Sorry it took so long to update! The stupid people decided that I have to take the AIMS, which is an Arizona test that if you don't pass, you can't graduate from High School! The nerve! I just got here about five months ago! Not even half a year has passed, and they're making me write the AIMS. Stupid huh?

And then I had a huge fight with my parents. I wanna go away from home for college. But no! I'm not allowed. Geez. I can't even pick the college I'm gonna go to! Sucks huh?

Anyways, here's the story.

DISCAIMER: I don't own anything, except the title of the story and the title of the chapters and the story plot. Everything else, I'm just borrowing.

So, a few things to note:

Words in ITALICS are THOUGHTS.

Words in :italics: will be something else……

BOLD will be lyrics of songs that I'll put in.


Chapter 3: But hope returns

Leo was dozing in the corner when he realized that the cell was lighter. Much lighter.

Leo sighed as he shook his head. Day was coming at last. Why do good things never last? He thought sadly, as he watched the rain clouds become a lighter shade of gray.

Leo sighed again as he shifted into a more comfortable position, before hissing in agony as white-hot pain shot through his broken ankle.

Leo looked down at his ankle, before wincing. The chain had cut into his ankle, as it had swollen in the night. Leo leaned back onto the cold, wet wall, before his ears picked up distant footsteps.

Damn. He silently cursed, knowing what was going to happen.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head in humiliation as the footsteps echoed closer. But when the door began to open, Leo quickly raised his head again. Not yet. He thought, feeling a little stronger and determined, He hasn't won yet!

The door swung open and Oroku Saki stepped in. Leo noticed that he was alone. Well…I am wounded and sick…not to mention in a cage and chained down…what harm could I do to him?

"Comfortable?"

Leo eyes squinted in anger as he heard the mocking tone behind the question. "Oh, yes of course. I had the time of my life!" Leo answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Saki grinned, before laughing. "You still are not broken…how sad, really. It will be a pleasure to watch your spirit break."

Leo grinned back. "Suuure…." He replied sarcastically. "And it will be a pleasure to break your body into teeny tiny pieces for what you've done."

Saki let out a roar of laughter. "And that threat comes from an animal in a cage!"

Leo kept smiling. "If I'm an animal, then what are you?" He retorted.

Saki's eyes narrowed as he heard the insult. Suddenly, his eyes glinted red, before he drew out a small cube out from under his sleeve. "Enough of these word games. Time for your deal." He snapped.

Leo kept smiling, even though he knew what was next. He'd managed to irritate Saki, if not by much. "Just remember that I'll be watching." Leo warned, before Saki squeezed the cube and Leo went rigid.

Saki watched the turtle go rigid. Even though he'd hate to admit, this one was indeed more dangerous than the others. But, deals only last so long.

And both he and the turtle knew this.


:Leo opened his eyes to realize that he was underwater. Panicking slightly, Leo quickly kicked out with his feet and propelled himself up to the glimmering surface.

He burst up to the surface with a splash, sending the water in all directions, before he looked around, allowing his body to sort-of float in the water.

He gasped. He was in the most beautiful place he'd ever seen.

There were snow-covered mountain peaks in the distant horizon, fields of lavish green grass bending in the breeze, small blue flowers peaking out from the blanket of green…

Leo smiled peacefully, before looking upwards. He could feel the warm, summer sun on his face.

The sky was a deep cerulean, with no hint of clouds anywhere.

Leo let out a slow breath as he kept viewing the scenery with a deep sense of peace. Meanwhile, he allowed himself to drift with the current down the river.

The river was crystal clear and surprisingly warm. He could dimly see fine white sand covering the bottom of the river, which was surprisingly deep. His feet couldn't even touch the bottom!

Leo blinked in sudden surprise as he realized that the current was taking him past a weeping willow. Without thinking, Leo reached out and grabbed one of it's slender branches, before tugging.

The branch immediately stretched, before going rigid, and a shower of leaves fell from it.

Leo expected it to break any second from now, but to his surprise, the branch held.

He smiled before pulling himself slowly towards the willow, the fallen leaves twirling past him in the current.

When his foot touched the bottom of the river, he let the branch go. The branch immediately sprang up before bobbing up and down slowly. Another shower of leaves fell into the river as Leo calmly walked onto dry land.

A cool breeze lazily twirled around him, rustling the willow leaves and bending the grass. Leo shivered a little before sitting down at the base of the willow, facing the crystal clear river.

He brought his knees up closer towards him, as he watched the scenery before him.

He wondered where he was. He wondered what happened.

Suddenly, with a jolt, Leo remembered that his ankle was broken. Looking down at it, he saw that it was swollen and that it was cut, but there was no blood. Leo carefully touched it, expecting excruciating pain, but to his surprise, there was none.

Then it all clicked.

"Of course." He whispered, wincing as his voice echoed. Despite all the beauty, this place was so empty! "This is my inner mind…"

Leo rested his chin onto his knees. "So the deal is in effect…" He whispered, listening to the echo, before letting out a choked sob. Oh, how he hated himself right now.

Leo glanced down at the river, expecting to see a bruised, beaten, broken reflection, but instead it showed him, his eyes glowing red before reverting back to normal.

Leo sadly watched as his body, now controlled by Saki, began to carry out Saki's orders. Leo sighed but did not tear his eyes away from the river image.:


Everyone was sitting in the living room. Mikey had managed to wake up and was sitting on the floor, his knees drawn up to his chest, and he had buried his face into them, sobbing.

Don was fiddling with a gadget, which they all knew was just something that he did when he felt really stressed or upset about something. Everyone knew that they couldn't make him stop fiddling with it. Only Leo managed to do that, but he wasn't here.

Raph was just sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the floor, his head in his hands.

April was, once again, drinking coffee, but her hands shaking too much to keep it from spilling a little.

Master Splinter was sitting in his favorite chair, a thoughtful look on his face.

Casey was polishing his hockey stick, which once again, was a nervous habit.

Everyone was silent.

And the silence was deafening.

Finally, Don couldn't take it anymore. He slammed the gadget down onto the coffee table in front of him, wincing a little as the gadget broke again.

"Right. We're here. We know what's happened." Don stated. "So, with all that done and said, what do we do?"

Mikey shrugged. Casey looked at April, who looked at Raph, who looked at Splinter.

Splinter sighed. "We must go after Leonardo. But the question is how? Leonardo is in the hands of the Shredder, and the Shredder will not let him go easily."

Don nodded solemly. "Plus, by the amount of…erm…blood…(he and everyone winced at the word) Leo's pretty wounded and most likely pretty weak. Plus, if he's dragged us out into the rain, and then stood out there for a good ten minutes, and, I'm just guessing here, the Shredder most likely didn't put him in such a warm place…then probably Leo's getting ill as well." Don took a deep breath. "On top of all that, is the deal that Leo spoke of. I don't really know, but most likely it will have something to do with what he did to us…"

Here, Mikey interrupted. "You mean make him go crazy and hurt people?"

Don cocked his head. "Most likely." He said after a thought. "Anyways, to sum it all up—"

"Leo's pretty injured, ill, and in other words, deep shit. Yeah, yeah, Don, we get it." Raph growled, leaning back onto the couch and crossing his arms.

Don nodded. "Pretty much."

Silence settled again.

After a few minutes, Splinter spoke up. "The deal of which Leonardo spoke…is clearly an obstacle. However, I do not believe Leonardo would have just walked into this sort of thing without a deal of his own…"

Don raised his eyes, a glimmer of hope shone through them. "A loophole?"

Splinter nodded.

Everyone felt a small ray of hope. Splinter was right. Leo would do that sort of thing…

"So we must find that 'loophole' and use it against the Shredder." Splinter said, his eyes glittering with hope.

Raph sighed. "Now all we got to do is find the loophole."

Don nodded. "And wait for the Foot to come out."

Mikey, April and Casey looked at him. "What for?"

Don smirked. "Leo went and is with the Foot. The Shredder would definitely want to use that, wouldn't he? So if he sends the Foot somewhere, then there is a huge chance that he'll send Leo with them. Therefore, if we find the Foot, we've found Leo."


That's it people! Tune in for the continuation, and sorry for the wait!