"What are you waiting for?" Harold's voice boomed through the room.
Honeycutt flinched inwardly, and placed his hands on Donatello's arm. That got a response from the wounded Turtle — his eyelids fluttered open, and he sleepily gazed upward at the robot's face, seemingly only barely aware of his surroundings. That wrenched Honeycutt's heart even more — the desire to make Donatello well again, whatever the cost.
Whatever the cost. But the cost was too high.
"There's no time to waste, Honeycutt! You have a new shell ready for him, he's no longer infected, and you've been wasting time all evening. Get on with it."
"I—I wish I could, Harold," Honeycutt said. "But the moral issues associated with it are… I simply cannot overcome them. It's much more complicated than simply undertaking this operation."
"How is it complicated?" Harold erupted. "It's perfectly simple! He needs to be healed, and you can do that."
Honeycutt turned away from Donatello, and towards the ooze-filled resting places of the Utroms. Pink, fleshy creatures asleep in little seas of green translucent liquid, their tentacles floating before them. He had connected flow-tubes to many of their tubes, ready to pump the precious ooze to Donatello at the flick of a switch. All he needed to do was activate it, and his friend would be well again. His internal injuries healed, his shell replaced… just as he had been before Rocksteady had crushed him.
And I can't do it, Honeycutt thought heavily. He placed his hand on Donatello's. Forgive me, my friend.
"I can fuse the artificial shell to Donatello's body," he said at last. "I may have enough ooze for that. But the ooze is necessary to heal his internal wounds, which are extensive and cripplingly severe… and removing it would risk permanent harm to the Utroms in stasis. It might kill some of them." The robot bowed his head. "I want to help him, Harold. More than anything. But I… I cannot harm innocents to do so. And I know Donatello would never forgive me if I did."
"Then perhaps I can offer you a third option," a deep voice rumbled from behind him. A massive shadow loomed over Honeycutt, from a hulking form silhouetted in the doorway. "But only if you will help me with my situation in return."
"This is totally insane," Mikey mumbled. He looked to Raph and Leo, both staring grimly at their opponents, and finally to his father's determined yet sad face.
They were standing at one side of a fighting arena, its high ceiling hung with Foot Clan banners like a constant reminder of where they were. The Foot ninja crowded the two levels above them, a sea of black-masked figures with the occasional Elite red mask, some cheering and waving their katanas to encourage the Foot warriors in their fight. Mikey just wished they would shut up and let the battle speak for itself.
Alopex and Angel were standing off to the side, beside Kitsune. For some reason, that made Mikey very uneasy, but he wasn't sure why.
And in front of them… oh boy. Shredder stood glaring at them with eyes as intense and unblinking as hot coals, as if he could defeat them through hate alone. And around him were his four champions — Rocksteady, Bebop, Koya and Bludgeon. The four worst options, as far as Mikey was concerned. Bludgeon was tough, and his spiky rows of teeth were pretty scary stuff. Koya was crazy, and she wanted to eat Leo.
And Rocksteady and Bebop… they were the worst, as far as Mikey was concerned. He had seen them fight, and they were nearly unstoppable juggernauts, able to shrug off devastating attacks that would have leveled any other mutant. Even a skilled ninja like Leo had been tossed around by then like a rag doll. The only way the Mutanimals and the Turtles together had managed to defeat them was by dropping a building on their heads… and that hadn't even stopped them, only slowed them down enough for everyone to get away.
And now he and his brothers had to fight them. It was like a nightmare, going up against the four strongest mutants they knew of besides Slash. Oh, what he wouldn't have given to have Slash on his side. The giant snapping turtle might actually turn the tide in this fight, or at least give someone a run for their money. But instead they had an empty space where Donnie usually stood, and the lingering thought of where their brother was now, and the question of what was happening to him.
"Totally insane," Mikey repeated. "Father, are we really supposed to kill each other?"
"Only Saki or myself must die today," Splinter said quietly. "For the rest, defeat will suffice."
"Like they'll let us live if they beat us," Raph muttered.
"Father… I can't do this. I can't kill someone — not even Oroku Saki," Mikey stammered.
His father's face softened slightly, and he placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "I know this, Michelangelo. But Saki will never stop hunting our family, never cease seeking revenge against us, unless something is done to stop him. When either he or I is gone, you will be free of him. I do not wish to die, my dear son, but I also do not wish to see you constantly threatened by him. We have nearly lost Donatello because of Saki, and I will not allow our family to suffer any more losses. When this is over, my beloved children will be free of Saki, one way or another."
Mikey wanted to cry. He knew it wasn't the time or place, but he suddenly felt so miserable, so trapped, that it took all his self-control to keep his eyes dry. He swallowed hard instead, and clutched at his nunchaku.
"I get dibs on the rhino," Raph muttered. "Nobody else gets to kill him but me. I'll crack his spine with that stupid hammer of his. See how he likes bein' paralyzed."
"Do not fight in a rage, Raphael," Splinter urged him. "It will make you careless."
Mikey's eyes slowly moved across the wall of giant mutants in front of him. He suddenly felt very small and very vulnerable beside them, even though he knew he was better trained than any of Shredder's mutants. Koya was fast and she could fly. Bludgeon had that tail and thick shark skin. Rocksteady and Bebop were just freakishly strong in every way.
Koya would want to fight Leo, since she hated him more than any of the rest of the Turtles, and she was probably still sore about losing that last fight. Raph had already called dibs on Rocksteady. Mikey's eyes moved from the grinning pig face of Bebop to the spiky-toothed snarl of Bludgeon. He had to fight at least one of them, but which one? And could he fight effectively when there was a fourth opponent just roaming around, able to gang up on any one of the Turtles he chose to? Maybe on all of them, one after the other?
"Clan Hamato," Karai's voice rang out like a gong. "You are permitted four champions to represent your clan in the Gauntlet, yet I see only three."
"Their fourth lies dead," Shredder said. He sounded pleased with himself. Smug.
A deep growl rose from Raph's chest, and his knuckles turned white under his green skin as he clenched his fists around his sai. For a moment, Mikey thought that he was going to lunge forward and attack Shredder, regardless of the Gauntlet's rules. Leo seemed to fear the same thing, because he flung his arm out across Raph's chest.
"Not now," he whispered. "If we win this round, we'll have a chance to punish him for it later."
Raph grimaced, but the possibility of being able to fight Shredder later on seemed to have reined him in. He hadn't loosened his grip on his sai, though.
"Clan Hamato," Karai called out again. "Is there another who will fight alongside you, or will you fight with only three?" Her fierce black eyes betrayed no hint about whether she liked the idea.
Splinter took a deep breath, and stepped forward to speak. But as he opened his mouth, another voice rose across the arena.
"I'll fight for them."