Picking Up the Pieces
Disclaimer: I wish they were mine. Sniffle.
Everyone thank Quoth the Raven for the great ideas in this fight scene. She really helped me a lot in bringing this all together.
Chapter Twenty Five: A Fight on Two Fronts
"What are you talking about Raph?" What is he talking about?! Exactly what he means Casey! I've completely flipped my lid and am currently menacing Raph with his own weapons. Okay, so menacing isn't quiet the right word I was looking for but it does the job. I'm standing here with Raph's sais holding them in a position that clearly means ill towards him. No wonder Raph backed away from me. If he had my bo and was acting aggressively towards me I would have backed away too…
"Just what I me-" I –well my body- suddenly lurches forward. Thank shell that Raph was keeping his eyes on me because my first attack was to try and punch the baton of the first sai through his head. He dodges to the right only to duck as my arm whips across his face. I'm not doing this Raph! You've got to believe me! I can't stop myself! It's like I'm watching a horror movie as the axe murderer.
"Donatello!"
"What the shell?!"
"My son! Enough!"
Trust me guys, if I could stop I would but… I can't. It's like my body and my mind are acting on two different levels. Kind of what I've been experiencing for the past couple of days except in reverse. Instead of not being able to access my memories now I can't access my mind. It's like there's a disconnect somewhere. Shell… I got to figure out a way to stop myself before I end up hurting someone.
My body follows Raph as he dodges backwards and off to the side. Would you cool it already and leave him alone? First Mikey and now Raph, who am I going to attack next? April? I hope I didn't just give my body any ideas. Raph continues his retreat but I can tell by the way his eyes are following the swipes that the sais in my hands are taking that he's waiting for his opening. I'm so glad I went after Raphael and not Mikey. Raphie knows how to read body language so well that he's pretty much mastered stealing weapons from his adversaries. I hope he steals these things away from me before I hurt someone.
"Mikey! Casey! Flank him! Try and p-"
"I got it, Leo." Raphael growls as he ducks under one of my swings and comes up past my defenses. Oh shell, this is going to hurt isn't it Raph? Effortlessly, Raph twists the sai in my right hand free before clutching my wrist and spinning. This is one of those times that I wished I weighted more because I have a feeling that Raph is doing a hammer throw with me standing in as the hammer. I feel dizzy. Wait! Don't let go!
My body rolls with the throw. I can see what Raphael was trying to do. He was hoping that his attempt at imitating a washing machine's spin cycle would make me drop his extra sai. He was probably hoping that the landing would knock some sense into me or knock the breath out of me too. I wish it had done something to me but my body barely seems winded even with the hard hit to the shoulder. In fact it didn't even hurt… now I'm just rolling towards the wall.
Okay, I didn't expect my body to do that. As I'm rolling onto my front I suddenly roll all of my weight onto my arm and push myself up. At least now my head won't bounce off the wall first. Instead I just plant my feet… and do a back flip off the wall?! Raph looks startled but that's the only glimpse I get of him before I find myself with a pleasant view of the wall as I swing my legs overhead to maintain my balance. I threw the sai at him when I was upside down. Is he alright? I wish I could let out a sigh of relief because that was definitely the sound of metal striking metal. He must have used the sai he took from me to deflect that sai that I had just thrown at him. What a relief.
And I'm still flipping backwards. Why would I be doi- SHELL! RAPH! I just came out of the flips in time to catch Raph right in the chest with the blade of my foot. If he was a human I could have cracked his sternum but he's lucky that his plastron took the brunt of the hit. The worst thing he'll have in some bruising on the chest. Though he wasn't seriously hurt he was forced to stumble backwards trying to maintain his balance. It looks like my body has decided to keep after him too. It lands takes a step after him and punches him hard enough that –coupled with his already compromised balance- sends him tripping over his own feet. There's a loud crash as Raph takes out one of the chairs at the table and crushes it under his weight.
I don't even get a chance to see if he's alright or at least moving before I'm tackled by two hundred and fifty pounds of angry human. "Shell, Don! Cut it out!" I wish I could argue with you right now Casey cause that would be a major improvement in my current situation. He forces me backwards so that I'm pinned against his body and wall. Casey yells over his shoulder while keeping his eyes on me, "Now would someone tell me what's going on?! I thought that the notes said Don wasn't programmed!"
"He shouldn't be. Saka's notes never mention anything about implanting the subliminal messages into Donatello's mind. All it had was a list of the most common words we were likely to say after rescuing him and what he was going to pick." Don't blame yourself April. I should have checked the notes myself before turning it over to you. Maybe I could've picked something up that you didn't notice that would have clued me in on the fact that I was programmed.
Shell my body is moving again. It's not like it can move much with Casey bodily pinning me to the wall but my body is able to bring up my leg enough to slam the heel of my foot down on his instep hard enough that he steps back with a pained grunt. That's all I would need even if I wasn't drugged out of my mind to take someone down and it looks like that is exactly what my body has decided that it has to do with a quick punch across the face followed by an elbow to the face with that same arm causing Casey to fall a few more steps away from me. Instead of going after him my body turns and uses the wall to jump up and plants its foot on it. Shell, a quick push off the wall is all I need to knock Casey over. I can hear him on the ground behind me moaning slightly. I would be moaning to if I was just run over by one hundred eighty pounds of turtle too.
Again my body refuses to turn and check on him and I kind of agree with it. I would know that look on Leo's face anywhere. "Mikey, you and April try and find something to take him down with without hurting him. I'll keep him busy until you're ready." He doesn't wait for a response before he hurtles the couch and charges me. No! Don't charge him too, you stupid body! If Leo can wipe the floor with me in practice I don't want to know what he'll do to me now that I've knocked both Casey and Raph for a loop.
Right before we meet my body plants its foot catches one of his out stretched wrists and –before he can react- I've just sent him for a fast yet short trip into the wall. At least he was able to twist over enough so that his shell hit the wall instead of his head but landing with all his weight on his shoulders when he fell on the ground probably didn't feel good either. My body suddenly turns and bolts across the room. I have to admit I'm glad it didn't go after Master Splinter but I don't like the fact that it's going after Mikey again. "Michelangelo!" Thank you for warning him Sensei. I didn't want to get the drop on him.
He turns in time for me to slam him into the table near my lab and computer station. He must have been looking for something on it for April who is standing on the opposite side looking horrified. "Mikey!" Don't worry he's alright for now April. I've got to think of a way to over ride this programming. There has to be something I can do to make me not try and kill everyone. The only question is what?
Mikey is no slouch when it comes to hand to hand fighting, where Mikey lacks the strength that Raph has and the finesse that Leo has, he makes up for it in his shear speed. Before I realize his foot has hooked behind my ankle, I'm over on my shell looking up at the ceiling. I really need to get him to show me how he does it. I think it has to do all that sugar he's always eating. Oof! Mikey, you really need to cut back on all those pizzas. With Mikey's full weigh on my stomach it's going to be hard for my body to get him off to continue fighting. Good. Now stop fighting him arms and just let him pin me!
"Don! Come on! Wake up! This isn't you, bro!" I totally agree with you Mikey. I would never do something like this. Ever. Okay, I need to calm down. Maybe with meditation I can come myself down enough to take control again. I need to focus… just ignore what's happening… forget the fact that my body is still fighting against Mikey… just breath in… and out… relax… relax…
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Mikey!? I hurt him! Or at least my body did! Shell, he has to be hurt badly for him to be hollering like that. I guess it wasn't a good idea to start meditating. All it did was just let my body really go nuts. I'm up again… somehow… Mikey's clutching at his arm and backing away. It looks like he's looking for a pressure point by the way he's pressing in different places along his shoulder. It's a little more to the left, Mikey. I must've used that to numb his entire arm. That explains the yowl. That hurts. He's backing away from me while I advance on him and I can hear Raphael getting up and growling about something. Leo and Casey are bound to be coming out of their shock soon too. Come on, guys. I don't know if Mikey can take me on with one arm, especially with one of his nunchaku's spinning in my hand.
I guess I should be grateful that I suck at using nunchaku's, that'll give Mikey more of a chance to beat me. I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. Yes, pinned between Raph and Mikey should give them enough of an advantage to knock me down and pin me down again. What was that tap? It felt like someone just tapped me on the shoulder. My head turns from Mikey momentarily to the dart sticking out of my arm before I find myself glaring over at April. Oh shell, April… don't you even think of it, body. Leave her alone.
I really have to figure out a way to stop all of this craziness. There's got to be something… a loop hole… or an over ride command… at this point anything that'll stop me from seriously hurting someone would be welcomed. Right now all I've been able to gather is that detaching myself from the situation just makes me fight more aggressively. That means that my consciousness has some affect on my fighting. Maybe I can control my ferocity? I just wish I could control who I was attacking because I really don't like how I seem to be focusing on April right now. I think you have every right to look worried April… "Donnie… don't you dare." I don't dare Mikey but you might want to grab me or do something to get my attention away from her.
"DONATELLO!!!" SHELL! Come on Mikey! You're faster than me! Stop yelling and tackle me to the floor before I reach her! My body easily flips over most of the table but it plants its hand on the edge and swings my legs around. Right at April's head. She drops the small dart gun that she had used to hit me with the tranquilizer dart and brings up her arms allowing them to take the brunt of the hit. Thank shell Master Splinter has been teaching her ninjitsu. She's still knocked backwards from the hit but at least I didn't actually hit her face. My body's still twisting around with the force of the hit before planting its feet on the table and launching itself after a stumbling April. I can just barely feel the brush of fingers on my ankle. Mikey must've been trying to pull me back and away from her.
My hands clutch at her shoulders as she falls backwards. I've got to do something before I hurt her! She's scared. I'm scared. Now what's going to happen? She grabs my shoulders and I can feel her put her foot on my stomach as she falls. Good idea, April, that'll give you some breathing room. Just before she hits she uses her foot and the grip on my shoulders to flip me easily over her head. Text book job. Of course barely two years of ninjitsu practice doesn't even compare to my almost eighteen years of practice. I really wish it did… My body rolls with the throw and gathers its feet under me and turns back towards April who has barely even sat up. A quick flip over her head and now Mikey is between April and me. He still doesn't seem to be able to use his left arm right, I hope that there isn't any permanent nerve damage.
My body doesn't even get to take three steps towards them before something is bouncing off the side of my head. What the shell was that? Whatever it was it had enough force to make me twist my head to the side but not enough to knock me out. Wait, if I was knocked out would my body keep fighting? Umm… hopefully I don't get knocked out. I don't want to know what I would do to the guys. Especially with what I did to Mikey in less than thirty seconds. My head twists back towards where the whatever-it-was was thrown from and I catch a glimpse of scarlet red before me feet are taken right out from under me.
I guess I should be glad Master Splinter has joined in the fight but somehow I doubt I'll be glad later.
My shell hits the ground hard but with a quick snap of my legs I'm up almost immediately and turning to the red whirlwind that is my Sensei. No, you don't want to fight him. Bad body! Oh shell… Master… I'm sorry…
"Michelangelo! Stay back!" Yeah, stay back where I can't hurt you. I rather not watch myself break your collar bone. Or break any bone for that matter. I'll just sit back and watch my body get totally trashed by a ninja master who has taught me everything I know. Is it even possible for my body to win this fight? I doubt it…
Master Splinter easily deflects two punches and steps around me to dodge the third. My body drops down and attempts to take his leg out from under him which he just jumps over. I wonder if my body can get frustrated with not hitting him. What the?! I haven't even come out of the kick yet and my body is twisting up and around back at Master Splinter's side. He quickly blocks it but the force of the kick throws him back towards the entertainment center. He lands and quickly stands on his feet as I spin a circle on my shell and stand up in an offensive position.
"Dude…" I agree Mikey. I've never done that before. I've seen Mikey do it but I've never done it before.
"Donatello." I didn't even realize that I had turned towards Mikey or April again. Judging by how Splinter is holding his hand up he wants them to stay still and quiet. "I know that you can hear me, my son." He does? How does he know that? "You have to fight this. This is not who you are. Focus on the sound of my voice. Use it to help you fight against what you have been forced to become."
I wish I could Sensei but it's like I'm having an out of body experience right now. My body suddenly charges him and I can tell by the frown on his face that Master Splinter was hoping to not do what he is about to do. I just hope my body can land right without hurting me too badly. Just before I reach him he steps out of the way and grabs the wrist with which I was going to try and punch him. Oh joy, this could hurt… just like what I did to Leo earlier –but I swear ten times faster- Master Splinter throws me into the back of the recliner. Up and over and oof… I just landed on my shoulders in the seat of the recliner and now I'm slowly falling off the seat and onto the floor. This bites…
My body gets back to its feet and heads straight for Master Splinter. Umm… Sensei? I know you can easily take me out but I would rather you were ready to defend yourself rather than tuck your hands behind your back. Please, I don't want to hur- Whoa! Two pairs of hands suddenly grab at my shoulders and wrists pulling me backwards. Leo and Raph keep my arms straight as they force me to kneel on the floor. Good, there's no way I'm going to be able to strong arm both of them into letting me go.
Master Splinter watches me strain against them for a moment before walking quickly over to Mikey and looking at his arm. His fingers move quickly over his shoulder before he says, "Breath deeply… and release." As Mikey exhales, Splinter forces his shoulder back, rolls it upwards and than pushes it back again. Mikey grunts slightly but as Splinter steps away I watch as Mkey flexes his arm to gently test to make sure it's working right.
"Thanks, Sensei!"
"Babe? Are you okay?" Casey asks April as he helps her to stand. She's looking a little shaky and pale on her feet. I bet she didn't realize that my body would even think of attacking her. During that fight, every time I was attacked by someone new that person or turtle became the focus of my attacks. My body is reacting to the largest threat to its self.
"I'm alright Casey." April takes several calming breathes before looking over at me with a mixture of regret and fear on her face. Now that is a weird looking coming from April. I didn't think I could ever do anything that would make her afraid of me. Fearful for me; yes. Afraid of me; not so much. "This is all my fault."
"No it's not." Mikey's just watching me with sad eyes as I struggle and strain. "You said yourself that the notes didn't say anything about him being programmed."
"Besides, there's no telling when he would have gone off his rocker if you hadn't said those words." Raph you make me feel so weak. Here my body is trying to break your grip and you barely sound like you're winded. Thanks a lot…
"We can figure out how this happened after we get him back to normal." There's Leo for you, always focusing everyone at the problem at hand. At least I can hear a slight strain in his voice, I don't feel quite so weak now. "What did you hit him with April?"
"A tranquilizer. It hasn't seemed to do anything to him so there must be some kind of drug inhibitor in his system preventing him from being affected."
"Is there even such a thing?" Honestly, Mikey I have no clue.
"It might have been from that coating…" April trails off before turning back to the table where she's been working for the past few days non stop. And she's always worried about me overworking myself…
"Casey, go get some rope."
"Why the shell do you want rope, Leo?"
"Why do you think, Raph? If drugs won't work on him we can't sedate him and the two of us can't hold him still forever. We need an affective way to restrain him to keep him from hurting himself or anyone else."
"He doesn't seem to interested in our welfare," stop whining Casey. I don't think that there is anything I can do to stop this.
"That's not true Mister Jones." Master Splinter's staring at me. At least he doesn't look mad at me for trying to kill everyone and attack him –shell I don't even want to think of what he would do to me if I had attacked him when I wasn't drugged- he looks more like the respective Father and Sensei I've seen sitting in his room meditating before an important conversation with one of us. He's focused which, hopefully, is a good thing. "Though he may appear no more than a vicious killer, if you watch his eyes you can see how scared and lost he is." Talk about nailing it right on the head. "We need to help him fight this and show him that he has nothing to fear from us or for us. Relax, my son. You're safe." I wish it could be that easy Master…
"Besides, Don's bleeding everywhere and he doesn't even seem to have noticed." You're right Mikey. Now that I'm thinking about it my right hand and arm have been bleeding for awhile. I must have really cut it up bad when I punched the dishes in the sink.
"Here's the rope, Leo. Now how are we going to do this? I doubt that he's just going to let us tie him up without some kind of a fight." I have to agree with you Casey. The moment my body gets even so much as an inch of lee way it's going to try and get away from you. Shell, Casey, don't come UP FROM BEHI-
Too late.
My foot lashes out, causing me to tip forward and pull both Leo and Raph slightly off balance. My foot catches Casey in the ankle and sends him crashing into Raph which causes both of them to end up on the floor in a twisted pile of limbs. With my hand now free my body uses it and my leg to surge upwards against a startled Leo. That 'thunk' sounded like it had to hurt. I think Leo's chin just bounced off my shell. Crud! Mikey, Splinter one of you better get over here! Leo's looking kind of spaced out and now is NOT a good time for this!
"LEO! LOOK OUT!" The comprehension of what just happened seems to wake him from his daze just as his katana gives a faint ring as it leaves his sheath. DUCK LEO! He does, quickly twisting to the side and ducking his head down to avoid me almost decapitating him. He retreats past the coffee table, twisting and turning to avoid the swipes I'm taking at him. At least he's leading me away from where Casey and Raph are dog piled but that's probably the reason why he's going this way. Less people for me to stab or slash at.
Leo! Don't cut it so close! I nearly had a heart attack! And now I'm really going to be in trouble. I just slashed the back of Master Splinter's favorite recliner. I guess it's better than Leo's stomach but I'm so going to pay for that one. At least now Leo's out in the open between the half pipe and the arcade games. He'll have more room to maneuver now.
"Don, give me back my sword." Leo's using his leader voice. He really doesn't like it when someone –anyone for that matter- messes with his swords. Especially if that someone is trying to attack him with them. "Mikey, stay back." Yes, please stay out of this Mikey. The last thing I would want to do is stab you with his sword. "You too Raph." Why would he have Raph stay out of this? Sais are designed specifically to disarm sword wielders. Is Leo pulling his big brother routine to keep the- oh… okay… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm dead…
Even with only one sword Leo can kick my shell from here to Denver and back. The only comfort is that he's holding the sword backwards so that the dull edge of the blade runs up along the back of his arm. That's not a very good stance for any kind of offensive fighting. It's better suited for defense. Not that that is making me feel at all better right now. Stop spinning that sword around, you stupid body! I do not want to carve my brother up with his own sword!
Why the shell won't you listen to me?! You're my body! The ringing of steel on steel is painfully loud. I bet if I could feel what is happening my arm would be vibrating painfully right about now. I wish I could feel anything right now. With my mind and body completely separated from each other being able to feel anything –even pain- would mean that the drug is beginning to wear off. And with the drug wearing off I might be able to take control again. Then all this craziness would be done with. I should have read through all of Saka's notes before turning it over to April. There has to be some way to stop me.
At least I'm fighting Leo, this should be easy for him. I'm better at using a katana than sais or nunchakus but I pale in comparison to Leonardo's skills. I'm just glad that my body doesn't seem to be taking ideas from my mind. I know what Leo is planning. He's going to disarm me then Raph and Mikey are going to over power me. Both of them weigh more than I do and, judging by how Leo is fighting, he's trying to keep me with my back to them so that when they jump on me I'll land on my front. It'll be easy after that for those two to pin my arms and legs down. And Raph and Mikey just handed their weapons over to Casey. Good. My body won't have any weapons to grab for.
Leo's finally had to turn his katana around so that he is holding it right again. I'm not at all surprised. This entire time I've been fighting him with both my hands on the hilt of the katana. I may not be strong but using both of my hands gives me the added strength of both arms. Leo's still fighting defensively, watching my movements as I attack him. One thing is for sure, I'm not fighting like me. I'm more of the defensive fighter -a manipulator as Sensei calls it- especially in single combat. I'm the one who fights defensively until I've moved my opponent into a situation where he's at the disadvantage. I usually don't attack all out like this. I just hope Leo uses it to his advantage and takes a page from my book.
We've moved over to the half pipe during the fight so far and now –finally- Leo takes a swipe at me. It doesn't actually connect. It was a feint that my body fell for. It goes to block only to take a palm strike to the shoulder, making one of my hands fly off the handle as my balance is compromised. Good job Leo. Now knock the sword out of my hand before I can recover and- Crud! No, I didn't expect that either Leo. "Don!" Yeah I'm worried to now Mikey. I just grabbed Leo's blade with my palm. As if my right arm was bleeding enough. Leo's free hand grabs the hilt of the sword I'm holding to prevent me from trying to swing at him and he wrenches it free from my grasp. At least he let go of the blade I'm clutching in my right hand. If he had tried to pull that free to he would have probably sliced through part –if not most of- the bone. I'm pretty sure most of my palm is laid open.
Leo leaps back, giving both of us some breathing room as by body takes the blade from my poor hand. Judging by the extent of blood coming from my arm right now, if they don't do something soon I'll just collapse from blood for them. I hope that doesn't happen. I would much rather keep the recovery time for all this as minimal as possible. As it is, my right hand and forearm is going to need stitches and possibly a month of physical therapy before I can use it right again.
My body took the breathing room given to it and backed up so that my shell lightly scrapes against the supports on one up ramps of the half pipe. Leo's approaching slowly as he waits to see what I'll do. Come on, I'm not that hard to beat. Just come in here and take the sword from me before I really hurt someone. Or get hurt. Actually, I'd rather get hurt then hurt someone. Why is my body glancing back at the half pipe? This is the second time it's glanced at it. I hope it's not planning anything. Now I'm shifting more to the left. Oh no. I know what its doing. Leo, don't fall for it. Don't fall for it. Just ignore it. I'll be fine. Oh, who am I kidding? Leo's going to fall for it.
My body stops shifting, stands up calmly and slams the pommel of the katana hard into one of the supports of the half pipe.
And there goes the brace on the main support.
I'm going to have to reengineer the half pipe later. If there is a later for me. Combined with the extra hard hits from Mikey's high jumps earlier, the hard hit to the support was enough to bring down the entire support structure. I'd been meaning to reinforce the half pipe for over a year now. If I had known I was going to try and drop the half pipe on my own head I would have done it a long time ago. Of course I'm not the only one to be buried in plywood, three-by-fours and two-by-fours. Leo's just too protective for his own good sometimes.
The minute the half pipe began to fall, Leo charge forward. Even with the pipe collapsing down towards me my body stood stubbornly still, watching Leo's approach. It was hoping to be able to kill Leo who was too worried about my safety to worry about his own. I swung, Leo blocked it and then jumped on top of me, forcing me down and covering me with his own body to protect me as the pipe fell on his shell.
"LEO! DON!"
"Aw Shell!"
Stop yelling and dig us out of here! Leo hasn't even tried to move since the structure fell on us. That's not a good sign. He covered most of me so while I wasn't knocked out I most definitely am pinned. I can hear planks being thrown aside as they begin to dig us out. Wait… if they uncover us I won't be pinned down anymore. And I still have Leo's katana. Crud. They probably don't even think I'm still awake. My body is going to have the element of surprise in this attack. Please, guys notice what I'm about to do. Please…
Leo is suddenly hauled off me and the sword that was pinned, lashes out and nearly catches Casey in the side of the head. Casey, I don't care how surprised you are, April's here and that is definitely not a word to be said around a lady. I'm up on my feet even as he falls backwards and turn with the sword swinging at Leo who's being cradled by Mikey. Good thing that there was a sai there to stop the arc. Raph tries to pin the blade between both of his sais but my body pulls it away and I flip backwards to put some distance between the two of us. Raph follows me. My body is barely upright before it's being forced to block several swipes designed to keep me off balanced. As my body twists and blocks I can see Master Splinter kneeling down next to Leo who Casey and Mikey have pulled out of the rumble and laid down on the floor. Come on guys, gang up and me and stop me. Good, here they come.
My body spins away from Raph only to get a right hook across the face from Casey. That's going to bruise. Before I can bring the sword around to try and stab him, it's nearly yanked out of my grasp by a nunchaku. My body is jerked towards Mikey but a quick back kick hits Casey as I yank the sword from the chains. My body is forced to block Raph instead of trying to hit Mikey somehow. I stumble to the side. Good, I'm stumbling. Maybe I'm finally getting tired from all this fighting.
"Raph, we need a plan. Leo and Don are the ones that always come up with a plan. So who is going to come up with a plan?" Yeah and neither of us are in any condition to help you come up with a plan Mikey. I just hope Leo's going to be okay. The was a lot of solid stuff to land on someone. Even if that someone has the added protection of a shell. I shouldn't worry too much about Leo, Master Splinter is with him. He should be fine. I can just barely see them past Raph and Mikey's shoulders. Leo's moving. Not a lot but he's moving.
"We take him down!"
"Good idea, idiot," Yeah good idea, Casey. What else do you think they're trying to do? "I know a way to take him down but first let's try to pin him down after we get that butter knife away from him." Yes, Raph that would be a great idea especially the pinning down part cause I know what you mean and I kind of like being left intact. Though, if it's between life and death go ahead a hamstring me. I'll recover eventually. I just won't be able to walk for awhile. A very long while. And I don't even want to think of what you'll have to go through to get a doctor to try and repair them. "Meathead, stay back till we get that sword from him. Mikey, rush him."
They charge, Mikey just a step or two in front of Raph. My body brandishes the sword again, holding it with both hands. Its have trouble holding onto the sword with the hand that is all sliced up. I'm not looking forward to recovering from this but at least it'll help Mikey and Raph get the sword from me. My body twists out of the way of one of Mikey's nunchakus only block Raphael's sais. Raph brings the second sai around and tries to flip the katana from my grasp. I didn't realize I was holding this sword that tight, either that or I have leverage on my side. I'm able to toss the sais away, turning Raph away from me as he struggles to keep his weapons. As I turn with the spin, my foot catches Mikey in what feels like the stomach. I wish I wasn't spinning around so fas- RAPH! Shell! He's not turned around yet, the sword is going to hit him in the back of the neck!
Do not harm your brothers!
Thank shell. Thank God. Thank whoever for letting me take control for that brief second. It wasn't much but I was able to change the direction of the katana. It was just enough that instead of striking Raph in the back of the neck it cut into his shell. He'll have a new slash in it but at least he will still have his head attached to his body. I had enough force in that swing to decapitated him. Raph grunts as the sword hits his shell but quickly turns, pulling the blade from my hand as it stays wedged into his shell. My body just pauses for a second as if it could believe it just lost its weapon. It's then jumping to try and avoid Casey tackling it that instead of sending the two of us to the floor, it sends me flying and then rolling into the computer nook where I take out the shelf where I keep some my servers.
"Shell, Casey, you didn't have to hit him that hard." No he really didn't Mikey and if he's cracked the processor in that tower I'm going to make him buy me a new one. It's hard enough as it is to find one of those that work right.
"I didn't mean to. He jumped. Are you alright Raph?"
"Get this sword outta my shell. Mikey, stay away from him. He's faked unconsciousness once." Raph's right. I'm just laying here half buried under the shelf and computer components. Well that's not entirely true, I'm slowly getting up. Maybe my body has finally had enough. Or I could be reaching for that and trying to draw them off guard. Why the shell is that down here anyways? I thought I hid it behind the door in the workshop. Oh no… That's right. I moved it when we were cleaning out the place shortly after Leo got back from South America because I didn't want them to find it. It's not like Master Splinter or anyone got this for me. I bought it off line a while back just incase I needed to use it for whatever reason. And ever since I saw that Elite use it I wanted one. What a time to remember it.
"He's barely able to stand Raph. I can get him." No you can't Mikey. You don't know what I've got in my hands. It's to dark in here for you to see it well too. Why did I have to get it in black? "You just get something to wrap around his arm and han- EEKKKK!" Thank shell, you blocked that. Your reflexes are as good as ever Mikey. Now get the shell away from me!
"What is that?!" What's it look like Casey?!
"A naginata!" Yeah, a solid black one with a very simple but very sharp blade. It's a good thing that Mikey's faced Kluh and beat him. Twice. At least now he knows how to deal with someone fighting with one. And this one only has one bladed end not two. Another bonus. I still should have shown or at least told someone about it. I've been such an idiot keeping this thing hidden from them. I just hope they have a way of getting this away from me without getting hurt. I won't forgive myself if that happens. "Go and get a manrikigusaris! There's one on the bench in the dojo!" Good idea, Raph. Both you and Mikey are severely hampered when facing something like a naginata. Neither the sais or the nunchakus are effective against a long reaching weapon like this one. With a manrikigusaris you should be able to yank the naginata out of my hands. Hopefully.
While Casey runs out of the room to get Raph his 'weighted chains' as Casey would call them, Raph charges into the fight between me and Mikey. Well it's not as much of a fight. It's more like Mikey jumping, twisting, and generally dodging all of the swings, stabs and thrusts that I'm throwing at him. He's tucked away one of his nunchakus into his belt and is holding the other with both hands defensively. Raph tries to come up behind me only to get the end of the niginata in the stomach. That's got to hurt. Mikey doesn't give my body a chance to turn around and attack Raph. He catches the end of the blade and pulls on it. The nunchaku can't hold onto the smooth blade but it's enough to make me keep after him. He jumps backwards to avoid another attack from me and lands onto of the work table. Where'd April go anyways? I thought she was right here.
Mikey abandons the table as I come at him again. I can hear Raph huffing from behind me. I don't think he's even up yet. I must've caught him in the solar plexus. It's going to take him a while to get up if that's the case. He's probably having trouble breathing. Why is my body attacking a stool? The blade slides smoothly between the rungs and my body throws the stool at Mikey who takes the stool right in the face. Ouch, I hate being his dentist sometimes. No. Stay away from him! Stupid body, leave my little brother alone!
"Michelangelo!" Shell, Sensei get over here! Do something! At least Leo's sitting up now but who cares about that! My body flips the naginata over the back of its hand before raising it in a killing strike. Come on Mikey, roll over onto your stomach. Do something, don't just blink up at me. Get out of the way.
What was that? Is that a dart in my arm? My body looks over its shoulder to see April standing in the doorway to my workshop loading another dart into that dart gun she had earlier. That wasn't a very good idea April. Don't you remember what happened last time you did that? Your timings good but there is no way you can beat me in a fight. She lifts the gun again and my body turns and charges her, spinning the naginata in one hand. "APRIL!!!" Please no. There's no one between her and I to stop me. Instead of killing Mikey I'm going to kill her instead. Shell… Just stop it with the darts April. They don't work on me rememb-
Did my foot just miss the floor?
I land hard, skimming across the floor before my body starts to roll with my forward momentum. The naginata fell out of my hand awhile back thankfully otherwise I might have gotten a few good nicks in as I roll across the floor. I come to a stop maybe six feet from April on my side. I'm twitching slightly. Trembling actually. It's like I'm trying to move but can't. What the shell did she hit me with and why didn't she hit me with it sooner?
"April? What did you do?" It's good to hear Leo's voice again. It doesn't sound slurred and the pitch is even so that rules out a concussion.
"Hey Raph I got the thingy an… What did I miss?" A lot, Casey. A lot.
"It's a fail safe," April's voice is getting closer. Is she actually going to just walk up to me? What if I'm faking it again or something? Wait, am I faking it or is this real. My body doesn't seem able to move… "Saka wasn't about to turn Donnie into an assassin without some way of stopping him in case Don ever went on a rampage in the lab. Tranquilizers won't work on him but a powerful muscle relaxant will." Oh, that makes sense. I'm so glad that she figured that out. It must have been in the notebook somewhere. "He won't be able to move for a while."
April rolls me onto my shell. Through half lidded eyes I watch as she ties a tourniquet on my bicep to slow down the bleeding on my lower arm and hand. She then presses her fingers to my neck taking my pulse. It's over. I don't care if I have to live on muscle relaxants for the rest of my life. I'm not putting my family through this again. Or myself for that matter. "So is he cured?"
"I don't know Leo. I just found the way to stop him by flipping through Saka's notes. I'll have to read them more in depth until I can say that for sure."
"Then we'll just keep him restrained." Raph comes into my swimming vision and gently arranges me so I don't look quiet like a puppet with its strings cut. "There's a table in med bay with straps on it that can hold him down."
"By the looks of his arm he needs to be in there." I could agree more, Mikey. I'm just glad that I can't feel anything. I'm pretty sure that my arm is going to be hurting for a while.
"Until such a time that we know he has recovered from this incident, no one is to so much as utter either of the command words around him and he is to remain restrained at all times. I will also remain away from him so that there is no chance he might regress into the assassin that he was." That's really not fair to you Master Splinter. You're banning yourself from seeing me?
"I don't think you've got to go that far Splinter. Just put a blindfold on him." Being unable to move and see? This is going to suck but Casey does have a point. My inner assassin is activated by seeing Master Splinter. Take away my sight and that should help me to not relapse or whatever.
Raph picks me up, cradling me to his chest as he turns to the door. "I'll read the notes and see if I can find something about the drugs duration or cure. As long as the chemical properties of the drug used on Don are listed I should be able to find an antidote." That's music to my ears April. And if you take six or seven months to figure it out, fine with me. Just as long as I don't do this again I don't care how long it takes. I can wait.