Sighs. Sorry for not updating in a long time. (yawns) I'm sleep-deprived. I haven't been able to sleep well for three weeks now. I can't go to sleep, but when I do, I wake up at ungodly times (two-three in the morning) and then I can't go back to sleep. One time I woke up at three and couldn't get back to sleep until six.
Anyways, I've decided to update. (yawns again)
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……
Chapter 6: Thus when darkness lifts
It was night again. After a long, hard wait.
The night was cool and dark. Thick, stormy clouds covered the moon, and a freezing wind howled.
Raph sat on top of an abandoned building, waiting.
Suddenly, his shell-cell began to beep. Raph rolled his eyes, but opened it anyways, knowing exactly what they were going to say.
On normal days, he'd ignore it, but now he figured his brothers were stressed enough as it is.
Flipping it open, he gruffly answered. "Wha?"
"Raph! Thank god! Where the shell are ya?"
It was Don's voice. Raph smirked a little at the worried tone his usually tranquil brother used. "On top of the abandoned building. Why?"
"Because! You've been gone for a long time! Get your shell back here!"
Raph couldn't resist rolling his eyes. "I've been gone for an hour, Don."
"An hour too long! Get home NOW!"
With that, Don switched off his phone. He sighed before rubbing his eyes. He was tired and stressed. He didn't need one of his brothers lost or hurt or…
Don suddenly smirked. Now he knew exactly how Leo felt when one of them wandered off.
And Raph was just being his usual idiotic self. Don shook his head, still smiling. He never noticed until now, but how the hell did Leo manage Raph? He was such an idiot sometimes…
Don sighed again before standing up from his chair and walking out of his room.
Mikey sat on the couch, his knees drawn to his chin, his eyes watching the clock intently.
They were back in the apartment. Casey had phoned April, who was now in the Lair, telling her that they'll be home late. Raph had stormed off, Don had retreated to his room, Splinter was meditating in a separate room, and he was just sitting watching the clock.
They had planned to leave in about an hour. And Mikey was ready. Hell, if it wasn't for him promising not to leave until all of them were together in one place, he'd be gone already.
But he promised and he wasn't someone who broke promises. So he'd just sit and watch the clock until Raph came home and they could go get Leo.
Splinter sat still, meditating.
Leonardo had been training in the past year to contact another being spiritually. Now, Splinter hoped that all the training had not gone in vain.
'My son?'
Leo lay on his side, facing the wall. Water from puddles were trickling down the walls, and dripping onto him from the little broken window.
He was freezing, but he didn't care. He was going to die anyway. Here, alone, without any honor—
'My son?'
Leo jerked his head up, listening intently. He thought he'd heard Splinter. But that wasn't possible, was it?
Leo listened for a few more minutes before laying his head back down. It wasn't possible. He thought, his heart sinking. It just wasn't.
'My son?'
There it was again. Leo looked around confused, before remembering something. Splinter was contacting him spiritually.
Leo felt a faint smile on his face, before curling up a little more, trying to keep warm.
'Go away.'
Splinter opened his eyes in surprise at that.
There was so much pain, loneliness, and rejection in just two simple words.
Closing his eyes again, he answered.
'My son, why?'
Leo let out a dry chuckle, which immediately turned into coughs. Spitting out a little blood, Leo groaned in pain as his chest wounds were stressed.
He just wouldn't let up, would he?
'Leave me alone.'
Splinter once again opened his eyes, breaking his concentration.
The voice was so weak, so tired.
'We are coming for you, my son.'
Leo slowly closed his eyes, feeling unconsciousness coming to take him.
'Don't.'
And with that one word, he closed the link.
Raph stomped into the apartment, his hands into fists. He knew that as soon as he got home, they'd be off.
And he was ready.
He'd kill that fuckin' bastard before tearing his body to microscopic bits.
Don nodded to Raph from the couch where all of them were crowded, waiting for him. Splinter was also there, looking calm but troubled.
Raph looked at them. "Ready 'ta go?"
In silent agreement, all of them nodded.
Don spoke up. "I have a plan. It's not as good as Leo's but still." He paused before continuing. "I and Master Splinter will go after that little black cube. You," He pointed to Raph, "Mikey and Casey will go get Leo."
Raph snorted. "Sure. And how the hell are we supposed to find him?"
Don smiled sadly. "April and I did a quick scan of the building he's in. The building was built on an eighteenth century dungeon. I know, it sounds weird, but even New York had dungeons." Don explained quickly. "But the fact is, that most likely Shredder knew this and had it re-built. So, there's at least a good 80 percent chance that Leo's down there."
Silence.
It was so loud, despite what it meant.
There was a dim howling of the wind, and a faint dripping of water, but other than that, it was silent.
Leo sighed as he lay on the cold hard ground. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious. Maybe just two-three minutes. Maybe an hour. Who knows? He just kept drifting from consciousness to unconsciousness.
Leo sneezed suddenly, before groaning in pain and curling up a bit tighter. He wondered where his brothers were. Where they safe? What were they thinking about? Where were they?
They were currently crouching in the shadows of a building.
The clouds covered the moon, so there was no light to worry about, except for the streetlights, but they didn't shed so much light.
The building where Leo was was dark, except for a fire-logo on it, glowing in the dark.
Raph nodded to his family, who silently split up. Splinter and Don silently scaled the walls to get onto the roof, where they silently jumped over to the Shredder's building.
Raph, Mikey, and Casey meanwhile snuck towards the building, before circling it, searching for an easy way in.
Don silently cut a hole in one the windows, just wide enough for them to sneak in.
They stepped into a narrow corridor; small glowing lights on the floor lighted the pathway.
Splinter nodded to Don, and they both mutely began to run down the corridor, quickly finding the stairs and climbing them up.
They were heading to the very top room of the building, where Don and April were sure that was Saki's main headquarters.
It was Mikey who found a small door on the building's north side, hidden behind bushes. Raph had quickly picked the lock, and they quickly entered into a tiny hallway, leading down underground.
Splinter and Don managed to climb at least 20 flights of stairs before they managed to get onto the last level.
They easily found the door that lead to the big room, which they opened and snuck in. The room was empty save for a small candle glowing in the dark.
Splinter froze, his ears twitching.
"I am impressed."
Both of them whirled to their left.
The Shredder, clad with his armor and claws, stepped out of the shadows.
They had checked almost every room along the corridor. That is, they had checked about 50 small rooms. None of them held Leo.
They were all getting irritated and restless. What if Don was wrong and Leo wasn't here?
Raph had stalked ahead, looking to see how many more doors they'd have to open. There were only 15 more. He groaned.
Then, he caught sight of a door, bolted shut and chained shut. Raph raised an eyebrow. That was weird. This door was closed tighter than the rest.
He quickly cut the chain with his Sai, before opening the door with some difficulty.
Immediately, he shivered. It was freezing in here!
But then he caught sight of a small section of the room cut off from the rest by bars in form of a cage. The cage was way too small for anyone to be comfortable in it.
But a small form, curled up, was in it.
Raph's eyes widened as he recognized the form. He quickly hinted for the others, who came running, before he quickly began to pick the lock on the cage.
"I am impressed." The Shredder repeated, his eyes glinting evilly. "I never would have believed that you would have come so quickly."
Splinter's ears twitched in anger. "You have attacked us and stolen my eldest. All through dishonorable tricks! Did you not think we would react to this?"
Saki laughed. "Dishonorable tricks! I merely did what I could to rid of you pests."
"And where is the honor in your actions?"
"Why do I need honor? It is a bothersome trait." Saki paused. "But it was quite amusing to watch your eldest break under my control…"
Don gripped his staff so tightly that it was a wonder it didn't break.
Saki laughed as he noticed that. "Angry? Good." He held out his right hand, opening it slightly to show a small black cube. "Do you want this?" He taunted as he saw Don make a slight move.
He quickly snatched his hand back. "You'll have to beat me to get it."
Don jumped at him.
The stupid lock wouldn't open. So Raph cut it off, before yanking the cage door open, before quickly crawling into it.
He winced at how bad Leo looked. There was dried blood on his face from two diagonal cuts on his face. And there were more bruises on him then Raph remembered seeing.
"Leo?" He whispered, shaking his brother lightly. But his brother was passed out.
Raph sighed before noticing something on Leo's neck. There were three very dark fingerprints. He cocked his head.
Gingerly, Raph placed his hand on Leo's neck. His fingers fit the fingerprints perfectly.
Raph's eyes widened.
"Raph?"
Raph snatched his hands away as he looked up at Mikey. Mikey was looking at him sadly. Raph looked away, knowing that Mikey understood.
Taking a deep breath, Raph grabbed Leo, before slowly pushing him out of the cage. Mikey, who was outside, took hold of the edge of Leo's shell, and began to drag him out.
Casey, who was standing guard outside the door, suddenly burst in. "We've got company!"
Splinter was the only one who had managed not to get knocked into the wall. Now he, Don, was a whole 'nother story. He'd been knocked into the wall about 7 times…erm…8 times.
Don groaned as he massaged his head and stood up, only to have to duck again, barely missing a small knife thrown at him.
Splinter feigned a step to the left, before attacking from the right. Saki managed to block, but Splinter's tail wrapped around his right hand, forcing him to drop the cube.
Don saw this and he quickly jumped forward and scooped the little cube up. Splinter kicked Saki into the wall, before both of them retreated out of the room, intent on finding the others.
Raph growled as he eyed the army of Foot soldiers in the outside corridor. He looked at Casey. "Protect Leo." He growled at him.
Casey nodded, knowing better than to argue with him right now.
Turning to Mikey, Raph spoke in a barely audible tone. "Distract them. I'm gonna do somethin'."
Mikey nodded, before jumping at the soldiers.
Raph quickly strode over to the back wall, before taking out a small bomb that Don had given to him. Pressing the button, Raph quickly threw it at the wall before jumping away.
There was a small explosion, not big enough to injure any of them, but big enough to get the job done.
The wall cracked and began to collapse, a huge hole forming around the small window.
Raph quickly grabbed Leo, hoisting him over his shoulder, before jumping out. Then, he helped Casey and Mikey out.
Then, after he ordered Mikey to take Leo and run, Raph took out another bomb. This one was a whole lot more powerful than the other. Throwing it in, Raph took off running.
There was a muffled explosion behind him.
Don screeched to a halt in front of a circuit box. Grinning at a sudden idea, Don gave the small cube to Splinter, before opening the circuitry box. There, inside, was a whole bunch of wires, running everywhere. Don kept grinning as he yanked out all the wires, and then began to do creative rewiring.
Splinter watched his son, his ears picking up the distant pounding of feet. Splinter knew that this was it.
He quickly squeezed the cube, which glowed red, before turning black again. Then, Splinter crushed the cube into tiny little pieces.
Don smiled as he nodded to Splinter. "We have five minutes before this building is blown sky-high. Let's get outta here!"
Splinter nodded, before kicking open a window, breaking the glass. They both jumped out, grabbing a TV line as they fell, and then sliding down safely onto another building.
5…
Mikey blinked in surprise as Leo glowed red for a second, before realizing what happened. Shredder's control was gone.
4…
Raph ran faster, knowing what was about to happen. Don had called him a few seconds earlier.
3…
Don and Splinter jumped across the building as fast as they could, before jumping down into a random alley. Then, they quickly jumped down into a manhole.
2…
Mikey found another manhole. Lowering Leo down first, he jumped down after him, before running faster.
1…
Casey followed Mikey, then Raph.
0.
There was a muffled explosion, which shook a few debri off the wall of the sewers.
Don grinned as he knew that he'd been successful.
WAHOO! Now, all that's left is Leo's recovery…
R&R PLEASE!
