Chapter 35 ~Defeat~

"It was my fault." Luke fell to his knees beside his father, taking his hand.

Karen leaned forward, feeling carefully for a pulse. It was rapid, but steady under her fingers. "I found the thing all right. There was no sign of it at the cave…"

"Did you go in?" asked Karen.

"No." Luke shook his head. She could just make out his face in the pale light. "There was nothing there. It was dead silent, like a tomb. So I thought I'd ride by Mrs. Willard's house. You know, to make sure everything was ok. I was gonna come back to the house, but I thought I heard something, so I rode Blaze down into the woods. That… That thing… it came out of nowhere. It jumped at me, and Blaze threw me off. I heard it go crashing after him… so I… I yelled. I was afraid it'd catch him, Mom."

"Luke, that was insane," hissed Karen. Even as she spoke, she was checking John over for injuries. The left side of his chest moved under her fingers.

"I know, Mom," said Luke quietly. "But I couldn't let it get Blaze."

"What happened?"

"It came after me." Luke swallowed hard. "It just charged… It's so fast… I ran but it would've caught me. Michelangelo must've heard me yelling. He came running up and kicked it. He was amazing, Mom. He knocked it right over."

"But it got up again?"

"Yeah." Luke shuddered. "And it was mad. It rushed at Mikey, so I yelled some more and waved my arms, so it'd leave him alone. It ran at me again but Dad…" His breathing hitched. "Dad was there, Mom. He ran right in front of it and just stood there. It hit him… he went flying, Mom, and then Mikey attacked it again. I stayed with Dad. I... I was sure... I mean, the way that thing hit him... but he was breathing. Mike led it off a little way, then came back to us. He said we had to get Dad out of here, had to get him medical attention. Then we heard the others, and that's when you showed up."

"Michelangelo's right," said Karen. "Can you help me carry him?"

"I… I can try." Luke straightened his shoulders.

"Ok, we're going to do a carry called a chair," said Karen. "It's the only way we'll be able to manage him. Come here." She motioned, and Luke knelt on the other side of his father. He flinched as another barking roar rang out, and a loud crash shook the ground. Karen tried to tune out the Turtles' shouting and the noises of battle, focusing on the task at hand.

"Slide your hands under his back and knees, and grab my wrists," she instructed. Luke did as she said, taking a firm grip on her wrists. Karen wrapped her fingers around his wrists, startled to find them thicker, stronger than she'd expected. Luke had grown. When did that happen? And why didn't I notice? she wondered.

"On three, we'll lift him," she said. "One, two… three."

Luke grunted as they stood up, cradling John between them.

"Dad hasn't lost enough weight," he grumbled.

"This way," answered Karen.

They moved swiftly through the trees. The moon had risen, giving a clear but cold light, which cast long, menacing shadows. Luke was gasping for breath by the time Martha's house loomed out of the dark, but he didn't complain or slow down. They carried John carefully onto the porch, laying him down.

He moaned softly. "K… Karen?" His voice was barely a whisper.

"Shh, don't move, John. We're going to get you help."

"Luke…"

"I'm here Dad. I'm ok... Dad, I'm sorry…"

John coughed, convulsively curling up.

"Luke, you're going to have to help your dad," said Karen. "Listen, I know there's a window Martha leaves unlocked. Find it, climb in, and call Pete Darlee. He needs an ambulance, now."

Luke was off the porch, racing around the side of the house before Karen finished speaking. She smoothed a hand over John's forehead, feeling his skin damp beneath her hand. He quivered slightly.

"Guess… you were… right… Should've… listened," whispered John.

"Shh, don't talk," Karen soothed. "The ambulance will be here soon.

Martha's front door opened suddenly, startling Karen. Luke stood framed in the doorway. "Mom, I called Pete. I hung up before he could ask what was going on."

"Good job. When he comes, tell him John fell off Blaze. You were near here, so you came to Martha's to call for help," Karen instructed, getting to her feet.

"What about you?"

"I've got to help the Turtles," Karen answered firmly. "They might get hurt."

"Wait, Mom…"

"Luke, there's no time to argue…"

"No, there's something that might help. Mrs. Willard showed me." Luke turned, disappearing into the house for a moment. Karen heard a triumphant cry before his thudding footsteps returned.

"Here. It was James'," said Luke, thrusting a heavy pistol into her hands. It was a fully automatic, matte black gun. "She kept it in a box in his old room. There're bullets in the clip. Unlatch the safety." He pointed.

"Ok. Thanks, Luke."

"Be careful, Mom," said Luke seriously, before kneeling beside his father. "It's gonna be ok, Dad. Mr. Darlee will be here soon with the ambulance."

Karen paused for an instant, shaken at how mature her son sounded.

"I love you guys," she said, before turning and racing back toward the woods, where the sounds of battle still raged.

Green eyes glowed out of the dark as Karen breached the brush once more, rushing into the clearing. She pointed the pistol toward them, but froze. Not two, but five eyes glared at her, in a close-packed cluster, glowing eerily in the dim light. She could just make out the shape of the thing. It was huge, standing easily eight feet tall. It had wide shoulders with what looked like spikes protruding from either side. It lifted a limb and Karen saw a oddly shaped claw at the end of its arm. There was a cry and a darker shadow shifted, flying at the creature and crashing into its shoulder. It staggered back a step, a low moan of rage escaping it, and swung clumsily at its assailant. The Turtle bounded out of the way before the creature could orient on his position.

Karen lifted the pistol, aware that her hand was shaking abominably. She lined up her aim in the center of the glowing eyes, but a flash of movement made her pull up abruptly. She sighed in frustration. She couldn't take the shot with the Turtles darting in and out like pinballs. She'd risk hitting one of them. She moved carefully around the edge of the clearing, staying close to the trees and searching for a clear shot. She would've run into Donatello if he hadn't reached out and caught her arm.

"Don! You scared me half to death," she scolded as soon as she could breathe again.

"Sorry."

His voice was low, pained.

"You're hurt?" Karen reached out, grasping the young terrapin's shoulder.

"A little." She could hear the smile in his voice. "We're hitting it in relays now. It's getting tired."

"So are you." Karen reached out to touch his hand. It was ice-cold. "You can't be out in these temperatures."

"Well the cold is working for us, too," insisted Don. "It's slowing the thing down. It can't keep this up much longer."

There was a cry and something flew through the air, landing about six feet to Karen's left. She rushed forward, recognizing the groan.

"Mikey!"

Donatello was at her side in an instant, reaching for his brother as if he couldn't feel the cold at all.

"Dude, uncool," grumbled Michelangelo, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Donny, we've gotta find a way to stop this thing."

"I know, Mikey. If we could get it wet somehow…"

"The nearest pond is a mile through the woods, across the road and into McGellon's property," mused Karen.

"Wait… Karen, how far away is the road?" asked Donatello.

"Not far," she answered, pointing. "Up there, through the trees. It's just a dirt track, really…"

"Are there power lines alongside it?"

"I… think so. Yes, there are. The lines run along the lane to Martha's and down the road to the other farm…"

"Perfect. Mike, we've got to get that thing to the road. I've got an idea."

Karen peered through the dark at the Turtle. She could just make out the glint of moonlight off the purple mask.

"You got it, Dude."

Michelangelo was on his feet and racing back toward the clearing before Karen could blink.

"Come on, ya big spider-ape thing," taunted Mikey. "Come on, over here. Donny wants it to come this way, Dudes!"

"You got it, Mikey."

"This way, Master Splinter, drive it this way…"

"I am trying, my son…"

The answering calls let Karen know the others were still fighting. She let out a sigh, releasing the tension she hadn't realized was building in her chest.

They're ok. They're all going to be ok.

"Come on, Karen. I've got to figure out how to get the power lines down to road level," said Donatello, taking her arm. "Can you help me? I've… kind of sprained my ankle."

"Sure, Don, lean on me."

The pair made the slow, painful way toward the road. Donatello was obviously trying not to lean too heavily against Karen. Finally she wrapped her arm around his shell at waist-level, forcing him to allow her to support more of his weight. The shy Turtle shifted, as if he'd pull away, but then moved forward with a faint sigh.

They reached the road, where the moonlight wasn't filtered by trees. Crashing sounds told them that the creature was making its way toward them at an alarming rate.

"There." Donatello pointed. The telephone pole stood majestic in the moonlight, the power lines showing as faintly blacker stripes against the dark sky. "I have to figure out how to get up there and get one of those power lines down," he said, sounding a little desperate. Don pulled away from Karen and edged toward the pole.

"Oh no you don't!" she cried, grabbing his arm. "You are not shimmying up a telephone pole with a broken ankle, Donatello!"

"What? It's just a sprain, Karen…"

"Nice try, but if it was just a sprain you'd be fighting with your brothers," she told him grimly. "Besides, I've got another way."

Taking the pistol out of her waistband, she unlatched the safety and took aim. The creature was close now, close enough for Karen to hear it's almost-human moans of anger and distress. Karen concentrated, holding the pistol steady as her father'd taught her.

Bang!

There was a shower of sparks and a thwap as the power line, freed from the pole, fell to the ground. More sparks flew, illuminating Donatello as he somersaulted forward, reaching with his staff to lift the deadly, writhing snake-like line and throw it at the oncoming hulk of the monster.

The thing reared up. Karen saw in the flickering illumination cast by the sparks that it had four legs. One arm ended in the strange claw-like appendage, the other in a weird, elongated sort of hand. It reached out with both arms, catching the wire as if it were a lifeline. There was a buzzing as if a thousand angry hornets were attacking at once, and the creature let out one long wailing screech. The smell of burning hair filled the air and it fell back, landing with an almighty crash, shaking the ground. It twitched once, and was still.

A/N: Ok, if you haven't guessed from the description in this chapter, I'll let you in on the secret. The monster is from Season 3. It appeared in the episode "Dragon's Brew". Its name, if it can be called that is T9584... It was a genetic experiment by Bishop, stolen and set loose by Hun and the Purple Dragons. Leo and Casey fight the thing unsuccessfully, and it's unclear in the end whether the thing survives or not. It's a very sad story, as the creature has memories of when it was human, when Bishop stood up with him at his wedding, and of his wife and child.

I am sad that the cartoonists didn't see fit to follow up the story with an additional episode featuring the creature's fate. It really spotlighted for me how depraved Bishop really is, the lengths he's willing to go to, because he's one of the most dangerous types of villains- the kind that thinks he's right and is willing to pursue his vision to the detriment of anyone or anything that stands in his way.