"What? What is going on?! Where are our mom and dad!" Raph demanded roughly then, fists at his sides.
Leatherhead silently indicated they follow him and walked over to some smaller crates where they could sit down. Settling down on the floor himself so he would be more or less at eyelevel with them he sighed again before he started to explain, "I couldn't sleep tonight, so I went back to the lab to continue working on the…well, that isn't important," he said while shaking his head, trying to organize his thoughts. "I finally felt sleepy a little while ago and was on my way back to my room when I saw master Splinter. Wishing to greet him I followed and only then noticed his…agitated state."
Don swallowed, unconsciously leaning forwards as he willed Leatherhead to speak faster.
"When I caught up to him in the comm. room he was speaking to the council…and I overheard him explain what happened at your house. I…well, when he saw me he asked me to keep you all company until he returned, so I came in search of you after finding out you were no longer where Professor Neila had left you."
"Cut to the chase already, LH, tell us what happened!" Raph asked harshly as he was obviously no longer able to remain quiet.
Leatherhead nodded his head quickly, "Yes, but…please understand that our elders did for you what they thought best."
This didn't make Don feel any better and again he swallowed nervously, wondering if he really wanted to hear this.
"Do you know who the Shredder is?" Leatherhead asked, an edge to his voice as he said the name.
The boys frowned but none spoke up right away.
"I think he's an enemy of dad's," Mashimi finally said, "I think he and uncle Splinter mentioned that name when they thought we couldn't hear."
Leatherhead nodded an affirmative, "Indeed he is, and an enemy to the Utroms and all who are allied to them as well. He has caused much grief in the past and in large is even responsible for the Utroms being stuck on Earth," he continued to explain before getting interrupted by Raphael who didn't feel like listening to a history lesson right now.
"Ok, but what happened at our house?!"
"Yes, forgive me, I shall attempt to explain. The Shredder has apparently found out where your family lives, though he most likely has only targeted your father and uncle. He wished to extract the Utrom locations from them when he came to your house this night…by force if needed."
Don heard a few gasps at this and felt his own fear increase.
"And, well, I'm afraid I must share some bad news with you, my friends, horrible news." Leatherhead took a deep breath before continuing, obviously struggling now, and Don held his own breath, not realizing all his brothers were doing the same.
"I'm afraid the Shredder…he has killed your mother…"
Don found himself staring at Leatherhead, waiting for him to tell them something else, something that would make more sense. His mind went blank, something Don wasn't used to, and he simply stared at his large alligator friend.
"No! No, he didn't! Don't lie to us, Leatherhead!"
Shocked Donatello looked over at Mashimi, who was now standing and pointing accusingly at Leatherhead. Another shout made him turn his head to look at Raph, watching his red masked brother get up and glare at Leatherhead as well, fists held up as if he wished to attack their friend.
"I'm very sorry, Mashimi, but it is what I heard master Splinter tell the council, and what he confirmed to me afterwards himself when I asked if it were true. The Shredder and his men first ambushed the store next to your house and killed the guards in the storage company as well, cutting off all communication with the Utrom bases so they could not be warned," he started to explain, trying to give them time to understand what had happened by giving them the whole story. "After that they broke into your home, catching your parents and uncle off guard. They could not fend them off and the Shredder demanded they give them the location to the Utrom base as he had not been able to discern this information from the other two locations around your home. Your father refused, and the Shredder…he killed Tang Shen."
Don suddenly sniffled and felt tears burning. Blinking he suddenly reached behind his head and untied his mask, letting the tears flow down freely as he let the purple cloth fall to the ground. Leo was sitting next to him and shifted closer to put an arm around him. Don leaned closer to his brother, feeling Leo's body tremor with grief as well. Raph was still standing rooted to the spot, still glaring, but his gaze was no longer focused and his hands were no longer fists. Mashimi let himself fall back down but crashed to the floor when he missed the crate he'd been sitting on. Mikey quickly got up sobbing and sat down on the floor next to him, putting his arms around Mashimi. After a few moments Mashimi returned the hug.
"Your father became enraged," Leatherhead continued, his voice thick, "And told your uncle to take you boys to safety while he'd cover your back." He reached up and wiped at his own eyes. "That is all I know. Master Splinter has gathered some of the other guardians and left to help your father, and hopefully put a stop to the Shredder."
Only the sound of soft crying broke the following silence.
"I am so sorry, my friends, I truly am. Tang Shen, she was the closest thing I ever had to a mother myself. The world will be so much emptier without her."
"Mom's dead?"
Don shifted his head a little so he could see Raph through his tears. His brother was still standing in the same spot, but he was no longer glaring. He saw his face going through several emotions in a matter of seconds. Leo increased his hold on him then with a shuddered sob and Don buried his face into his brother's shoulder again.
"Yes, Raphael, I'm afraid she is."
"Why?" The question came out as a wail, then Raph fell down to his knees and a let out a heartbroken scream before breaking down into tears, covering his eyes with his hands.
Leatherhead reached out and pulled Raphael closer, burying the boy in his arms as he hugged him. Raph didn't resist and simply grabbed hold of the white lab coat. No more words were spoken. No more words were needed.
A/N: :(