Author's note: A big shout out to all you who have reviewed the last chapter, I was blown away by your support. Thank you so much to Miraculous Pink Ninja, mythicalpalkia, 000Marie198, Beakers47, Only Hope No Fear, SecretKata, Leonardo Hamato 1 and NinjaWold10. Thank you all so much, now on with the story.
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Chapter 24
1056 Hours
Splinter P.O.V
After many hours of recon missions and planning, Splinter had finally decided they could not wait any longer to rescue his sons. The team had now learnt the floor plans to the building and were all familiar with the air ventilation systems which ran through the various floors of the office block.
According to the drawings Rockwell had found, the building had been built for an animal testing company before regulations had been tightened yet once the building had been completed, the company itself had gone bust. Some anonymous benefactor had stepped in and purchased the building for a much lower price for use as a training centre for those who have been let go from previous jobs.
The only thing it forgot to mention was that the unemployed people were all from street gangs or corrupt ninja clans.
It made Splinter furious to see how easily this man had acquired the means to capture his sons, yet he also could not help but marvel at how easily he had fooled those around him. He had created the perfect smoke screen for his army, just like a true shinobi.
At this moment, Splinter was with April, Casey, Karai and Slash. Their goal was simple. They would sneak in through the vents in the roof while the others created a distraction in the lower floors and would search for both the turtles and the human actors and their families to free all that this man had imprisoned. The distraction was led by Leatherhead along with the other Mutanimals. The Shellraiser, the Party Wagon and the Mutanimals's truck were all parked nearby ready for a hasty retreat.
Once his sons were discovered, Splinter had ordered that Rockwell, Leatherhead, April and himself would retreat first while the others finished the fight, yet because they still could not foresee how the rescue would go, this part of the plan was rather loosely constructed.
A small beep on the communication device they all wore pulled Splinter from his musings.
"We are ready Splinter." Rockwell's voice came through the device and the ninja master gave the order to move. It was time, they were rescuing his sons.
The stealth team silently moved onto the building's roof and Slash made quick work of the cover of the vent, and one by one the team slipped inside the metal tunnels, led by Splinter.
According to the plans, the fourteenth floor had been made sound proof, due to this originally being the intended place where animals would be kept, so this was where Splinter had seen it best to start his search for his sons. Rockwell also found evidence of heightened electrical activity on the floor above, so this was a good bet for where the actors could be. Since the vents stopped on the sixteenth floor, the team would need to make their way down these two floors by scaling the elevator shaft.
Splinter held up a fist, halting the team as he peered through the grid before him. They had reached the end of this ventilation system. Scanning the corridor below, Splinter concluded that all was clear and waited for the signal form Rockwell. There was a series of light beeps before the building shook slightly. The Mutanimals had made their entrance below. Splinter kicked the cover off, sending it crashing to the ground in perfect sync with the explosion on the ground floor and the team was on the move again.
The hallways seemed eerily quiet, and be that from the sound proofing or something a lot more sinister, it made the rat's heart clench in fear. Everywhere was cold white walls and doors making the environment disorientating and sterile. It was like a lab. His sons shouldn't have been trapped in such a place.
Once down the elevator, the team began to listen at doors and mark each one which seemed to contain someone. They didn't release anyone at first because of two reasons, they didn't want to reveal their existence to too many people and they couldn't have all the prisoners running amok while they were in the middle of infiltrating an enemy base.
At one door April paused and held her head.
"There's various people here. Possibly six?" She whispered and Splinter nodded. Daniel had said there had been eight of them in the control room and as worrying as it was that the number had dropped since they saw him, it confirmed his story and meant they were in the right area. They picked the lock and entered the room.
Six heads spun to face the team and every expression showed a mixture of fear and disbelief. Some also looked guilty, and as the rat scanned the room for their ally he began to fear the reasons behind such feelings.
"Where is Daniel?" He spoke up, cutting through the silence. One man spoke up in trembling tones.
"The Master wanted to… talk… with him… He said he had contacted you and we didn't believe him… He has our families…" Splinter raised a paw, silencing the confession.
"There is no time for regrets." He stated, despite his own feelings, "Down the hallway are rooms with marked doors. We believe these to hold your families." The actors faces morphed into various expressions of shock and regret at the news their loved ones had been so close to them. "Get them out, Karai here will help you pick the lock," he nodded to his daughter. "Then go upstairs. There is no one there and we shall send someone to collect you once we have released everyone."
In a daze the men filed past, their bowed heads and heavily ringed eyes showing the stress they had all been under. Not one was innocent, yet none were truly guilty. They had been manipulated by a terrible man and all had suffered. They would have to live with their actions for the rest of their lives. Splinter pitied them.
Leaving Karai to assist them, the team moved down to the next floor in the hope of finding his sons. As they began to move down the corridor, checking the doors, Splinter saw one which made him freeze. Unlike all others, this door was painted blue, true, it was possible that it was mere coincidence, yet Splinter felt it was a place to start.
He kicked open the door and immediately jumped into action. Inside was a man pointing a gun at no other than Daniel. Splinter let out a cry and tackled the man bearing the weapon so the gun fired into the floor mere inches from Dan's foot. The actor let out a cry of surprise, but Splinter was focused on the battle he was currently engaged in.
The man was skilled, he did not seem too badly shaken by the rat's sudden entrance, and as soon as the mutant looked into the cold dark eyes of his opponent he knew this was the feared Master he had been told of.
"What have you done with my sons?" He roared as he lunged at the man, raining down blows which were skilfully avoided.
"Your sons? You mean my pets." The man smiled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handful of dust. Splinter knew this trick, having used it himself many times in combat, and closed his eyes, pricking up his ears to continue the fight blindly but as the powder drifted towards him he only heard the sounds of retreating footsteps. Cautiously he brushed his face removing all traces of the harmful powder from his fur and finally opened his eyes once he was sure he was no longer at risk.
The man had fled.
Splinter turned to Dan who was now hunched down on the floor trembling violently, rubbing his eyes as the stray partials of dust blurred his gaze. The rat placed a soothing hand on his back making the man jump.
"You're here… Oh thank gods…" He breathed, placing a shaking hand upon his heart as his bleary eyes finally opened. "I thought… I was going to… You… You…" His gaze cleared and he looked up in admiration at Splinter. "You save me…" The rat nodded and helped the man stand.
"We cannot focus on that. We need to find my sons." Dan's gaze hardened.
"And the actors and our families." Splinter nodded.
"We've sent them upstairs to safety to wait until we send someone – you – to lead them out and to the authorities."
"But I need to help you." The man's loyalty made the rat smile, but he merely shook his head.
"You have done so much for us already. Get yourself and the others to the police so they can begin to try and catch this Master – which I doubt will be easy – and we shall contact you once we are all back at our base."
For a moment, Splinter was sure Dan would argue, but he bowed and whispered,
"Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita. Watashinojinsei wa anata no monodesu." Thank you very much. My life is yours.
Splinter returned the bow and watched Dan hurry out of the room and head upstairs. The ninja master was just contemplating what a strong willed man their new ally was when April's distressed cry caught his attention. In a moment he was by her side at a door the other end of the corridor.
"Splinter… I think… They're…" Her face was screwed up in pain suggesting strong signals were emanating through the door and the rat braced himself. He picked the lock and opened the door.
"Īe…" He breathed, knowing that for as long as he lived, the sight before him would forever be seared into his brain.
Beside him he heard April let out a low moan as she sensed the turtles' pain while Slash swore, his voice heavy with rage.
Splinter didn't pay them any attention.
In a small, bare room – no, cell – lay his sons. The first thing which hit him was how different his children looked. All bore deep wounds and their ribs were visible through their plastrons – clearly they had received little of nutrients these past weeks. Of the four, three lay slumped in chains, heavy manacles circling their wrists and ankles, holding them to separate walls while metal glinted around their necks. With a jolt the infuriated father realised what these were. Collars. That yarou had collared his sons. The rat was seething with rage, yet he managed to keep his anger in check knowing it would not help his children. He turned to his fourth child – also collared, yet free of any chains, and Splinter's breath hitched.
His son lay face down in a pool of blood just inside the door, a strong stench of burnt flesh and blood emanated from the still form and the rat dropped to his knees beside his fallen child. Tenderly his shaking paw cupped his poor son's face and was appalled at how cold the skin felt, yet as he pressed two fingers to the side of the turtle's neck just under the collar he found the faint traces of a heartbeat. He was alive.
Splinter quickly rushed to his other children to check they were all still alive, starting with Michelangelo. The youngest's head was bowed and when Splinter pressed a hand to his neck to check his pulse, he was shocked by his son raising his head slightly before dropping back down again, tearing his gaze from Splinter's own. He was conscious. Splinter was about to check his son was alright when he noticed the flash of fear and shame in Michelangelo's pale blue eyes. His heart clenched.
"My son, look at me…" He breathed, and grudgingly his child obeyed. "Oh my son…" The rat tenderly touched the poor turtle's face, careful not to touch what he imagined to be tender skin of his lips where that monster had sewn his lips shut. Michelangelo whimpered and Splinter placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to ignore the way his son jumped and shivered at the touch. "You are safe. We are taking you all home…" Reassurances felt meaningless against the magnitude of suffering the rat could clearly see, yet he felt as though he had to say something, no matter how late it seemed. Turning he met his allies eyes and inclined his head. "Help me release them." He murmured. They shook aside their shock and moved into the cell. At this stage Karai returned and she too stood frozen in the doorway, overcome by the sight before her. Seeing her father's pleading look she took a breath and knelt down beside the rat, taking over from him with Mikey and began to carefully remove his bindings.
Splinter moved over to Raphael next, joining the kneeling figure of Slash.
"He's unconscious." The larger turtle muttered darkly, "But alive." Splinter took note of the jagged stab wound to his son's plastron before taking in Raphael's face. A muzzle was strapped across his beak, the red straps digging into his flesh. With a growl the master ninja ripped the cruel item from his son's face and tossed it to the other side of the room. How dare this man treat his sons so…
Slash placed a hand upon the seething rat's shoulder telling him silently that he would take care of the turtle. Nodding, Splinter moved to the final turtle. Bending down he checked for a pulse and was pleased to find one beating steadily albeit much weaker than he would have liked, yet it still signalled the turtle was alive. That was all that mattered.
Carefully he cut the chains from his son, ignoring the burns covering his child's body, yet as he gently moved the turtle forward he heard a moan. His son was still unconscious, yet clearly in pain. The rat frowned as he inspected the turtle for what could cause such extreme pain. Then he found it.
His son's carapace was covered in deep welts, crusted in blood and weeping. But to make matters worse the wounds looked old, the gashes now clearly infected. He checked Donatello's temperature which confirmed his analysis. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden gasp from April who had been crouched next to Leonardo near the entrance, her eyes wide in horror.
Splinter was by her side in a second.
"April, what is it?" But he found he had wasted his breath. Where she had turned the turtle over to remove the collar from around his neck, she had revealed his plastron and the sheer amount of blood on the floor finally made sense.
"April," Splinter's voice was barely keeping level, "Please help out Donatello." With a shaky nod, the young woman moved across the cell to help the other turtle leaving Splinter with the horrendous sight before him.
Leonardo's plastron had been melted, a grid pattern burnt straight into the protective plates, the wounds deep and agonising. Blood covered his front and from the way his chest barely moved, Splinter had no doubt that his son was suffering greatly from possible internal injuries as well. Each shallow breath was far too weak for Splinter's liking and he placed a paw upon his son's face only to withdraw instantly as his son trembled. It also seemed as though he was too cold – the almost grey tone of his skin a possible sign of hypothermia.
He snapped back from his silent cries of anguish and busied himself with releasing his son from his bindings, noticing as he did so that the leader's shoulders were horrendously dislocated and that there was a collection of other injuries including stab wounds to the turtle's hands which pierced straight through the palm and out the back of the hand. Dear god… What pain had his son been in…?
Doing his best to remain calm, Splinter checked on his team, each one supporting a wounded turtle, ready to make their escape. The rat took a breath and opened the com link to Rockwell.
"We have them." He broadcasted. "The humans are heading out now, Rockwell, meet us at the Shellraiser." He looked at the multitude of injuries before him, every tiny cut and bruise to the violent stab wounds and infected areas a stab to his heart. "It's serious. We don't have much time."
There was a small pause before the mutant chimp replied.
"Roger that, Splinter. I'll meet you there. Casey is coming with me to drive." The rat cut the signal and turned to the group.
"Let us get out of this hell."
+0000 Hours
As soon as the group entered the Shellraiser, the battered bodies of his sons laid upon the blankets laid out in preparation for the rescue, the vehicle sped off towards the Mutanimals's lair. As Casey drove, Splinter, April and Rockwell attended to the turtles as best as they could, bandaging the worst wounds and splinting broken bones. As soon as Splinter had set Michelangelo down, the youngest turtle had slipped back into unconsciousness, his malnourished body giving up the fight to stay awake.
The tired rat shook his head at the sight of his wounded sons, horrified by what they must have undergone the past weeks, guilt heavy in his heart at the thought that they had been alone for so long. The injuries littered all over their bodies indicated horrific tortures and the work of a cruel being. The melted grid pattern on Leonardo's plastron, the deep bruising of Raphael's beak from the muzzle, the infected carapace of Donatello and the stitches sealing Michelangelo's lips shut.
"Can we do anything?" April whispered, following Splinter's gaze to the youngest's face, but much to his dismay the rat knew he should wait to help them.
"No. We will help them once we get them cleaned up and can work on their wounds in sterile conditions. We cannot risk causing further infection or injury." As if to prove his point, the vehicle went over a large pothole and the impact made those standing quickly reach out to hold onto something, however there was another, more shocking effect.
There was a weak gasp, and Splinter watched as the eldest's turtle's eyes snapped open for a brief second before rolling back into his head, his mouth open in a silent scream as a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. Then he fell still once again, sending Splinter dropping to his knees next to his son.
He pressed his fingers against his eldest son's neck and froze momentarily before beginning chest compressions. Behind him he heard Rockwell shout for a defibrillator and Casey yell to find out about what was happening, but Splinter's concentration was total.
"Īe. Īe. Kokyū, watashi no musuko, kokyū. Onegaishimasu. Akiramenaide kudasai. Ima wa yamero. Tatakai." He breathed as he pushed down on the plastron plates. No. No. Breathe, my son, breathe. Please. Do not give up. Not now. Fight.
"Splinter!" Rockwell called as he pressed the paddles of the defibrillator together. The rat pulled back as the chimp yelled "CLEAR." Pressing the paddles to the turtle's chest, Splinter checked for a pulse.
Nothing.
"CLEAR."
Another shock.
Nothing.
"CLEAR."
"Tatakai." He was begging now as he watched the desperate attempts to save his son, unable to do anything other than check for a pulse he feared would never again beat. "Tatakai… Onegaishimasu…" Fight… Please…
Then at last he felt it.
A pulse.
Weak.
Faint.
Barely there.
But a pulse all the same.
He sank back in relief.
Leonardo was still hanging in there.
There was still a chance.
He swapped a thankful glance with Rockwell just as the Shellraiser began to slow.
"We're here." Casey's voice sounded strained, yet the words were the most welcoming that Splinter had heard that day. He nodded.
"We must tend to Leonardo and Raphael first." He spoke to the entire team. "Their injuries are the most life threatening and time critical. Leonardo's internal injuries and Raphael's stab wound are our priorities. Rockwell and myself will take care of Leonardo while April and Casey will tend to Raphael. Slash, could you begin to prepare Michelangelo and Donatello. Clear their wounds as best as you can and ready IV lines, blood and morphine. Leatherhead will be here soon to assist you." He stooped down and lifted the barely breathing leader up bridal style in his arms and left the Shellraiser, moving through the Mutanimals's lair towards the infirmary they had prepared.
Time was not on their side.
If they didn't hurry they would lose his sons forever.
+0024 Hours
April P.O.V
It had been a frantic day, one of suppressed anger, regret, but most of all, of horror and desperation.
The moment they had set foot in the infirmary they began their various jobs, working on the severely wounded turtles. First they had to wash the layers of grime and blood from their pale skin, revealing the vast multitude of wounds beneath. April had been helped by Casey as they cleaned off Raph and several times Casey had to take a step away to slam a fist into a wall or curse, his anger completely justified yet of little help in the grand scheme of things.
As she worked removing fragments of plastron from the stab wound to his abdomen, April couldn't help but fret over the other turtles. Raph was lucky in the sense that his major wounds were localised with – thankfully – no internal damage, yet from the other side of the room she could hear Splinter and Rockwell fret over the too still form of Leonardo, the occasional curses in Japanese and calls to step back indicating his heart had given out again.
It was painful to hear, knowing she could not help them unless she wanted to abandon Raph.
So she worked on, ignoring the hopeless sounds behind her and focusing on rinsing, clearing and patching the wound before her. Because of it being his plastron which had been impaled, April realised she could not stitch it up, so after a hurried exchange with Slash, she found the best course of action to be forming an artificial patch over the area using a thin sheet of plastic and medical gaze. It was crude, yet effective. It would hold out the dirt and offer protection for the raw flesh beneath.
Then she had to work on the other injuries.
Raph's kneecap was clearly shattered, the joint swollen and out of line, so the young woman was forced to re-set the bone with a sickening grinding sound emerging from the bones and strap it up as best as she could. Casey suggested using some metal parts to form a more manoeuvrable brace, but as April pointed out sadly, the turtle would not be in any state to start moving about for a while so it was more important to reset the bone now. Everything else would come later.
At last they turned to the smaller injuries – all of which seemed at some stage of infection – and that was the moment April finally crumbled, tears escaping unchecked.
"Red?" Casey asked, concerned, yet the woman could only point at the two brands she had uncovered upon Raph's still form.
Casey cursed.
Upon his neck was a brand of a muzzle, the flesh swollen and raised, revealing an image that would never fade, while on his plastron, melted into the top of his plates was a single word:
Beast.
"When we found him…" April's voice was faint revealing her reluctance to share the memory, "They had forced a muzzle on him… What's happened to them, Casey?" She stood trembling, barely aware of the arm placed around her shoulders, "Who would do something this cruel?"
"I don't know, Red." Casey muttered, "Some sicko. But we got 'em back. That's what we have to remember." Grudgingly she agreed, dried her tears and got back to work. The burn marks around his wrists and ankles were cleaned, the angry blisters covered in soothing gel and wrapped with care, while the brands were given a similar treatment in vain, knowing the heat used to burn such harsh things had sealed the wounds.
Once Raph had been stabilised with a packet of blood hooked up to his system and nutrients and morphine attached to his IV line, the two humans moved to Splinter to see if they needed help with Leonardo before they started on the younger two turtles.
April could now see that Leo too had a brand upon his neck, his showing a broken katana, while the injuries on his face were hidden by an oxygen mask. One eye was swollen and his shoulders had been reset and wrapped tightly. The wounds to his hands had been cleaned and wrapped and the stab wound to his shoulder had been stitched. Various other injuries had been bandaged or stitched and Splinter was now placing a heat blanket over his son.
"Leonardo is stable now." He reported, "We just need to monitor his temperature."
April nodded and filled their sensei in on Raph's injuries. The rat shook his head in disgust at the reports of the branding, his dark eyes full of pain.
"Thank you. But we cannot pause yet. We must tend to Donatello and Michelangelo."
The group nodded and moved over to Michelangelo first, the black thread holding his lips shut standing out against his pale skin.
They watched as Splinter tenderly strokes his son's face before using a scalpel to carefully cut the thread, removing it as he whispered soothing words to the unconscious turtle. He then moved to his son's damaged hands and reset the fingers as Rockwell followed, splinting the fingers and wrapping each hand with care. Once this was done Splinter asked them to turn Mikey over so they could get to his carapace and to April's horror, it soon became clear that this man had cut away part of the turtle's shell. Two of the outer plates of the shell had been torn away, as had the main scute below.
"My god…" April breathed, yet Splinter carried on, his emotions in check. He cleaned the wound with strong smelling antiseptic, making the unconscious turtle buck in pain despite the sedative drugs in his system. Splinter then removed the jagged edges of the shell and covered the wound in thin plastic just as April and Casey had done with Raph. At last he gave the order to lay Mikey back down on his back and they moved to Donnie.
The horrific burns on his hands and feet were being cleansed and wrapped when April gestured for them to stop. She looked at the brand upon Donnie's neck and froze. It was a complex equation of some sort – well, at least complicated for most, ending with an equals sign, a question mark and a " symbol.
She made a quick calculation and froze.
The answer was 12.
Add the symbol: 12"
12" – 12 inches – also was 1 foot.
"Look at his feet." She whispered, praying she was wrong, yet when Splinter's eyes widened with recognition she knew she had been right.
Moving around, she took in the burns at the soles of her friend's feet and saw the harsh, raised lines there. To most, the pattern of lines was meaningless, yet the past week they had been made to learn the plans of the building by heart. These lines were a map, crude but simple.
It was a diagram of the building's ventilation system.
They had burnt a map to escape on Donnie's feet, and he couldn't have known.
The equation on his neck – something only he could understand – could be seen by everyone else other than him. A map was on his feet, but from inside the building they couldn't understand it. It was the ultimate tease. An escape route clear to read, only if they knew how…
Cursing in Japanese, Splinter shook his head.
"We cannot dwell on the past." He muttered, and covered the burns as if to emphasise his point.
Once the burns were hidden and the snapped ankle re-set, they helped turn the turtle over to reveal the extent of the injuries upon his carapace.
"Now the challenge begins." Splinter whispered as he took a scalpel in a steady paw. "Because of the extent of decay which has occurred, I'm going to have to remove sections of the shell." He explained as he saw April's horrified expression. "If I don't do this, it will cause shell rot which is much more serious."
Carefully he began to cut away the dead areas of shell while April cleaned the wounds after he had finished and patched them up with plastic and gaze, creating a morbid patchwork effect.
At last all the turtles had been patched up.
Now they could only wait for them to awaken and see what other damage had been done.
The physical wounds could now begin to heal, but as she closed her eyes, April knew that the mental scars would take much longer to heal. The journey was only just beginning.
+0048 Hours
Splinter P.O.V
Since his sons had been tended to, Splinter had not left their sides, refusing rest until he knew they had all awoken. Due to the drugs in their systems, Splinter doubted they would be awake in an instant, however he was proven wrong when he heard a light groan form his eldest son. In an instant he was by his side, but as he placed a hand upon his son's shoulder, Leonardo flinched, his unfocused eyes snapping open as he whispered,
"Please… Master… No…"
The pure fear in the words broke Splinter's heart and he whispered calming words and apologies.
"You're safe now, my son. You are home. I am sorry we did not get to you sooner… Please… Be strong…"
The blue eyes – once so bright and full of strength – now hovered weakly over the rat's face, taking in his features yet revealing nothing but guilt and fear.
"You're brothers are safe. You're all home." Splinter reassured, guessing that – like usual – the eldest turtle was searching for his brothers, but to his surprise Leonardo didn't seem relieved. He seemed almost detached from the concept of love and loyalty he usually showed. His lips moved and Splinter had to lean closer to catch the words.
"No… Brothers… All… Broken…" The turtle breathed, his pale eyes drifting shut once more.
"Leonardo…?" Splinter asked, concerned at what his son had meant, yet the leader just shook his head weakly.
"Not… Leo… Only… Blue…" He whispered before dropping back into unconsciousness.
Splinter felt something inside him snap then.
He wanted to tell himself that it was merely the drugs or the shock of the situation revealing themselves in delusions, however deep in his soul he knew such wishes were in vain. Leonardo did not seem unaware of what was happening, and the ninja master knew that this man who had claimed Splinter's sons as his pets had done serious damage to more than just the brothers' bodies.
He had damaged their minds and spirits.
This Master had done his worst, and Splinter only prayed he would be able to help them pick up the pieces of their shattered psyches.
Alone, he bent his head over his poor son and finally allowed the tears to fall.
If only he had got to them sooner…
If only…
Oh dear. This isn't going to be a quick fix is it?! No instant happy endings here! Next chap up soon. :)
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LL99 Out.