Chapter 25: Humiliation
Leo's POV
I wish I could offer Raph more than just a hope that we get rescued. I wish I could tell him I have a brilliant, fool-proof plan to get us safely out of here, destroy our enemies, and find a cure for all the problems this wretched powder has caused. I'm the leader. I'm supposed to come up with a plan to save us all. But I can't. No matter how hard I wrack my brains, I come up empty. Useless. I guess this is how Donnie's been feeling lately.
Raph continues to glare, his anger and frustration being directed at the only person in the room: me. I don't bother trying to calm him down. As long as he's spending his energy being angry at me, he doesn't have to stop and think too hard about everything that's happened.
I look around at our prison again, desperate to find something, anything that I might have overlooked. There has to be a way out of here!
Loud noises suddenly break the silence. A door slamming open, footsteps and voices. Raph and I both instantly turn our heads to the source of the noise and see Tiger Claw, Rahzar, FishFace, and Stockman enter the lab, arguing furiously.
"I told you not to take all the powder!" buzzes Stockman angrily.
"Yeah, well you don't order me around, you pesky fly!" shoots back Rahzar.
"But you wazzzzzted it all!" shrieks Stockman. "I had big planzzzzz for that zzzzztuff and now it'zzzzz all gone!"
"Well, at least they captured a couple of the turtles because of it," puts in FishFace, but Stockman won't be pacified.
"That powder could have done zzzzzo much more than damage a few turtlezzzzz!" he cries. "It took me agezzzzz to find it! I zzzzzearched all the Kraang basezzzzz and there izzzzzz no more left!"
All four of the undesirable mutants have reached the front of our cage by now and Tiger Claw silences them with a wave of his paw when he notices me and Raph glaring at them.
"Well, looks like our prisoners are finally awake," he growls with a grin.
Raph and I don't answer.
"Well, at leazzzzt let me inzzzzpect them to zzzzzee what zzzzzort of effect the powder had on them," buzzes Stockman, taking out a key and moving toward the door of our cage.
Raph bristles at that, and I instinctively leap to my feet and move into a protective stance in front of my brother. As I watch the fly mutant begin to unlock the cage, I am aware that, under normal circumstances, Raph and I would take that opportunity to jump him and rush out the open door. If I was alone, I would still attempt it. But since Raph isn't going to be doing any running or jumping today, this is obviously not an option.
"Leo," mumbles Raph under his breath. "Now's your chance. Get out of here and go get Master Splinter."
"Raph," I whisper back, keeping my eyes on the fly mutant unlocking the door. "If you think for one minute that I'm going to leave you behind here -"
"There's no way you're getting us both out of here alive and you know it, Leo! Just go!"
"This is not up for discussion!" I hiss sharply at him, as Stockman opens the door and steps into our cage.
Rahzar and FishFace move to follow, but Tiger Claw puts out an arm to stop them. "Hold it!" he growls. "Those turtles are my prisoners. I will be delivering them to the Shredder, and he wants them alive."
"I won't kill 'em!" Rahzar shoves Tiger Claw's paw out of the way and follows Stockman through the cage door. "I just want to teach 'em a lesson."
Tiger Claw lets them go, but stands guard outside, watching closely through the glass.
I crouch low as the mutants approach, and raise my bound fists menacingly. On the floor, a little behind me, Raphael is glaring daggers at them. Our intimidation tactics seem to have no effect, however, as Stockman moves toward us with less trepidation than usual, flanked by the two somewhat more alarming figures of Rahzar and FishFace.
"Still can't approach us with even odds, huh, Dogbreath?" Raph sneers at Rahzar.
Personally, I don't think he's in any position to be taunting the huge mutant wolf, and Rahzar seems to agree. He growls angrily and makes to rush at Raph, but Stockman stops him.
"Wait! Wait! I need to azzzzess the damage before you, ah, damage them further."
Rahzar takes a step back, begrudgingly, as Stockman moves toward us, something glinting in his claw. It looks like a syringe. I don't know what's in that, but no way am I letting him stick a needle in either of us!
With one powerful and unexpected twirl, I kick the syringe clear out of the fly's claw and send it flying into the concrete wall, where it smashes into a thousand pieces. That brings me a brief feeling of satisfaction, but there are still three hideous mutants converging on us, and one particularly strong one waiting outside, so it's not time to celebrate yet.
"Bradford!" buzzes Stockman, with a weird whine in his voice as he jumps hastily back, away from me. "You zzzzaid they were incapazzzzitated! You zzzzzaid you captured them eazzzzily!"
Bradford just growls, but I shout, with more confidence than I feel, "Ha! He exaggerated. It took two of him and two of Tiger Claw to take me down! You wanna try next?"
Stockman backs away a little more and I feel a slight victory. I'm really just trying to buy time while I try to think of some sort of desperate plan.
FishFace and Rahzar, however, are not so easily intimidated. With an evil chuckle, FishFace begins to approach Raphael. "Looks like this one has been damaged quite successfully. What's the matter, Raphael? Having trouble standing on your feet?"
"No!" shoots back Raph haughtily, folding his arms and putting on an air of defiant indifference. "I just couldn't be bothered standing up to greet ya."
Valiant attempt, Raph, but no one's buying it. FishFace has nearly reached Raph now, and stepping away from Stockman and Rahzar, I attempt to position myself between my brother and his most immediate threat. Unfortunately, our enemies decide not to give us any advantage by coming at us one at a time, and Rahzar immediately joins the conflict, grabbing me by the back of the shell and pulling me away from Raph and FishFace.
I react instantly, spinning around out of his grip and landing a kick on his arm. As soon as I'm free, I try to rush back to my brother's aid, but Rahzar isn't going to be discouraged that easily. He sweeps his leg under me, nearly succeeding in tripping me, but I notice just in time and leap up out of the way. All the time Stockman is buzzing around, keeping just out of reach, clearly unwilling to engage in a battle and waiting for us to be more incapacitated.
FishFace is beside Raph now, leering above him, taunting him, and I am desperate to help my brother, but Rahzar won't leave me alone. He has not yet succeeded in causing me physical harm because, though I cannot use my swords, I have not lost my combat skills. But he is keeping me engaged in fighting so that I can't rush to Raph's side. I growl in frustration as he blocks my escape again, chuckling in amusement. He clearly enjoys toying with me in this way.
From a few feet away I hear FishFace taunt, "So, the tables have turned, Raphael! How does it feel to have your legs cut from under you?"
I am seething with anger at those words and punch Bradford hard in the jaw, hoping to earn a few seconds to turn my attention to the fish mutant attacking Raph. As I turn, I see Raph valiantly swinging punches at Xever, but from his position on the floor, he cannot reach higher than the fish's robot legs, and landing his punches there is clearly injuring himself more than his enemy. Xever is laughing at Raph's poor attempt at defending himself, and I lunge toward him in rage.
Once again my attack is cut short, this time by Rahzar's claws digging into my shell and flinging me backward. I hit the floor hard, but my carapace takes most of the blow and I quickly turn the landing into a roll and am on my feet again in an instant. Glaring at Rahzar, I rush at him, determined to take him down for good so I can turn my full attention on the slimy fish that deserves the biggest beat down I can give him.
While I am distracted by exchanging a series of blows with the wolf mutant, I suddenly hear a roar of pain from Raph and I instantly whirl around to see him clutching his left shoulder, red blood seeping from under his fingers. FishFace has clearly just given him a kick with his sharp metal foot and is gearing up to deliver another.
"Raph!" I scream, lunging forward. Blinded by rage, I am convinced that no force on Earth will stop me from reaching my brother. However, a double mutated wolf man is definitely a force to be reckoned with, and right before I reach punching distance of FishFace, I am tackled from behind and hit the floor with the full weight of Rahzar on top of me, just as Xever lands a second kick, this time on the back of Raph's shell, where the damage is less severe, but still produces a grunt of pain from my brother.
"Get off me!" I shout at Rahzar, wriggling and struggling to escape. Though I make progress in freeing myself, all it takes is one strong hand of Rahzar's gripping my shell to pull me back away from Raph. I scream in pain and frustration as his claws gouge down my carapace again, shoving me once more to the floor where I am forced to watch, helpless, as FishFace aims another kick at my disabled brother, striking him in the plastron this time.
Raph tries again to swipe at FishFace's legs, but he is completely at the mercy of the slimy mutant, who cackles gleefully and dances easily out of Raph's reach.
I can see the humiliation burning red in Raph's cheeks and I know that his inability to fight back is hurting him more deeply than the pain from Xever's kicks. I continue to struggle to free myself as I lay flat on my stomach with Rahzar on top of me. He has one giant foot placed firmly on my carapace and is leaning all his weight on it, and from my face down position I can't hope to reach him with either my arms or legs. He seems content to stay there, not harming me further, and I realize his intention all along was to pin me down and force me to watch FishFace beat up my brother.
Just as the taunting fish mutant prepares to take another blow, however, a familiar and welcome voice echoes through the lab.
"Get away from my sons!"
A wave of relief washes over me and despite being crushed beneath a giant mutant wolf, I can't help smiling. These guys are going to regret having captured us tonight.
All of our enemies pause and turn to look through the glass for the source of the voice. From my position on the floor, I can also see out into the lab, and I notice Tiger Claw tensing in preparation and searching wildly around, but Splinter is nowhere to be seen.
I glance at Raph, but he doesn't notice. He, like everyone else, is staring out through the glass.
Suddenly Tiger Claw lets out a roar and I turn my attention immediately back to him. He is clutching his arm, which appears to be hanging limply at his side, but still there is no sign of Splinter. His movements were so fast, even I didn't see him attack.
I hear a low grumble in Rahzar's throat and I let out a gasp as he presses his foot more heavily on my shell, crushing my lungs beneath his weight, but other than that, no one in the cage moves.
"Where are you?" cries Tiger Claw menacingly. "Come out and fight me, you coward!"
This time I catch a swift movement behind Tiger Claw before he is suddenly down on one knee, roaring at the pain in his leg.
"I said, get away from my sons!" Sensei's voice rings out through the lab once more, echoing around so that it is impossible to tell where it is coming from. My father is seriously cool.
When Tiger Claw roars again at the pain of yet another pressure point being applied, the mutants in the cage with us finally come to life and rush for the door, intent on taking Splinter down. As soon as I feel the pressure lift from my carapace, I am on my feet and running toward my injured brother.
"Raph! Raph, are you okay?" I kneel down beside him and try to look at his shoulder, but he won't remove his bloodied hand from the wound.
"Leo, the door!" he cries, nodding his head in the direction of the exit.
I whip around in time to see Stockman closing the door behind him. I move quickly, but I don't make it to the door before we are again locked inside. I give the hideous fly a death glare through the glass, but he just buzzes tauntingly at me and flies away, high enough to stay out of reach of the battle raging below.
For there is a full on battle happening now. Master Splinter finally came out into the open and is taking on all three of the other mutants at once. I would be concerned about the odds, but Tiger Claw still seems unable to use his arm properly and Sensei is doing a fine job of holding his own against the others. It is a marvel and a joy to watch him. His movements are so swift, so precise, so effective. He truly is the greatest ninja master in a century.
A grunt from behind me suddenly brings my thoughts away from admiring my father's skills. Raphael is shifting, trying not put too much weight on his injured arm, but it seems difficult when his legs won't cooperate. I'm back at his side in an instant.
"Hey, Raph, take it easy."
"They locked us in again!"
"It's okay, Sensei will let us out after he finishes with those guys." I incline my head in the direction of the battle outside the cage. Then I turn back to the more urgent matter at hand. "Let me see your shoulder."
Raph grunts, but reluctantly takes his hand away from the wound. "It's not too bad. It'll be fine when it stops bleeding."
As I look at it I see he's right. Though the gash is bleeding quite a lot, it doesn't seem to be as deep as I had feared. He's going to have a nasty bruise there, though.
Suddenly I hear the sound of the lock clicking behind me. I wheel around again to see someone opening the door. Mikey! I didn't know he came with Master Splinter. I take one quick glance back at the battle and see that our enemies, completely focused on Sensei, haven't even noticed Mikey is here. I guess he can be stealthy when he wants to.
Mikey opens the door and motions for us to follow him out. I open my mouth to call out to him, but he puts a finger hastily to his lips and nods in the direction of our enemies. Of course, it's better if we don't attract their attention. Mikey waves at us again, gesturing for us to come out of the cage, but I shake my head and motion toward Raph.
Mikey glances at Raph and immediately sprints over to us. He gives Raph a concerned look, then looks at me questioningly, making a couple signs as he does so. I don't know what the signs mean - I really should make more of an effort to learn the sign language he's inventing - but I can tell from his expression that he's asking what happened to Raph.
"His shoulder is hurt," I whisper, though I guess that much is obvious. "And he can't walk."
Mikey looks up at me in surprise, then with another, somewhat sadder, questioning expression, he wiggles his fingers in a rainy, twinkly motion. This time I know exactly what he means.
"Yeah," I say with a sad sigh. "It was the fairy dust."
At that, Mikey's face starts to crumple and as he looks down at Raph, his lip quivers a little and I'm afraid he's either going to break and down and cry or give Raph another unwanted hug. Thankfully Raph cuts him off gruffly before he can do either.
"Um, don't you think we should be getting outta here?"
Mikey quickly swallows and nods his head enthusiastically, focusing his attention back on the task at hand.
"Come on, Mikey," I instruct him. "Help me carry Raph. You grab his legs."
As Mikey moves instantly to obey, I move behind Raph, hook my elbows under his armpits, and heave him up, trying not to aggravate his shoulder. He is easily the heaviest of us, but Mikey and I are strong. With a little effort we hoist him into position for the simple, but rather undignified method of carrying him between us. Raph has his jaw set and his teeth clenched, bearing the humiliation of his helpless position.
I move quickly backward toward the door, which Mikey left open. In a few seconds we are through and moving toward the exit of Stockman's lab. I catch my father's eye as he takes note of our slow progress. He instantly lets out a shout, and unleashes a flurry of blows, drawing the attention of all the bad guys and leading them as far away from us as possible, to the other side of the lab.
As we pass right by the table where our gear was stashed, I pause and whisper to Mikey to grab them for us. Setting down his half of Raph, he quickly complies.
Raph is grateful to receive his sai, and tucks them quickly into his belt along with his phone. When Mikey makes to hand me my swords, however, I shake my head. I'm not ready to tell him about my hands yet, so I just use holding up Raph as my excuse to not take my weapons. Mikey throws a quizzical glance at my bound hands, but shrugs it off and quickly slides my katanas into the sheaths on my back for me.
All this only took a few seconds and in no time we are on the move again, heading for the exit. It was too much to hope for that we would make it all that way without detection. Despite Sensei's attempts at distraction, it isn't long before we are spotted by the battling mutants on the other side of the room.
"Hey!" cries Rahzar suddenly. "The turtles are escaping!"
Before I know it, Rahzar, FishFace, and Tiger Claw are between us and the exit, though I can't help noticing that they are all sporting limps and various other injuries, courtesy of Master Splinter.
Before I can begin to think up a plan, Mikey suddenly drops Raph's legs and pulls a smoke bomb out of his belt. I open my mouth to stop him, but too late. He's already thrown a taunting look at our enemies and smashed the eggshell onto the concrete floor. We are instantly engulfed in billowing purple smoke which, under normal circumstances, is the ideal concealment for a hasty getaway.
These are not, however, normal circumstances. I try to make the most of it by sprinting backwards as fast as I can while dragging Raph along with me. With his vision obscured by the smoke, Mikey is fumbling to pick up Raph's legs again to help me carry him.
Our enemies are coughing and cursing in the smoke, but by the time we finally get Raph back into position and start moving at any kind of reasonable pace, the smoke is already clearing. We are revealed to our enemies mere feet away from our original position. My face is burning with embarrassment.
"Ya numskull!" Raph shouts at Mikey. "Smoke bombs only work when you can move fast!"