With their eyes wide opened and their mouths hanging in surprise, fright and shock; the three turtles stared at the maniac standing before them all dressed up in white, not a single drop of blood from his beaten victim on his white gloves. Samuel had been very careful in not making a mess; they couldn't say the same about Leonardo who laid unconscious in a pool of his own blood.
"Congratulations, you have made it to the end of the maze. I am quite impressed" Flynn said while clapping his hands lazily.
"You piece of shit! What did you do to Leo?" Raph growled. The tigers roared at him and stood protectively in front of their master.
"Easy there Raphael. My boys here are very well trained… and a little hungry, I believe"
"Think so? I can see they're full enough, if you ask me"
"My dear Michelangelo, always making me laugh" Samuel chuckled.
"What have you done to Leo!" Don demanded.
"Just play with him to pass to time. We were having so much fun until he fainted… hmmm… sad" Flynn sighed "I already had him begging and crying like a little girl, I had finally managed to humiliate him, then he passed out! Can you believe it?"
Raphael couldn't stand hearing that lunatic any longer. He ran towards Flynn, his sais ready for some action; he didn't care about the tigers, all he wanted now was to kill the bastard that had half killed his brother and leader. Flynn pressed a gray button and the tiger with the white collar ran to face the red-clad turtle; the latter took impulse and jumped off the grass. As he came down, he turned on his back and his shell impacted hard on the tiger's skull. Taking advantage of this little distraction, Raph continued running, preparing his sai to plunge into Flynn's body. He was a few inches of the white suited man when out of nowhere appeared the second tiger, pinning the red-clad ninja to ground.
"Nuh-huh~ You forgot about his brother" Samuel grinned "You see, just like you boys… these tigers are technically 'brothers' and they don't like strangers to ruin the other's fun"
"Please, don't hurt him!" Mikey pleaded.
"I will not. See the collars? I think you must remember them, Michelangelo" The orange-clad ninja touched his neck absentmindedly. Of course he remembered them.
"Ranjiv and Sourja were trained since they were little cubs with those collars and just if Raphael behaves, they will not harm him"
"What do you want from us? Why are you doing this?" Don asked.
"You must know about me, Donatello. You investigated about me; isn't that true Leonardo? Oh, I forgot he's off to dreamland" Flynn mocked the limp form of the blue-clad turtle, nudging him with his foot.
"I don't get it"
"Well, you see… before I was imprisoned, I had experimented with every kind of animal; domestic and wild, from dogs to wolves, from lizards to pythons, from rats to elephants! And when I thought I had seen it all, you appeared out of nowhere! Giant, intelligent, talking turtles! My investigation would not be complete until I captured you and here we are now"
"You said this was a game to you! Not a stupid investigation!" Mikey replied.
Flynn smiled. "So you've been listening to me after all Michelangelo"
"If you're done talking, I'd like someone to take this oversized cat off me!" Raph growled.
"Ranjiv, play time is over. Same for you Sourja" Flynn said pressing a gray and a yellow button. The tigers backed up after that.
"Listen, even though you've caused so much pain to us… we won't hurt you or do something in revenge but please… please, let us go" Don said as calm as possible, even though what he wanted in that moment was to push Flynn inside the incinerator behind him.
"You may" Samuel pressed another button and a glass door opened "But he stays" he added, pointing at Leo with his cane.
"We're not leaving without Leo" Raph stated firmly.
"I don't see why not; he's practically dead. And if he survives... he has a debt to pay. Remember Michelangelo? It was his fault you lost your eye"
"No…" Mikey said softly.
"It was his fault you got captured by my men; such a good leader he ended up to be" Samuel grinned evilly as he saw Mikey's eyes started moistening.
"Shut up!" Don yelled.
"If it wasn't for his stubbornness, I would have released you 2 months ago!" Samuel continued while looking at Mikey "But no… he had to fight me, defy me! I had to teach him a lesson so I made up that little maze; knowing that all his brothers would be there, he would push himself to the limit trying to find you alive and that would bring him closer and closer to a painful death"
"I've had enough!" Raph growled and charged again into battle.
"Ranjiv, Sourja!"
Both tigers roared and ran towards the turtles. Don hit Sourja with his bo and motioned Mikey to grab the sword on his back. Once he got the blade, Mikey aimed at Sourja's paws making cuts on them which made the tiger back up but not completely. Don and Raph, on the other hand, were having difficulties on causing harm to Ranjiv; that tiger was pretty fast.
"Must have been a real challenge to figure out all my riddles, Donatello" Flynn's voice irrupted.
"They were pretty lame, if you ask me" Don said while avoiding Ranjiv's claws.
Sourja had grabbed the sword with his teeth and snatched it out of Mikey's hands; the red-clad ninja jumped behind the tiger and put him in a tight headlock while his brother found the sword. Meanwhile, Ranjiv had managed to pin Don down and the only thing that prevented him to get his head bitten off was his bo staff.
Samuel chuckled. "Was there one you couldn't figure out?"
"Necrium" Don grunted "What happened to that dog? What killed him?"
"You should know, you are the genius" Samuel laughed "Need a clue?"
"Donnie, hang on!" Mikey appeared behind Sourja, sword on his hands, and plunged the blade on the tiger's back. Sourja let out a pained roar and let go off Donatello.
"Mikey, Don! Need a hand here!" Raph yelled; Ranjiv had cornered him and his sais were out of sight. While Don and Mikey ran to help his brother, Flynn continued talking.
"Leonardo's caring nature intrigued me so much I had to test it to the limit and his last test came in the form of a simple cup of tea"
Mikey stopped on his tracks. The world seemed to have stopped around him as his mind recalled the memories of a few hours ago…
…
"He's not drinking that!"
"Dude, don't go all paranoid on him"
"I wonder if Leonardo will ever repay the favor… would you, Leonardo? Would you repay the favor? Even if it costs you your life?"
"Yes, I would"
"Shall we drink our tea then?"
"…Last cups are always very special"
…
"You poisoned him!" Mikey realized.
"I see you are not the only genius, Donatello. Michelangelo solved the riddle! Isn't it amazing?" Flynn said mockingly.
Mikey wasn't the kind of turtle who let anger take over his actions. This time, though, he made an exception."You bastard!"
The orange-clad ninja grabbed Leo's sword tightly and ran towards Samuel who stood calmly beside Leo's body.
"Mikey, look out!" Don yelled. Before Mikey could do something, Sourja, the wounded tiger, jumped on him. With all the noise in the room, Leo began to regain conscience.
"Ah, you are awake now" Flynn said out loud alarming the others but they were too busy trying not to get eaten to do something for Leo.
The blue-clad ninja observed how his brothers struggled with the tigers, avoiding the claws and the deadly fangs. Mikey had large gashes on his legs and arms, Raph had been slashed on his left shoulder and was bleeding profusely but with Mikey's help he had managed to knock out Sourja and now both brothers focused on helping Don who was pinned under Ranjiv.
"Nice scene, isn't it? Three brothers playing with two big cats; I find it lovely"
Leo continued looking at his brothers, his vision blurred by the tears, his heartbeats were growing weaker and he could barely breathe now.
"My, you're so pale! I bet someone here is been longing to see you like this, so helpless and useless. Right, Raphael?" Flynn said mockingly while hitting Leo's broken arm hard with his cane making him scream and shed some tears.
"You son of a bitch! Don't you dare touch him again!" Raph growled and threw a couple of shurikens at Samuel, slashing his face. The latter glared at the red-clad ninja and pressed Leo's remaining katana against the wounded turtle's neck.
"You better don't touch me again, Raphael, if you want your brother in one piece" Flynn threatened.
Mikey slashed Ranjiv's face making him free Donatello from his grasp. With two wounded tigers it would be easier to avoid them and get Leo back but Flynn had other plans. The white suited man pressed the gray and yellow buttons on his remote and both tigers knocked the three turtles with a hit of their paws sending them to the glassy walls. The ninjas couldn't get up, their legs were too tired and the cuts in their soles had started to bleed again making every step very uncomfortable. Leonardo's heart ached terribly not only for the poison he had been given to but for the rage and feeling of impotence that grew bigger inside him. Tears unwillingly rolled down his face and Flynn followed their path running his finger through Leo's cheek.
"Beautiful… finally some tears. I have waited too long to see them" Samuel chuckled evilly "Do you wish to help them, don't you? Go on! Run and be a hero… if you can get up, that is"
Raphael and his brothers clumsily stood on their feet just to fall down on their knees once again. Fighting hordes of ninjas was way different than fighting two big, strong and wild tigers; adrenaline was wearing off and tiredness had begun to claim them. Leo's gaze locked with Mikey's remaining eye like saying 'I'm sorry' and 'farewell'; they looked so lifeless and full of tears.
"Come on, Leonardo! Fight me!" Samuel snarled while kicking Leo's stomach making him curl up into a ball. The torturer grinned manically and grabbed the turtle's face "You're weak and I have broken you at last! And now my babies will feast on your flesh!"
Leonardo's brothers gasped loudly when they saw both tigers walking towards their wounded leader. The felines apparently weren't in a rush to eat Leo; they walked in a slow pace like if they were stalking their prey. The orange-clad ninja dug his fingers in the dirt and tried to stand up once again failing miserably. He couldn't believe his protector, his big brother, his leader was about to die before their eyes; he had to do something!
On the other hand, Donatello had noticed the reason why the tigers hadn't pounced on Leo right away when he tilted his head and glanced at the black remote Flynn held. "It's that remote; helps Flynn to control the tigers!"
Raph tsked. "Took ya sweet time figure that out?"
"This is no time for sarcasm, Raph" Don replied "We…"
"The time for making plans is over, Donatello!" Samuel laughed "Come, my babies, dinner is served"
Ranjiv and Sourja growled and came closer and closer to Leonardo; the latter let out a sigh and closed his eyes…waiting for death to claim him.