A/N: - This chapter is a lot longer than the last one – I hope you like this one and I will take this chance to say that I do not own the TMNT even though I really wish I did!
"What do you mean 'because of pizza'? Argh, you're even more foolish than I thought you'd be!" Shredder growled, moving towards them with an evil gleam in his eyes.
"Mikey, you know what to do!"
"Which one of you goons is Mikey?" Shredder asked, snarling and looking round the group at each turtle in turn…but only three of them were in front of him, "I'll ask you once more; which one of you goons is Mikey?"
"I AM!" Mikey yelled, launching himself at Shredder and kicking his head. Shredder went flying forward and into the wall. Leo was up next and he snuck off to get ready for his part in the Metalhead Special.
"You're going to pay!" Shredder hissed venomously, standing up and clenching his fists.
"Oh really…maybe, but not before you do!" Leo yelled, knocking off Shredder's helmet and jumping to safety.
"Donnie, you brainiac, it's our turn!" Raph called out to his brother in purple.
"Yeah, Raph, let's go for it!" Donnie punched the air and he and Raph leapt up and met in the middle, banging into Shredder from either side and knocking him out cold. Just as they were about to finish him off, Casey was lifted into the air by Hun and thrown at them so he knocked the two turtles either side of Shredder off their feet. Hun rushed to Shredder and lifted him over his shoulder and also grabbed Casey while he was at it and dragging him along. He threw himself out of the window and off into the night.
"CASEY!" Raph cried out, lodging his Sais into the wall next to the window.
"Raph, come on…we have to catch up with Leo and Mikey!" Donnie pulled his brother to his feet and they chased after their two brothers, who were already hot on the trail of Hun, Shredder and Casey.
Mikey and Leo were sneaking after Hun, and sticking closely to the shadows. They followed them to the Purple Dragons' Headquarters.
"What are we gonna do once we break into that joint?" Mikey asked his brother in a quiet whisper.
"Get Casey and get out…we can't do anything else at the moment."
"Ok, I got it," Mikey nodded and the two brothers walked slowly towards the guards at the doors of the HQ. They stayed in the shadows so that only their hands could be seen and gave the three-fingered salute. They were, thankfully, allowed in without hesitation from the guards. They instantly spotted Hun and, still keeping to the shadows, they followed Hun to a bedroom, where Shredder was laid out on the bed, and then to the jail where Casey was roughly thrown into a cell and remained how he landed, sprawled out, unconscious. The two turtles waited for Hun to leave before attempting to get Casey out. Mikey managed to smash one of the bars of the cells with his Nuunchuks and he and Leo rushed in.
"Casey, can you hear me?"
"L…Leo?" Casey stirred and opened his eyes, staring up at Leo, his eyes unfocussed.
"Yeah, Casey, it's me. You're gonna be ok, Casey."
"Raph will kill us if we don't get ya outta here, dude! He's gonna kill us anyway 'cause we left him and Donnie behind!" Mikey waffled on.
"Mikey…?"
"Well, duh," scoffed Mikey. They lifted Casey to his feet and supported him between them as Raph and Donnie burst into the jail.
"Casey! Are you ok?" Raph ran to his friend's side and knocked Mikey out of the way to take his place in supporting Casey. Leo frowned and Donnie bit his lip, worried by the state of Casey.
"Raph…we gotta…kick…Hun's…butt," Casey managed before he lost consciousness again.
"Correction; I'm gonna kick Hun's butt on your behalf. We gotta get you outta here, Case, before they kill you."
"Raph, we need to leave, now." Leo's voice was urgent and the group left through the ventilation shafts.
Outside, the Battle Shell was hidden in the shadow of the Purple Dragons' HQ building. April and Splinter had followed the turtles and were waiting outside for any sign of trouble.
"Splinter, look!" April cried. The four turtles and Casey were heading towards them and it was impossible to see who was who in the darkness. When they got closer, it became apparent that Casey's feet were being dragged along the ground while Leo and Raph supported him on either side. April hurriedly got out of the truck and ran to Casey, tears welling up in her eyes.
"My sons," Splinter's raspy voice sounded beside them as he joined them, "what happened? Are you all safe and well for the moment?"
"As safe as can be expected, Sensei," Leo answered, bowing as best he could while supporting the unconscious Casey.
"That is good, and now we must find somewhere to rest and recover before we even attempt to go anywhere near Shredder again."
"What…about…Angel's house?" Casey seemed to be awake again and was trying to stand up without the support of Raph and Leo. Needless to say, he failed dismally and fell forward. Only this time he fell into April's waiting arms. She hugged him tightly and he managed a shaky grin and a wink at Raph as he weakly returned the hug.
At Angel's house the group settled down to recover. The house was wrecked and everything had been overturned. April just hoped that they'd be able to tidy it and get the blood-stains out of some of the furniture before Casey was awake enough to take in the circumstances of the murders of his friends. No-body had gone near the house, not even the police, because they were too busy dealing with the boom in crimes…robberies and murders; disappearances and drug dealings.
"I'm going to go and fix up Casey…he looked pretty bad," Donnie yawned, fatigue taking over his entire being.
"Ok, Don," Leo gave a shuddering yawn and stretched as he stood up, "I think I'm going to go to bed…is that ok with everyone?"
"Yeah, sure," Mikey shrugged, "you're looking a bit peaky anyway, bro. Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Who's sharing a room with whom?"
"I dunno…Sensei?" Raph turned to Splinter, who had just walked into the room after having gone to explore the house, willing him to make the decision.
"Raphael, you will share with Leonardo and the both of you will sleep in the same room as Mr. Jones. Michelangelo, you and Donatello will share with me. Miss O'Neill, you shall sleep in the library area; it has a fold-out bed which I think you will find sufficient." Splinter then beckoned for Mikey and Donnie to follow him and they did so without complaint. Leo waited for Raph to get up and the two of them made their way to the room with Casey in it on the third floor. They were the only ones on the top floor so that they would have fair warning if they were attacked and could protect Casey.
They were on their way up the two flights of stairs to their room, each lost in their individual thoughts, when Leo slipped. Raph snapped back to reality and grabbed his brother, pushing him to make him walk up the rest of the stairs. He was exhausted and his legs couldn't take much more. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Leo's legs completely gave out and he fell to the floor, gasping as if he was having a fit. He was trembling and his body was convulsing. Raph knelt beside him and shook him. He hated having to see Leo's expression of extreme pain.
"Leo, c'mon bro, you can't do this to me," Raph hauled his brother in blue up into a sitting position and tried to snap him out of whatever it was that had taken hold of him. Suddenly, Leo spoke, his voice strained and the effort it took to speak obviously paining him.
"Shredder…knives…gonna kill…Christmas…burning…not gonna…take me…ARGH!" Leo's body relaxed and he started sobbing heavily, a disturbing sight. Raph shifted uncomfortably and cast his eyes down to the floor, feeling awkward. But Leo's words had ripped right though him and sent a cold shiver down his spine. He then realised he was just sitting and doing nothing while his brother was trying to make sense of some sort of fit. He pulled Leo to him and wrapped him in a comforting hug, feeling Leo's body racking with sobs as he tried to get over what had just happened.
"Come on, Leo. You've gotta snap out of it and tell me what happened or I can't help you to deal with it."
"The Shredder tried to attack my mind."
"What?!"
"He wanted me to tell him the names of you, Mike and Don and also to tell him where we're hiding and how to get in without being discovered."
"You didn't tell him anything, did you?" Raph pulled away from his brother and looked him in the eye, "did you?"
"I'm so sorry Raph…"
"Leo, what did you tell him?!"
Raphael…
"I'm sorry, Raph…" Leo's voice was cracking but he'd stopped shaking, "he was gonna kill me…"
Raphael…you've killed Casey…
"Raph…?"
"He's in my head…he's talking to me," Raph stood up, leaving Leo sat on the ground, "you told him my name!"
"He found it in my sub-conscious. I must've been calling you in my sub-conscious or something."
"You gave in to the Shredder!"
"What? No, I didn't!"
"Damn you, Leo…you thought you'd get revenge for all our fights!" Raph was grinding his teeth in pure frustration.
"You don't understand, Raph!"
Raphael, where are you hiding…I could kill any one of your brothers.
No, you couldn't.
Not physically – but mentally I could destroy them
You don't even know their names!
I know you, Leonardo, Mr. Jones, April O'Neill and Splinter.
You shall not hurt them!
THEN I SHALL HURT YOU!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Raph…? Are you ok?"
"What – oh, yeah. He wants to kill us, Leo."
"I know, Raph. But let's get some sleep and figure this out tomorrow."
"How can we sleep? He could drain information from us in out dreams and we'll put everyone at risk."
"We'll take turns; I'll take first watch. If you start talking in your sleep or show any signs of a possible mental attack from Shredder then I'll wake you."
"Ok, but we shall have shifts no longer than two hours at a time, ok?"
"Yeah…let's go," Leo swallowed and they walked to their room together to take turns at resting, with Leo on first watch.
Raph was sleeping soundly for the first forty-five minutes but then he began to toss and turn in his sleep. Leo jumped to attention from where he had been polishing his Katana. He walked cautiously over to his brother and shook him awake. Raph blinked up at his brother and Leo explained the situation to him and then allowed him to go back to sleep. Casey was also stirring but did not wake.
Two hours later, Raph took over from his brother, who was practically asleep anyway. The rest of the watches passed without a problem and eventually they let down the watches at about six o'clock and both slept for a couple of hours…until Mikey and Donnie started crashing around downstairs. They were playing tag and Donnie seemed to be it. Raph and Leo groaned, opened their eyes and looked at each other across the room in despair. Mikey was now thundering up the stairs.
"No, Mikey, not up there! Raph and Leo-----" Donnie never finished as Mikey burst into the room to see a furious Raph and an irritated Leo. He laughed nervously and began to back out of the room, muttering incoherently as he went. Donnie had waited at the bottom of the stairs to listen to what was going on. He saw Mikey appear at the top of the stairs and begin to run down them. He rushed past Donnie and Donnie listened out for his two brothers but it seemed they had ignored Mikey disturbing them but they were talking in quiet whispers to each other. Donnie crawled up the stairs to listen and what he heard made him want to cry out.
"What do we do now, Leo? We can't tell Don and Mikey...they could react badly."
"We'll have to talk to Master Splinter; he'll know what to do and we should be able to get rid of Shredder."
"I just don't get it…"
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Raph,"
"Nah, it ain't your fault. Hun would've told Shredder my name anyway…he's probably heard it enough times when you and me have been talking or when Casey's yelled at me during a Purple Dragons battle."
"I think we need to take on Shredder again…and soon. Before he gets any more information."
"But he's not gonna get any more from us two, is he?"
"No, but he also knows Casey and April. He could just as easily attack them and they wouldn't be able to resist as easily because they would just think it was a dream." Leo pointed out to his brother, who was fiddling absent-mindedly with his Sais. Donnie crept back down the stairs again, knowing that his older brothers would just worry if they knew he knew.
"You guys ok? I thought you were supposed to be in here looking after me!"
"Casey? What – you – but – you're awake?" Raph was gob-smacked.
"You didn't think a little fight with Hun would stop me from missing all the fun. You'll never guess what I dreamt about!"
"What?" Leo asked warily.
"I was talking to this cloaked guy and he asked me where I was staying. We laughed and joked and I told him where we were staying. He said he sympathised. Then he asked me if I was staying with you guys. I said yes and he asked what the 'purple and orange ones' were called. I told him and then I woke up."
"You told him their names?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with------?"
"NOOOO! HELP…MIKEY, HELP ME!"
"Donnie? Donnie!" Mikey grabbed his brother's hand and called for his two eldest brothers.
"Mikey, what is it?" Leo rushed into the room and held Donnie's other hand and led a hand on his younger brother's forehead, talking to him, "come on, Don. He's in your imagination. You can throw him out…all you have to do is try."
"Leo…Shredder…attacks…three days…army…" Don trailed off, his eyes wide and unseeing as he froze.
"Donnie? Don't do this to us, please," Mikey pleaded. Donnie suddenly relaxed and his breathing steadied. Leo lifted his brother off the ground and led him on the settee in the living room. Mikey wandered off to see where Raph had got to. He searched the house but Raph wasn't anywhere to be found…and his trench coat was missing.