A/N: - "We come to it at last – to the great battle of our time." Gandalf – LOTR 3.
So here it is – the final installment. It's been amazing to have so many brilliant readers and you have no idea how much your reviews mean to me. I promise you that I will be back in the TMNT section if I am welcome. I hope you have loved this as much as I have (and, shamefully, I was practically crying when I wrote the last section.) So, read and enjoy and review for the last time…
"So when do we battle the Shred-head?"
"As soon as we have a gun to fight him with," Leo answered yet another of Mikey's seemingly endless questions.
"Oh, ok…but what about if he has secret weapons as well?"
"Mikey, just quit with the questions, alright? It's getting on everyone's nerves," Raph snapped from where he was trying to get some sleep, "and besides, some of us are trying to sleep here."
"Sorry, dude, but I wanna go into battle as well prepared as I can be so we at least stand a chance." Mikey tried to justify his torrent of questions to the others.
"Yeah, but does it have to feel like a quick-fire quiz round on some sort of game show? Is that really necessary?" Raph returned.
"Aw, who asked you anyway?"
"Mikey, Raph, that's enough," Leo intervened, "we aren't getting anywhere by arguing over silly things."
"That's rich coming from you," Raph snorted.
"Yeah, you're always fighting with Raph over silly things."
"That's different."
"Why is it different?" Mikey persisted.
"Because, when Raph and I fight, one of us could normally walk out for some space afterwards, whereas right now we're confined to one room, so can we try to keep the fighting to a minimum?"
"Whatever," Mikey half agreed. Raph just grunted and Leo took that to mean yes. The brothers sat in silence, each trying to read the others' thoughts as they contemplated the battle ahead. They would battle by the docks as they could make a speedy escape into the water if things took a turn for the worse.
That week was spent in hiding and everyone was on a short fuse by the end of it. Casey hadn't managed to get hold of a gun but thought he had spotted somewhere where he could get hold of one as he'd been down to a pizzeria. He'd had to wear an old hat Raph had found in a dustbin before he'd been shot. This was because everyone in New York was under the impression that he and April were dead. But, when the time was right, that would have to be rectified. After all, they couldn't stay dead forever.
"GUYS! I GOT A GUN!" Casey burst through the door on Sunday night at about eleven o'clock and was greeted by a series of moans and groans.
"Case, do you have to do that?"
"Do what? And anyway, does it matter? I got a gun, guys!" Casey was as hyperactive as Mikey was after several super-size pizzas with extra pepperoni and multiple cans of soda.
"You did?" Leo now sat up, yawning as he stood and walked over to inspect the weapon Casey was proudly offering to him. He took it warily and looked it over, curling a finger around the trigger and testing the aim. There was a glint in his eyes suggesting a lust for revenge which had lain dormant for so long, unsatisfied and undisturbed. Casey moved forward and took the gun from the eldest turtle. He took it over to where Raph and Donnie were propping themselves up against a wall. Raph eyed it greedily as Donnie inspected it.
"It's of a good quality, Casey. Where did you get it?" the purple clad turtle queried.
"From a guy who owed me a favour; I helped him out of a tight spot and he owns a small business selling guns and knives so I figured I could get one off him cheap."
"You did good, Case," Raph looked impressed, "mind if I take a look?"
"No problem. Give Raph the gun, Donnie,"
"Whoa, not a good idea, dudes, he'll kill me with it!" Mikey cowered behind Leo.
"No, I won't," Raph retorted, adding softly under his breath, "I'm more inclined to torture first…" he grinned cruelly. Mikey gave a girlish shriek and ran to hide behind Splinter and April, who were looking rather apprehensively at the gun.
"Raphael, stop teasing your brother." Splinter ordered sternly, although the soft features on his face gave away the slight amusement he held in watching his sons bicker among themselves.
"So when do we get to go kick Shredder's filthy, stinking butt?" Raph asked eagerly.
"We cannot let this linger any longer, my sons. We shall fight the Shredder tonight. If some of us perish then I must urge the others to leave and get themselves out of danger, whether the Shredder has been beaten or not. I do not wish to risk any of your lives but I have no choice. Miss O'Neill I must request that you stay here. If we do not return by mid-morning tomorrow then you may be permitted to look down by the docks provided you keep yourself out of sight. If none of us survive then you can decide upon a story as to why you disappeared for so long and did not show yourself, letting all believe you were dead."
"I'm sorry, but I want to be a part of this tonight, even if I only wait in the wings. But I have to see the outcome."
"I too am sorry, Miss O'Neill, but you must stay here – I forbid you to follow us to what will most likely be our deaths. Come, my sons, we leave now." Splinter led the way, followed closely by a silent and grim Leonardo. Mikey saluted April and dashed after Leo. Donnie and Raph helped each other up and followed as fast as they could manage. Only Casey remained behind, looking guiltily at April. He pulled her into an awkward hug and a tear rolled down his face.
"You don't have to go," April whispered. She knew it wasn't a wise thing to say but she wanted Casey for herself, and knowing it was selfish didn't change the way she felt.
"I do – the guys are the best friends I've ever had. I love them like brothers; I can't let them down, and Raph is counting on me more than anyone. It's all hanging on the timing of my shot – if we lost Leo or Mikey because of me then he'll never forgive me."
"I know, I'm sorry. You have to be with them and stick with them to the end." April pushed him away slightly, tears staining her cheeks. Seeing the salty paths down his face reassured her on the sincerity of what he'd said. She bit her lip and knew she had to say something.
"I have to go, April," Casey, looking disappointed, turned to leave.
"Casey, wait----" April touched his arm lightly.
"Yeah?"
"I love you, Casey Jones," April smiled tearfully, pulling him towards her, their lips locking together in a passionate kiss. No words could describe how Casey felt at that moment and he could only gawp as they broke apart. Finally, he found his ability to speak again.
"I love you too…April O'Neill." Casey smiled, waving once as he left the garage. April waited until he'd gone and the garage door had shut and then she broke down and sobbed hard, knelt down, head in her hands and leaning against a wall. She knew in her heart of hearts that Casey had to be with Raph and the others but she just couldn't bear the thought of never seeing him again. Unfortunately, that was a fact that she would have to be prepared to face.
"Ok, guys," Casey had caught up with the others and was talking to the four turtles. Splinter had snuck off somewhere to conduct his own plan for if things didn't work out as planned, "I will fire as Shredder pulls his gun from his belt. He won't have a chance to aim. If by some unlikely problem I miss then you will have to use the moment of shock to kick the gun from him and it will have to become a square fight. Ok?"
"You'll do fine, Casey. You won't miss by much if you do miss so you'll hit Shredder even if you're out by a little. Remember, the target is the back of his neck, where he has no armour to protect him." Leo reminded Casey of the plan for the fifth time since Casey had caught up with them. He was feeling slightly nervous as his and Mikey's lives were held in the balance in the fight with Shredder while Raph, Donnie and Casey were in danger of being discovered. And none of them had a clue what Splinter's plan was so that left a figure of doubt in their minds even though they generally trusted their Sensei with anything and everything.
"And if ya do miss," Mikey whispered to Casey so no-one else could hear, "make sure you get him somewhere else where there's not too much armour…if you see what I'm saying…"
"Got it…good luck, Mike," Casey clapped the youngest of his four friends on the shell.
"Thanks, dude, but you'll need it more than me."
"You're sure you guys won't need our help?" Raph asked Leo worriedly. He didn't like the idea of leaving his brothers at the mercy of the Shredder.
"We'll be fine, Raph, don't worry. Shredder won't pull his gun out until he doubts his ability to win. And I trust Casey, as does Mike and he won't let us down. And he'll need you and Don up there to make sure that none of the Foot spoil our plan."
"Yeah, you're right." Raph sighed, following Casey as the vigilante climbed up the ladder on the side of a building. Donnie just hugged each of his two remaining brothers in turn before following up on to the roof of a large shipping company.
"Well, Mikey, this is it…" Leo put an arm round his youngest brother, who was shaking a little but trying desperately to hide it. He was supposed to be the carefree one and if he showed negativity now then he and Leo would lose their nerves.
"You are not going to face them, Master?" a Foot ninja struggled to conceal his surprise.
"I shall face them…but first I shall surprise them. When I raise my fist into the air I want you to shoot the one called Leonardo. He must perish before the others. They have their back-up on the top of the shipping company warehouse because of injury so I suggest you leave them. They are incapable of anything that could threaten my victory. Now, go, and do not fail me."
"Shall I shoot him in the head?"
"No…I want that honour myself. Shoot him in the leg or around the abdomen. That will be most effective and I shall finish him off myself." Shedder's voice was thick with evil and malice. He strode out to meet the two turtles, the oldest and youngest of the four brothers that had caused him so much trouble over the last couple of years.
"So, you have decided to challenge me once more. Only this time, two of your party are injured and I am about to make that three." Shredder raised his fist and a split second's silence followed. Leo and Mikey made eye contact and were about to lunge for Shredder when a sudden shot rang out around the docks. Mikey jumped about a metre into the air and looked round nervously but Shredder hadn't drawn his gun. He turned to Leo to see what he made of the situation but Leo was knelt on the floor, clutching his side.
"Leo," Mikey knelt beside his brother and tried to prise Leo's hand away from his side. He eventually managed it and felt faint as he saw an ugly wound on Leo's side. He had been shot, but by who?
"Mike…we have to keep fighting," Leo staggered to his feet and drew his Katana. Mikey put a hand on his brother's chest.
"No, Leo, you can't fight." Mikey protested weakly, but nothing would sway Leo's decision.
"I have to. For the revenge we all want."
"What the shell?!" Raph leaned over the side of the building. He'd heard the shot and had seen Casey's face go white as a sheet. He looked down on the battle, pushing Casey away from the edge so he could recover from the shock of whatever he'd seen. There was Leo and Mikey fighting Shredder as planned but Leo was nowhere near as fast as usual and kept stopping. Then Raph saw why; a gaping gunshot wound was bleeding profusely with every twist and turn Leo made to dodge the Shredder's onslaught of attacks. Mikey was trying to keep Shredder busy but it wasn't working. He was thrown roughly into Leo and both tumbled along the docks. They blearily got to their feet and Leo grabbed at Mikey for support.
"Raph, what is it? What was the shot?" Donnie asked, as he joined Raph. Raph pointed and opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out. Donnie followed Raph's finger with his eyes and opened his eyes wide at the sight of their two brothers having real problems with the Shredder.
"We have to get down there," Raph's voice shook.
"NO!" Casey hissed, stepping up to the edge again. He took aim at the back of Shredder's neck and shot. Shredder only had time to whirl round before a bullet whistled past him, just about missing his throat. He pulled his gun out and turned back to the two he was battling and took aim at Leo's head. Leo froze and Mikey began to move towards Shredder, Nunchuks at the ready.
"One step closer and your brother dies," Shredder growled. Mikey stopped, looking upset and glancing his brother's way. Leo knew that if he moved then Shredder would shoot him but he wanted to curl up and try to make the pain disappear but he couldn't. But no-one saw Casey taking aim again.
"Try it, Shredder," Leo said bravely, knowing that his time was running out anyway.
"Very well, although shooting your brains out would be a little too easy. Maybe using a gun is also giving me an easy victory. Perhaps a Katana blade would be more efficient seeing as it is your weapon of choice." Shredder drew a Katana from his belt and raised it to strike Leo while keeping the gun aimed on Mikey with the other hand.
"LEO!" Raph shouted from the rooftops. Shredder turned and Leo gathered the last of his strength to plunge his Katana into the exposed flesh of Shredder's armpits. At the same time, Shredder turned back to him and stabbed him in the left shoulder above the collarbone. Leo's body was screaming in pain as the blade pierced his flesh.
"Oh, that's it," Mikey snarled, uncharacteristically, and lunged for Shredder, his Nunchuks knocking off Shredder's helmet and then connecting with the side of Shredder's head on the second swing and dazing the villain. At the same time, Raph was half clambering and half falling down the ladder at the side of the building to get to his brothers. Casey was taking aim at Shredder's head and getting ready to fire. They only had two bullets as Casey hadn't had enough money to buy any more. Donnie was holding off the two Foot Elite ninjas that had decided to show up and fight.
"Come on, come on," Casey mumbled as he kept the gun steady. He couldn't fail this time or Leo and Mikey would be dead for sure. There would be no way that they could survive without his help. Raph had reached the floor and, with the Foot Elite in pursuit, Donnie was racing away from his enemies to join him. Casey saw Shredder hold his blade to Leo's throat and his gun to Mikey's head and knew it was now or never. He checked his aim one last time and shot.
The shot missed Shredder's head but got the original target of the back of Shredder's neck. Shredder lurched forward and Leo and Mikey moved backwards. Raph arrive on the scene with Donnie and they both limped forward and kicked the bleeding and choking Shredder off the pier. But now they had one more thing to deal with. The first shot had been fired from an alley and they had to take care of it before the gunman fired again. Leo was stumbling along dizzily and Mikey was trembling in shock. There was another shot from the alleyway and the turtles' eyes widened, each waiting for a burst of pain or a scream from one of their brothers but none came. Splinter emerged from the alleyway dragging an unconscious Foot ninja along behind him.
"Nobody tries to shoot me and gets away with it." He joked. The four brothers managed a smile but were soon distracted by a thump. Leo had fallen to the ground and was out cold. Mikey was also on the brink of collapse and it was only then that Raph realised his youngest brother had also been stabbed by Shredder but they'd all been so distracted by killing Shredder that they hadn't noticed Shredder stab Mikey in his right thigh.
"Mikey, are you ok?" Donnie asked while Raph knelt down to cradle Leo's head in his arms.
"I'll be fine – we need to save Leo."
"I don't know if he'll make it," Donnie said truthfully to his brother.
"He has to."
"Mikey, you have to brace yourself for the worst."
"No, I won't, he's got to make it; he just has to make it." Mikey's eyes were filling up with pain and grief. He wasn't about to give up on Leo.
"Donnie, he's having problems breathing. Do something!" Raph yelled, hugging Leo closer to him. It was the most emotion he had ever shown to his brother and it was just saddening that maybe it was too late for Leo to gloat over it.
"Raph, can you manage to carry him?"
"I don't know. But I will." Raph stated resolutely, picking his brother up and moving off in the direction of the warehouse. Splinter was walking alongside them and glanced back at Casey, who had climbed down to join them, silently thanking him for not trying to cheer Raphael up as there was simply no consoling the normally hot-headed turtle.
"APRIL! WE DID IT, BABE!" Casey screeched as he entered the garage. He had gone ahead of the others to sort some sort of first aid ready for Donnie to fix everyone up. But he was sure they had time for a quick reunion first. He took her in his arms and kissed her but broke it off swiftly as he remembered that they were not yet out of the danger…or at least some of them weren't. His face grew solemn.
"Casey? What is it?" April asked.
"We need to get as much first aid stuff as we can. Anything we can find,"
"Why? What happened?" April's voice became higher pitched as her concern for her reptilian friends.
"Mikey was stabbed but he'll be ok…Leo was stabbed and shot – he's in a bad way and Donnie doesn't know if he's gonna make it."
"Oh my God," April clamped her hands over her mouth, "is Raph ok?"
"He was really distraught, April. He was crying like hell and he just wouldn't let go of Leo. Mikey refused to believe that one of them could be about to die. It was terrible to watch and there was nothing I could do about it. If only I'd hit Shredder the first time I'd shot then Leo and Mikey wouldn't have been stabbed."
"Then Shredder didn't shoot Leo?"
"No, a Foot ninja from an alleyway shot Leo when the battle had barely begun but Splinter made sure he won't be bothering us again."
"Oh God, this can't be happening."
"I'm sorry, babe, but someone had to get hurt and we're lucky no-one died. If someone had dies then I don't know what the rest of us would've done." Casey set up everything he could find that could be a help to fix the others up and had just finished when they burst through the door, Raph in the lead in spite of the pain his leg was giving him. He had to save his brother and, although he was no medical expert, this was his part to play.
"Thanks, Casey," Raph said as he walked past and put Leo down gently on the pile of all the clothes from boxes that they had been using as blankets and there were different things including bandages and old sponges to stop the bleeding. Now, it was time for Donnie to do his stuff – the life of their eldest brother, their leader, was in his hands, and that was a pressure which he didn't want to accept the consequences of if he failed. This was the safety or destruction of his family and he knew that if Leo died then no-one would ever get over it. This was all the things he'd dreamed about in his nightmares and now it was true he couldn't quite believe it. It seemed more unreal than anything he'd seen in the terrifying dreams of his childhood that had returned in the past few weeks. Donnie was overcome - Leo just had to make it – Raph already looked like he was going to crack under the strain of grief and concern that was pressing down on the group.
Donnie worked until dawn, exhausted by the end but satisfied by his work. Leo would be ok and now the Foot was gone…
"Master Splinter," Donnie spoke to his Sensei as the elderly rat walked to stand beside him, "now the Foot is gone, can we move back to the sewer? No more hiding?"
"I believe we can, Donatello, I believe we can." Splinter smiled gently.
"Good, I'm sick and tired of all this running around – it all seems so pointless and it's cost us so much. It would be nice to settle down again."
"I quite agree, my son," Splinter placed a hand on his son's shell, "but for now you must rest. Will Leonardo recover?"
"Yeah, I think so. We just need to keep an eye on him – and keeping an eye on Mikey might also be a good idea."
"Very well, but go and rest; you have done a good job."
"Thank you, Sensei," Donnie bowed and, with one last glance over Leo, left to sleep in a corner. Splinter sighed and sat beside his eldest son. It was not what Splinter had expected. He knew that some of them would be injured but he had not been prepared for this. Leonardo was down again – it had ended how it had started. He looked around the garage and saw his other three sons all consumed in fitful slumber. April and Casey slept peacefully, Casey's arms wrapped protectively around April as he shifted slightly in his sleep.
The next night the group headed back to the sewers, Casey and Raph carrying Leo between them. Soon they were at the sewers and climbed down the man-hole and through the tunnels to their old lair. It was in a mess but everything was still there and after a quick clean-up operation it would be as good as new. The group were still exhausted and collapsed in various places; the four turtles and Splinter were in their own beds while April and Casey took the sofa.
And so it ends. The same way it started. The Shredder is dead and we can finally relax to our peaceful lives of fighting crime once more. All this time we've been playing one big game of hide and seek with a deadly twist and we finally found and eliminated the best player in the game. Nothing can destroy us now.
April and Casey are engaged and will send us pictures of the wedding and honeymoon via email. Donnie should have no problems getting that sorted. I can't wait to see how long it lasts. Raph has learned to be a little more tolerant of me - but only because he knows how gutted I am to not be able to practice for a few weeks, by Splinter's will, not my own. I've taken up my fearless leader mode once more, even if Raph still finds it irritating, while Master Splinter has started to put us back on track again and gives me extra meditation instead of physical training. Mikey is still being the optimist; so, all in all, things are just the way they were before this whole war started and before we were driven so close to destruction…
…And that's exactly the way I like it.
A/N: - So I end with Leo's thoughts – the way I always wanted to do since I began writing this. I may write a sequel at a later date if the demand is big enough. Once again, thank you for reading and please review for me and really help me to finish this with a bang. I love the TMNT to bits and this has been my favourite story to write so far.
Thank you and goodbye love ya all Dory's Human Replica aka Em XxXxXxXxX