A/N: Hannah, thank you for your kind review!
Leo fan, thank you for your nice words! I found it very cute that you forgot to write in English :D
Taking his half-empty cup of tea to the sink, Leonardo had excused himself and left the kitchen. He'd felt his brother's questioning glances as he walked away, but he hadn't been able to turn back. He had to get away from the room, from the conversation, from the possibility that the demon was still taking him apart.
Only he couldn't get away. And he couldn't let fear or despair creep into his mind – he had to be level-headed about this. He had to test it out. Had to see if it was for real, if the price for using the demon's power was really that high, if this was really destroying him. But if he used the power again, even just to test it, he risked losing more of himself. But if he stopped using it, then...
Leonardo stood in the dojo, his swords in his hands. He hadn't cut his hands, not yet, so the weapons were heavy. He had relied on the power for a while now, so the blades felt even heavier than before he'd started using it. And now his hands didn't just have the cuts in his palms, but the wounds he'd made recently in order to use the demon's power. He'd mostly cut his wrists, because the wounds wouldn't interfere with holding his swords and were easy to hide, but there had been times when he'd been in a hurry to wield them, forced to cut hastily on his palms or fingers.
Holding the swords hurt just as badly as before, if not worse. He'd barely noticed the new cuts he'd made, or how many there already were, but now as the hilts of his swords pressed against them he truly felt the sting.
He attacked the practice dummy, but as soon as his swords came in contact with it, the hurt in his hands forced him to drop them. Nothing had changed, he was still useless without the power. Leonardo looked down at his hands. The bandages on his left hand had come loose, and he tugged them away. He'd used the sword only for a moment, but the sensitive skin had already been rubbed raw, some cuts had been opened, and they bled already.
Only he couldn't bleed, or he'd give away parts of himself. His memories, possibly emotions too. Leonardo gritted his teeth- he should've known not to do this, he should've known using the power wouldn't be so easy. But instead of using common sense he'd done something extremely stupid. How could he ever have thought that anything good could come out of cutting yourself, giving blood in exchange of power? He'd just been begging for trouble, and now he had it. He'd prolonged his recovery even more by making new cuts, and damaged his mind in a way he hadn't thought would even be possible. He felt stupid. So, so stupid.
And frustrated that after being gone for so long, the demon was still hurting him. All because of his own choices. The demon had known his hands were injured, had it been in his head for so long that it had known Leonardo would do something as desperate as this in order to use his hands? Had it known he'd rely on it's power? No, there was no way it could have planned so far ahead. There was no way that this had been the demon's intention, yet at this rate Leonardo was doing exactly what it had wanted him to do. To destroy himself.
He didn't use the power for the reasons the demon had. He didn't do this for power, he'd used it to stop being so useless, hating the helplessness he'd felt for so long. He'd used it in order to be able to fight, in order to protect. Why was the price for that always so high?
Leonardo bent down to pick up the dropped swords, but hesitated to touch them when there was blood on his hands. But… what good were memories if he couldn't fight? What use were they if holding onto them meant that he couldn't be there for his family? The Foot would be looking for them, and the ambush had already been a close call, even though they had managed to get away mostly unharmed. Now they definitely needed to go topside as a team so that they could watch each other's backs.
Only he couldn't do that, not unless he used the power, and what if using it made him forget something really important? Using the power was breaking him, just like the demon was, only this time he had been allowing it,even encouraging it. The headaches should've been the first warning sign, no, the whole blood-letting should've been. No, the mere mention of the demon should've been it. But instead of berating himself for his choices, he should focus on fixing this.
But what could he do? He'd already seen that he couldn't rush the recovery of his hands. Was his only option really to let his brothers go topside while he stayed here, patiently waiting to heal? It wasn't like his brothers couldn't fight without him. But… the Foot ambush had shown him how quickly things could change. One of them had been hit, and it hadn't been anything life threatening, yet they'd immediately been at a disadvantage. Four turtles against a whole army of ninja simply wasn't ever a very fair setting. And to lower their odds even more by making four into three...
The best option would be for all of them to stay at the lair until he could wield his swords again, but he'd already seen that his brothers wouldn't stay. His only option was to tell them what was really going on; that way they'd surely understand why they needed to lay low for a bit longer. Still, the thought of telling his brothers about this made him frown. He knew his brothers would take the situation seriously, but if he went back there and started telling them about his memories and emotions suddenly going missing... they'd think he was losing it. Maybe he was. He couldn't fear their reactions anymore – if telling them was what was needed to keep them at the lair, to keep them safe, then it wouldn't matter what they thought of his mental state.
Besides, they'd seen what the demon could do, how it affected the mind. Maybe what was happening to him wouldn't sound so strange to them. And… he was tired of keeping secrets. He was tired of this, of being forced to cut himself, having to constantly make sure his family didn't see what he'd done to himself. He didn't like it when his family kept things from him, and he didn't like keeping things from them.
Having made up his mind he went to get the medkit so that he could stop the bleeding before picking up his swords. As he wrapped his hands he heard someone nearing the dojo. The cuts were hidden under white linen just as the doors opened.
"Hey Leo! Casey's here, and he says he's got some info about something the Purple Dragons are planning," Mikey announced quickly before disappearing back towards the living area of the lair. Now that the doors were open he could hear voices, mostly Raph and Casey, for they tended to get loud. Especially when they hadn't seen each other in a while. Well, Raph had visited the vigilante just the other day, but he was sure they still had a lot of catching up to do.
Briefly he berated himself for falling so deep into his thoughts that he hadn't heard the entrance of the lair opening. Then it sunk in what Mikey had said, and he felt the hope of keeping his brothers in the lair quickly fading. He collected his swords quickly and followed after the youngest.
In the living area Casey had made himself comfortable on one of their couches, and the family sat around him. Raph and Mikey on the couch next to him, Don in a chair nearby, Master Splinter in his recliner.
"-yeah, I was just riding around with my bike when I spotted them," Casey was saying before he noticed the leader. "Oh hey, Leo! Been a while, how are you, man?"
It really had been a while since Leo had seen him. He knew Casey and April had visited when he and his brothers had still been recovering from the demon's attack, but he had still been in the sick bay, and their human friend hadn't been allowed to visit him when he'd still been so weak. He knew his brothers had told both April and Casey about the demon, leaving out some details, but they knew that the ordeal had been tough for the whole family.
"I'm fine," Leonardo answered shortly, sitting down next to Michelangelo. He noticed Casey glancing down at his bandaged hands. "How about you?"
"I'm good, but it's been restless up there," Casey said, lifting his gaze back up as he threw his hands behind his head and leaned back on the couch. He was wearing his usual red T-shirt, so some bruises on his arms were clearly visible. There was also a cut on his face, just over his left cheekbone. It had already started to heal, but it looked like it would leave a faint scar. "I've been busy getting involved in smaller things, but I know the Purple Dragons have been planning something big. And well, today I got lucky, I happened to hear some of them talking."
"So spit it out already, what are they up to?" Raph asked impatiently from next to him.
"So, as I was saying, I was there with my bike, and I couldn't get too close at first, but when I found a better hiding spot I…"
It took a while for Casey to get to the main part of his story, but eventually he revealed that he'd found out about a meeting the Purple Dragons would be having by the docks tomorrow. A lot of supplements would be coming in which would give them a big advantage in their gang wars. The supplements, guns, bombs and other weapons would mean that innocent people were at risk of getting hurt in the process.
"Tomorrow, huh," Raph hummed, crossing his arms over his chest as a smirk appeared on his face. "Can't wait to ruin the Dragon's fun."
"Are you sure you are up to this task, my sons?" Master Splinter asked. "It was only yesterday that you were ambushed by the Foot."
"Wow, you guys got back into action real fast, already getting ambushed," Casey commented, then pointed at Raph's bandaged leg. "You got that in the ambush?"
"It's just a cut," Raph huffed. "It's nothin'."
This was Leo's chance to talk them out of this even without mentioning his own problems; Raph was still injured, and even if he could walk just fine, walking and fighting were two different things. And even if Raph could fight, his injury would still be something their enemies would focus on, putting Raph at a disadvantage. But if they didn't stop the Purple Dragon's from getting that shipment, they'd face bigger problems later. He was pretty sure that Raph would be going no matter what he said, even if he managed to talk Mikey and Don out of going. If he did what he had planned and told them about the true condition of his hands now, about what the power was doing to him, they'd definitely make sure that he stayed behind, and would go take care of the Dragon's by themselves.
Leo placed a hand over his wrist, where all the cuts laid underneath his bandages. It was obvious that it was better to face the Dragon's before they had the weapons, not after. But if he went with the others, he'd be forced to use the power again.
He had to tell them. Even if they'd try to make him stay behind, he had to. How could he go on a mission knowing there was a possibility that he'd become a liability to his team? Sure he had sometimes kept things from his family, belittling his injuries so that they wouldn't worry, but this was different. He'd been too dizzy and weak after using the power during the ambush, he couldn't call himself a responsible leader if he didn't tell them, if he didn't prepare them for the possibility that he might not be able to fight like usual. If something happened to him and it distracted his brothers during a crucial moment, it would be completely on him. He couldn't hide the truth anymore-
A slicing pain in his head snuffed his thoughts. He bit back a groan just barely, but had to shut his eyes against the pain. He lifted a hand to his face, hiding behind it just a moment before the worst of the pain passed. When he lowered his hand, he noticed that thankfully the others were deep enough in their conversation that they weren't paying attention to him.
At least he had thought they hadn't- he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned his head to look at Mikey.
"You okay?" Mikey asked, quiet enough so that the others conversing around them didn't notice.
Leo nodded, trying to sort out his thoughts again. What had… what had he been thinking about? The power, he had to tell the others- but suddenly it didn't feel so important. It felt like his earlier need to finally be honest had been coated with another feeling. Reassurance. The urgency of telling them had faded. Been pushed aside. What was there to say about it?
Just once more, he had a feeling. One more mission.
Right. He could use it for one more mission. He'd used the power many times already, and he felt relatively fine. It was just the headaches.
Just headaches, echoed in his head. It'll be fine.
Hesitantly, a decision was made. This would absolutely be the last time.
"We'll go, but after this, we'll take some time off," Leo finally joined the conversation. "No patrols, no missions. No matter what. Understood?"
"Why? Didn't you guys just have a pretty long break?" Casey asked curiously. "Just when I'll get to go on a mission with you guys again you'll be back to staying down here?"
Leo felt everyone's eyes on him. Maybe he should've worded this differently, now there were obviously questions, questions he'd have to answer to justify taking another break.
"The Dragon's have had fancy toys before, but we've always taken them down," Mikey said, shrugging, "so even if they get this shipment, we should be fine. I don't see what the rush is. I know I'm still not feeling completely recovered, so doing some huge mission right now could actually do more harm than good, right?"
Leo blinked in surprise at Mikey coming to his aid. He knew his brother had recovered and would have no problem going on the mission, so he must've realized that this was somehow connected to the way the power affected him, and was trying to give him a way to make them not go.
"Oh, well, I guess that's what happens when ya get possessed by a demon. It must've sucked," Casey said, rubbing the back of his head. "I'll see what I can do, then. If I can't interfere, maybe I could at least get some new info. Ya know, where they're gonna take those weapons and stuff so we can go after 'em later."
"Yer not going alone," Raph said, and now they were exactly where Leo had suspected they'd be. If Casey went, then Raph would go. And they certainly wouldn't let their brother go alone- not that they'd be happy about letting Casey go alone, either.
Mikey had given him an opportunity to convince the others that they'd be fine even if they didn't stop the Dragon's from getting this shipment, but the sudden and slightly strange reassurance he'd felt was still with him.
"Then we're all going," Leo concluded.
"I do agree that after this mission you should lay low, if you are not feeling completely recovered," Master Splinter said. "Staying underground for a while might work out to our favor as well. The ambush alone means that the Foot is after you. Keep the enemy guessing; they'll waste time and resources looking for you in vain."
They all nodded. The decision had been made, and Leo excused himself, heading back to the dojo. Once he got there he noticed that Mikey had followed him.
"You didn't want to go," Mikey said after closing the doors of the dojo. "Because you still can't use that sword-thing properly? Are your hands so hurt that you really can't use your swords without the power?"
Just a moment ago he had been ready to tell his family everything, but now it felt like there was no point. If tomorrow was the last time he used the power, there was once more no need to worry them for nothing. Of course this was something his family should know, but…
It's fine. It's fine like this. They don't have to know.
"It's not just because of the power," Leo said. "It feels a little sudden to go tomorrow. Yes, we know where the Purple Dragons are going to be, but we don't know how many of them there will be, if they'll have more back-up than usual… they could've gained more forces while we've been gone. They could already have new weapons."
"We weren't gone for that long," Mikey pointed out.
"We weren't," Leo agreed, "but we don't know what they've been up to, and I just don't want a repeat of yesterday."
"Yeah, I get it…" Mikey said, sighing. "I know I said I felt rusty with the robbers, and I felt that way with the Foot too. Maybe Raph and Don did too, but we kicked butt anyway!"
Leo gave him a half-hearted smile, which Mikey answered with an encouraging one.
"Don't worry so much," Mikey said, patting Leo on the shoulder as he turned to leave again. "We're going to kick butt again tomorrow, and then we can have some time off. You said you won't have to use the power once you've healed, right? We'll wait for that to happen and then we don't have to think about the demon ever again."
Leo nodded, glad that Mikey had followed him here. He already felt more encouraged about tomorrow's mission. The feeling that it would be fine grew stronger. It was… somewhat unusual; he was never reassured before missions, only afterwards if everything had gone according to plan. There was just this- this knowledge that it'd be fine. Like a soothing voice in his head, telling him it'd all be alright.
"Oh, and I don't really mind the new break. There's a new DLC for one of the best games in existence, which reminds me that I gotta go download it now that Sensei's not using the TV-"
Then Mikey was gone, most likely wanting to exchange a few more words with Casey while he was here before heading to his games. Leo was left alone in the dojo, and without Mikey's encouraging smile, he felt some doubt over what they had decided. Maybe he could've tried harder to make them skip the mission, maybe he should've told them everything after all…
A spike of dizziness made him stumble a little, made him blink his eyes to get rid of the dots that had visited his vision. Once it passed he took a moment to just take a deep breath, and... he felt his doubt fade. Going on this mission would help them in the long run. This was important. This was the right choice.
It's alright to use the power, was what passed his thoughts. It's alright.
The idea to test out the power to see if it really was taking such a big toll on him had been given up on. It was pretty obvious that the power was the cause, so there was no point in worsening the headache he already had for something he already knew, and for something that would be no use to him after tomorrow. Leonardo had left the dojo, having nothing to do there. With the headache he now had it would be useless to try to run through katas or meditate, so his only option had been to find something else to do.
He'd dug out a map of the city. He was sitting in the kitchen, staring at the map, not really seeing it. He held a hand to the side of his head, more focused on thinking whether he should go look for more painkillers or wait for this to pass.
But the ache wasn't passing, and he was only focusing on it more and more, since he knew exactly what had caused it. Had he already crossed some kind of a limit by using the power so much, was this discomfort some sort of a permanent thing? He felt tired, too. The kind of tired he'd felt when the demon had kept him up at night, not letting him get proper sleep by haunting him with nightmares.
But then again, headaches and exhaustion weren't that foreign to him; they were also signs of stress. And all of this was obviously distressing, constantly having to question himself and what he was doing, what was happening to him. And now there was tomorrow's mission- planning big missions was stressful even under normal conditions.
"Maybe I could do it without using my swords at all," Leo mumbled to himself, but he knew his hands weren't really in condition for constant punches either. "If I just used something lighter than my swords, shurikens and smaller knives… maybe smoke bombs, I could be a distraction…"
"Talking to yourself?" Don asked, startling Leo by his sudden appearance. "What was that about a distraction?"
He wasn't quite sure where this habit of talking out loud had come from. "I was just, uh, thinking that, maybe we could use a distraction tomorrow," Leo hurried to say, pointing randomly at the map. "If we go through here."
He didn't expect Don to actually step up closer to glance down at the map.
"...Through the dog park?"
Leonardo looked down as well, but his vision was slightly blurry from his headache, so it took him a moment to see the tiny print properly. When his vision cleared, he saw that his finger really was pointing at the dog park. He'd thought he'd at least had his finger above the dock area. He blinked down stupidly before moving his finger to correct himself. "I meant here."
Now he was pointing at the river, it just took him a moment to realize it- and when he did, he just sighed in defeat. This headache was starting to kill him.
Donatello remained silent next to him, only lifting a hand to touch Leonardo's forehead after a moment. "Are you feeling unwell, Leo? You had a headache yesterday when we returned from the fight, and don't think that I've forgotten about what happened in my lab…"
"I'm fine, Donnie," Leo patted Don's hand away gently. "I'm just distracted. Trying to think about tomorrow."
Don eyed him for another moment before taking a seat next to him, pulling the map a bit closer to himself.
"What's the plan so far?" Don asked. Leo looked hesitantly down at the map, for he hadn't really managed to get his thoughts together in order to think much of anything, but with his brother here, he pushed past the tired feeling and started to put up a plan together with him.
They spent almost an hour around the map before the family gathered together to have dinner. Casey has declined their offer to have dinner with them, having visited just to tell them about the Purple Dragons in person.
During dinner Donatello talked about what he and Leonardo had planned with Leonardo making comments here and there, but he was mostly just nodding along. After that they moved onto lighter topics, but Leonardo didn't participate in the conversation much. If this headache hadn't lessened by tomorrow, he'd really have to consider his choices again.
Because Leonardo still had his hands covered with bandages, his turn to do the dishes was skipped. He was given other tasks around the lair instead, but even though he couldn't do the dishes he could still help by cleaning the table and by pouring the water into the sink while Raphael, who had been given his turn to do the actual washing, put away the leftover food.
Raphael was making conversation, but he still had that damn headache and had to focus on not dropping the plates he was moving to the sink, so he was again just nodding along. When he paused to watch the sink become filled with water, he felt his exhaustion hit him full force. What if this really didn't pass during the night? Was he acting like a responsible leader by leading his team when he was unwell? Would he become a liability to the team if using the power tomorrow turned out to be too much for him?
"-ya hear me, Leo?"
Snapping out of his thoughts Leonardo realized Raphael had been expecting an answer.
"Sorry, say that again?" Leonardo asked, glancing over his shoulder at him.
"I think that's enough soap."
Leonardo turned to glance down, noticing that he was still holding the bottle of soap, even though he'd thought he'd already stopped pouring. The surface of the water had been covered with bubbles, leaving no water in sight.
"Uh… right," Leo mumbled and put the soap away. He ran more water to get rid of some of the bubbles. As Raph turned back to the food with a slight grumble Leo got lost in his thoughts again. Even if he decided to change his mind and say they weren't going tomorrow, he knew there was no changing Raph's mind. He'd go with Casey even if Leo tried to cancel their plans, even if he told about his condition. The feeling that everything would be fine had started to turn back into doubt.
They wouldn't believe me. The thought appeared on its own, and more words kept coming, turning darker, not sounding like his own. Would call me crazy. Would leave me behind. Would tell me they don't even need me, that I'd be better off–
Water spilled over the sink, hitting him and the floor, once again snapping him back to reality. Someone yanked on his arm to move him out of the way, then reached to shut the faucet to prevent even more water from spilling over.
"What the hell, Leo?" Raph demanded, still holding his arm. "Anyone home?"
"S-sorry," Leo mumbled, his headache spiking up with Raph talking so loud right next to him. "I wasn't… paying attention…"
"I can see that. Damn, I'll take care of the rest."
He was shoved towards the exit of the kitchen, and feeling sheepish, embarrassed and confused, Leo walked away. He'd become too caught in his thoughts, and this headache just kept getting worse.
He walked straight towards his room, stumbling a little in the stairs as he went, failing to see Raph stand by the kitchen's entrance, watching after him with a frown on his face.
The next night they made their way to the docks. Leonardo finally felt more like himself; he'd allowed himself to sleep a few hours more than he usually did, and he'd taken the whole day easy. The exhaustion he'd had yesterday was mostly gone, but the headache hadn't left him. But with painkillers it had become a dull throb from the constant pain it had been, and he'd managed to get through the day without being as distracted as he'd been yesterday.
He'd still noted that his brothers had given him long glances, asking if he really was up for the mission. Not that surprising, considering how he'd acted the day before. But he'd really felt better today, and it must've shown, for his family had eventually stopped with the looks they'd been giving him. Or at least they were hiding them better.
With his headache under control he'd managed to get his thoughts sorted, and it had been easier to go through the plan again when Casey had picked them up. Not like there had been that much to go through; they were to go to the docks and stop them from getting the shipment. Even though there was never knowing just what could happen, Leonardo had made them go through a couple of back-up plans. It was good to have at least something planned if things happened to go south.
Tonight, especially, Leonardo hoped that everything would go according to plan. If everything went well he might not even need to use the power, though he didn't dare get his hopes too high.
They were hiding behind a freight container now, keeping their eyes on their surroundings. A higher ground would've given them a better view over the dock area, but this way they could remain in the shadows until they knew which way the Purple Dragons would be coming from.
The docks were never quiet, but on this side things had quieted down for the night. All the workers were located on the other side, where late-night shipments were still coming in. They could hear the far-away sounds of the workers and their forklifts, the sea right next to them, waves crashing against the cement of the wavebreakers, and the distant sounds of the city. There were dim lights here and there, the shadows between them giving them a lot of hiding places.
"They should be here already," Raphael voiced out loud what Leonardo had been thinking for the past few minutes. They didn't know if there was a specific time for the trade the Purple Dragon's would be having, but Casey had heard they'd be here around midnight.
"You sure you didn't get tricked, Casey?" Michelangelo asked, only half-joking, but now that it had been said out aloud they were all glancing around with more alert, not wanting to get ambushed a second time this week.
But their surroundings were quiet, and being sneaky wasn't exactly the Purple Dragon's style.
"Those must be the weapons," Donatello said, pointing towards one of the docks. "I think I see people there who are not workers… but they're definitely not Purple Dragon's."
"Must be the people selling them the items," Leonardo said.
"Hey, I think I see something," Casey said, pointing towards one of the other cargo shipments. The turtles turned to look, and could see dark figures emerging from the shadows. First just a couple of them, then more followed. They avoided stepping into the light.
"That's them," Raphael said, his excitement clear in his voice.
"Let's go, but keep to the shadows," Leonardo ordered, and then they were on the move to get closer.
Surprising no one, Hun was the one leading the group of Purple Dragon's. Leonardo could feel Raphael's hand go to his sai, could feel how impatient he was. He touched the side of Raphael's arm briefly to signal for him to wait.
"Is this all? I thought we talked about a bigger shipment," they could hear Hun starting the conversation the second he reached the dock where the shipment had already been unloaded. Even from here they could see how Hun eyed the crates, his arms crossed in a way which clearly showed that he wasn't pleased.
"No, this is what we agreed on," the man Hun was talking to said. He spoke with a slight accent, and one of the lights hit his side enough for them to see that he was well-dressed, his dark hair falling over his shoulders. There were two bulkier men standing behind him, obviously some sort of bodyguards.
"I paid you for a bigger shipment. If this is all, you're going to give half the money back," Hun said coldly.
"Everything is as we agreed-"
"Do you think that I'm an idiot? That I'd pay so much money for this?" They saw Hun taking a threatening step closer to the man he was doing business with. Hun was almost half his height, towering over him. The bodyguards stepped forward, but halted when Hun pulled out a gun from his belt. "You picked the wrong guy to mess with."
"Please, I don't want any trouble- surely we can discuss the price," the trader begged, sounding distressed, holding his hands up to show he didn't want to fight. "If you'd put the gun down-"
Leonardo nodded towards the group of Purple Dragons who stood further away while Hun "negotiated" the price. "While they bicker, we can take down some of the Dragon's," he whispered. "Casey, you stay here, keep your eyes on Hun. Let us know if something drastic happens."
Casey nodded, understanding that the turtles were going in with stealth. He would jump in once stealth was no longer needed- which he hoped would be soon. He'd been busy lately, getting involved in all sorts of brawls, but he'd missed fighting alongside the turtles.
Most of the Purple Dragons were focused on listening to their leader still bargaining with the trader. Some looked bored, but none of them were paying any extra attention to their surroundings, which made it easy for the four mutant ninja to take them down, one by one. They were scattered, not standing as one group, which made it even easier to knock them out silently and drag them away into the shadows. They'd gotten a good amount of them down until they started noticing that almost half of their group had suddenly gone missing.
"Wha- Frank, where's Ann and Sam?" one of the Purple Dragon's asked, looking around. "Weren't they supposed to be with us-?"
One of the Dragon's, Frank, apparently, turned to look around. "What are you talking about? They're right th-"
He never finished the sentence when Donatello dropped down on him, knocking him out with his bō. The other Dragon's around him lifted their hands to their belts, no doubt to grab their guns and point them at the suddenly appeared turtle- but three more turtles dropped down onto the ground from the crate where they had climbed on, knocking them unconscious as well.
The five remaining Dragon's had more time to react, but before they could reach their guns either, a gunshot came from Hun's direction. Both the turtles and the Dragon's turned their heads towards the sound. There was some distance between them and the docks, but they could just barely make out what was happening. They saw Hun standing in front of the trader – and Casey. Casey had one of his baseball bats in hand, and was using it to hold Hun's gun-wielding hand to the side. In an instant it became clear what had happened; Hun had aimed to shoot the trader, and Casey had jumped in at the last moment.
"What the- you! What the hell are you doing here?" They heard Hun bellowing before he aimed a fist at Casey, who easily jumped back and out of the way. In the next second Hun had his gun pointed at him, and the Dragons near the turtles jumped back into action as well.
Raphael knocked out the nearest guy and then dashed towards Hun and Casey. The four remaining Dragons were easily knocked down by the three turtles, and then they shot off after Raphael- only to hear running footsteps from the side. More Purple Dragons were rushing to the scene, alerted by the gunshot. They must've been waiting further away as a backup. Hun had seemingly expected there to be trouble.
Lots of trouble, judging by the amount of Dragon's flooding to the scene. That was expected, though; even if Hun didn't need them to fight, he would need them to carry their new items. But Leonardo hadn't expected Hun to start shooting so soon, thinking they'd have time to take care of his goons at a slower pace.
All of them had a Dragon in their clothes or as a tattoo, as usual. They were holding chains, baseball bats, pipes, guns. The Dragon's wouldn't be able to shoot once the fight broke out, the risk of hitting each other would be too big – but Leo knew there were always those idiots who tried anyway, so the gun-wielders would have to be taken down first.
With a sinking feeling Leonardo pressed his palms to his belt, where he could scrape his skin open on the hidden blades there. While sneaking up on their enemies he hadn't needed his swords, and for a moment he'd actually thought this could be resolved without them. But he couldn't do close combat, his hands were too hurt to use his fists, and even smaller blades were too painful without the power.
They managed to step back into the shadows before the new Dragons spotted them, getting a surprise on the few first gang members. The ones behind them saw their fellow members go down, and guns were immediately pointed at them. The turtles jumped out of the way of gunfire, Donatello taking down two of the gunners by dashing to their left and knocking them off of their feet with his bō. Both Michelangelo and Leonardo threw shurikens, disabling four more gang members. Then they were amongst them, fighting in close combat. Hitting, kicking, slashing at them while staying on the move, dodging their counterattacks.
More gunshots and yelling was heard from near the ship. Leonardo dodged a heavy hit that would've knocked the air from his lungs had it landed, and glanced towards the docks. But before he could properly make out what was happening there, he heard something whistle through the air, jumping out of the way of a chain that had been aimed at his head.
"Let's hurry," Leo called out to his siblings when he whirled around and slashed at the chain-user before he could try to strike him again. His target cried out when blood spurted from his hand, stumbling back, allowing Leo to dash to the next Dragon, a sturdy guy with a spiked baseball bat who was just charging towards Don. The turtle in purple was just turning, stabbing his bō into the man's stomach while Leo kicked the back of his knee. He stumbled down with a heavy grunt, losing his grip on his weapon.
Such intense combat was exhausting, but despite the amount of Dragons they were steadily getting through them. But during the fight they'd moved away from the docks, and different shipments and crates were now between them and the shipment area, preventing them from seeing what was going on with Hun, Raph and Casey.
Eventually there weren't more than a handful of Dragons left, and there had been no more gunshots coming from the docks. Leo was anxious to see how Raph and Casey were holding up, hoping that the lack of sound meant that they had managed to disarm Hun. But from experience he knew that Hun had never been very easy to take down.
"I'll go check on Raph and Casey!" The leader announced when he deemed that Mikey and Don could take care of the rest of the Dragons. Don gave him a hasty thumbs up before knocking out the nearest Dragon, and Mikey simply let out his battle cry as he charged two of the gang members with one jump.
Leonardo ran, and as he did, the silence pressed down on him. He couldn't help the images of a plastron shot full of holes filling his head, watching with his mind's eye as blood colored the ground- he couldn't push the fear and paranoia down like before, so he ran faster, desperate to get rid of the haunting imagery, desperate to see that his paranoia was for nothing, that Raphael and Casey were alright.
He halted when he got them in his sights- and some of the tension in his body left. Hun had been knocked to the ground, and Raphael stood over him, pointing a rather big gun at him. Already bruises were starting to form on his green skin, meaning Hun hadn't gone down without a fight, but his brother seemed fine otherwise. Hun had some bruises and cuts on his own, and he was glaring up at Raphael, but wasn't moving, obviously not wanting to risk the turtle pulling the trigger.
It looked like the situation had just taken this turn, for near them Casey was stumbling back onto his feet. The vigilante leaned against the crates positioned next to him and held his head. He swayed a little; apparently Hun had gotten a good hit in just before Raphael had managed to take him down.
"This little trade is over," Raph was saying to Hun. "It sounded like ya weren't that happy with it, anyway. Besides, ya dropped this thing pretty fast," Raph nodded down at the gun in his hands. "Maybe ya should try to learn making business without getting screwed over before ya even attempt to use toys like these."
Hun growled and kicked out, but Raph stepped back, easily avoiding it. He clicked his tongue and cocked the gun, "I wouldn't do that if I were ya, unless ya want a bullet in yer head." Then Raph glanced at Casey. "Ya okay?"
"Yeah, man," Casey said, but he hadn't moved away from the crates he was still leaning against. "Just gimme a moment."
Leo stepped in sight, still quite far away from them, but Raph saw the movement.
"Hey," Raph greeted, speaking slightly louder than usual to be heard, not realizing Leo had heard their conversation just fine, "everything under control over there?"
"Yes, Don and Mikey should be here soon," Leo answered, glancing over his shoulder behind him. The fight he'd left behind had already quieted down; it wouldn't be long before the younger brothers joined them. When he turned to look back forward, he saw that Hun was now glaring at him, clearly not pleased that his backup wouldn't be coming to his aid. "I see you have things under control as well."
"Yeah," Raph turned to grin at Hun. "I'd say so." Then he looked back at Leo, nodding behind him towards the crates. "So what are we gonna do with all of this?"
Leo looked at the crates. They had already been taken out of the ship, filling the dock. Ready to be picked up and carried to the trucks that had been supposed to arrive here had the turtles not interfered. It was a lot of weapons, and Leo was pretty sure nobody in New York needed to get their hands on them.
"Well-"
"Hey, things are looking good over here!" Mikey spoke over him, jumping down from the nearby cargo shipment, landing down next to Leo. "We hurried over here for nothing."
"There might still be some Dragon's still on the way here, I'm pretty sure they have drivers in trucks waiting for all of the items," Don said as he followed Mikey down as well. "But we didn't see anyone coming this way just yet."
So they had at least a moment to figure out what to do with the crates, but… something wasn't right. Leo looked around, but there were no other gang members in sight. The Purple Dragon's weren't known for their stealth, so Leo was pretty sure there was nobody hiding nearby. They could tie Hun up and-
Something guided his eyes to look at the spot where he'd last seen the trader. He wasn't there, but as he scanned the area, he caught movement in the corner of his eye. Speaking of the devil- the dark haired man was hidden behind another set of crates that were positioned further away, something in his hands. He was looking towards the crates Hun, Raph and Casey were right next to. Leo squinted, turning his body towards the man, lifting his swords in alarm, gaining Don's attention. He followed Leo's gaze to the trader- and gasped.
"Leo, that's a remote control- is he- no, he's crazy if he's going to-"
Don didn't need to finish his thoughts. Hun hadn't ordered just guns, but bombs as well, and the only one who could have the remote to them was the trader. Hun had threatened him, and the trader already had his money. He didn't need the shipment anymore- nor Hun.
But he was so far away, and Raph and Casey were too close. Even if he threw his sword with perfect aim, he was simply too far away. He couldn't throw it that far. He was already seeing it, the dock exploding and splintering into million little pieces, and both Raph and Casey would be-
Broken, mutilated bodies lay by his feet. They reminded him of roadkill, but he knew they were that way because of his swords. He was still gripping their hilts, the blood on his skin was still warm.
And he was screaming. Screaming for himself to stop, to stop and help them, even though he knew hoped that they had been dead for a while. There was nothing he could do to save them.
Every time, the outcome was the same. He stood by while his brothers suffered over and over, until there was nothing left but his sobbing as he watched them die, over and over again with no end in sight- and he could do nothing. Couldn't even lift the sword to push it through his own stomach to finally make all of this stop–
The flashback was over in a blink of an eye, but it was so vivid, like Leonardo was still standing there, the stench of blood strong in his nostrils, the wet sewer still around him. It was so vivid he couldn't draw in any air, and a hysterical panic washed over him. Really? Had he become so useless that he was having a panic attack now?
Something made him lift his hand. He felt like he was falling, caught in terrifying memories and overwhelming emotions. His senses were filled with blood, the sight, the smell, the feel of it. Self blame and loathe hit him in a way they never had before. Something in him was just… withering away. And that spot was being replaced with something… ugly. With something angry, something protective, something furious.
"Raph, Casey, get away-!" Don yelled just as Leo threw his sword. It should never have landed, not when thrown from so far away, but it flew through the air with an unnatural force. The dock area was dim, yet both Don and Leo saw it hit its mark, cutting the man's arm, leaving a deep cut. The human's cry echoed over the docks, but Leo barely heard it, already on the move to dash towards him. A throbbing pain had been ignited in his head, but he was past the point of caring. The trader had fallen down onto his knees and was holding his hand over the wound, but upon noticing the nearing turtle he let go of his arm and turned to grab the remote he'd dropped.
Leo couldn't throw his second sword at the controller, not when he didn't know if that could accidentally set off the bombs. But he was still too far away, the human would reach the controller before him- and it wasn't like he could throw the sword anyway, his head was killing him, his vision blurring as he ran, he didn't know where to aim- yet again something in him made him ignore all that, made him blink harshly until his vision cleared. He threw the sword, but not to the direction of the controller.
Despite the ache in his head the second throw hit the mark as well, with enough force to pierce right through the bone of the man's outstretched arm. With the first cut the man could've walked away with a simple bandage on his arm, but the second sword cut through muscle and nerves, pinning the trader's arm to the wooden dock. His scream echoed through the docks.
In seconds, Leonardo was standing next to him. The trader was staring down at his arm with wide eyes, his chest heaving as he neared hyperventilation. Leonardo found himself feeling nothing at the sight – which should've probably surprised him. No matter how many evil people he'd met, he'd never wanted to cause unnecessary suffering. But now he barely glanced at the man, looking towards the sea instead. The first sword he had thrown had cut the man and then flown over the dock down to the murky water.
Leonardo lifted his hand, and the sword returned to him from the dark waves. Reaching for the sword and calling it to him suddenly felt natural, like he'd done it many times before. There was something wet on his face, flowing past his lips, tasting like iron, but he didn't have the time to pay it any mind. He sheathed the sword just as a new wave of pain traveled through him, and he had to take a moment to just breathe deep, holding his head for a moment. There was a moment of clarity- he'd nearly cut the man's arm off, he was bleeding heavily, he needed to do something about the injury- but it didn't take long for the cold apathy he'd felt before to return.
Ignoring the human Leonardo bent down and picked up the controller. The trader was letting out pitiful whimpers, staring at their mutilated arm in shock. Slowly Leonardo turned back to him, and then grabbed the hilt of his weapon still lodged in his arm and the dock below them.
Realizing what the turtle was about to do, the human's eyes widened and he shook his head.
"No, no, please, wait-"
Leonardo yanked the katana up, and the human screamed. He didn't scream for long, his eyes rolling back in his head as he passed out.
He didn't see his attackers, but he sensed them. Spinning around he saw the guns in the hands of the trader's bodyguards. He let go of the controller to lift his hand up, using the power to yank the weapons from their hands. He heard their surprised grunts, but paid them no mind. Already his legs were taking him towards them, his second sword unsheathed once more.
He felt nothing when they screamed. There was nothing but the need to get out of here, out of the tunnel. Nothing but the need to make the pain go away.
Yet the hurt he was feeling was only increasing, his head spinning from the ache inside it. He stood still, breathing heavily. Gripping the hilts of his swords tightly with trembling hands, refusing to sheathe them again when he wasn't sure who the next enemy was, when they would strike at him again. Everything was spinning, becoming distorted. It felt like his skull had split open, yet somehow he was still standing.
Distantly he knew he'd done something bad, hurting the humans like this. He'd done something bad, letting his brothers get hurt, all the blood and death he'd seen just a moment ago burned like hot coals in the front of his mind. There was no rest for them. Only pain, pain for him and his brothers, always someone to hurt them- he was so dizzy, no longer sure where he was, just aware that it wasn't safe here. Where were his brothers? He had to make the pain stop, had to get them out of here.
He turned around slowly, only to feel cold water by his feet. He looked down, feeling blood on his plastron, but seeing no red. There was only the dirty water of the sewer where he was standing, and- and there it was, the blood. Mixed with the mud and grime, and he followed it with his gaze until his vision blurred again. Now that the immediate threat of the bomb going off was gone it was impossible to do anything with this suddenly agonizing headache.
There were agitated voices, yells. They sounded distantly like his brothers, but it was so difficult to focus on anything. Swaying slightly, he stepped forward. He felt sick and nauseous, but it sounded like his brothers were in trouble. He had to get to them. But- hadn't he just seen them broken and beaten? Hadn't he been too late already? Why was it so difficult to focus on anything-?
The figures in front of him were blurry, moving too fast. He lifted his swords, swaying slightly, squinting his eyes, trying to figure out what he was up against.
"Leo, move!"
Before he could react to the warning, something big moved in front of him and picked him up by wrapping their hand around his throat. Immediately his ability to breathe was lost; he gasped in vain.
"Poor little turtle; it looked like you'd fall over any second, so I just had to pick you up," a man spoke. Leo could hear the grin in his voice. Hun… this was Hun, that's right, they'd been fighting him and the Purple Dragons. Hadn't they? But… the tunnel-? "I don't know what that thing you just did was, but it looks like it took a lot out of you. Let me help you with that-"
Leo kicked uselessly with his legs, trying to struggle, but the hold around his neck was too strong. His already blurry vision got dark at the edges, and his struggle started to die out way sooner than it should've.
"Get away from him!" Donatello yelled, snapping Leonardo back into alertness. He still had his swords- well, at least one of them, somewhere during his struggle he'd lost his grip on the other. Still blind he swung with the one he had; a pained sound came from Hun and he was released.
He was too weak to catch himself. He fell to the ground, gasping for the air he had lost, losing his hold on his remaining sword in the process. No, he couldn't let go, not when he still had to fight, when he'd gone through so much trouble to be able to wield his katana. He couldn't see his swords, couldn't see anything, his vision too hazy as he blindly felt the ground around him. His palms stung when they scraped against the ground under his hands, there was a loud ringing in his ears, the waves were agonisingly loud when they crashed against the wavebreakers- but he was in the sewer, there were no waves in the…
The pain in his head took over. The dizziness won, forcing his body to surrender and go limp against the cold ground, finally replacing his world of hurt with a merciful nothingness.