Chapter Twelve:

Day One

I don't know how I got here. I just remember waking up on this cold ground that I'm now standing on. I can't see anything either. It's completely black all around me. A chill has settled in my body, then I realize I'm no longer clothed. Which is fine by me, I did spend half of my life like this before the surface laws were made. The chill in my body is causing my muscles to spasm and ache, and I would love nothing more than to move. The only problem is that I can't. Some unknown force is keeping me still, and I'm starting to really get upset. Another shiver travels down my spine and I curl my arms around my chest. As if that was going to keep me warm. As my youngest brother once said: It sucks to be cold blooded.

Leonardo!

I looked around in the darkness, trying to find the source of the voice who had just spoken my name. It was very familiar, but my mind is so foggy that I can't seem to place it.

Leonardo, come join me.

Splinter. It was the voice of my sensei, my father. I hear a noise from behind me and I turn to see a bright white light shining down, as if someone had turned on a spotlight. There under the light is where I found my master, seated in a lotus position, with his head bowed and his hands resting on his knees. His walking stick was beside of him.

Whatever it was that had held me still was now lifted, and I was able to walk toward Splinter. When I could see the whites of his old eyes, I stopped and bowed. I looked up and waited for him to do the same, which he did, then I sat down in front of him and also assumed the lotus position. The chills in my body continued as I spoke.

Where are we, sensi? I was shocked to find that my words came from my head instead of from my mouth. I watched as my master spoke, noticing his mouth remained shut as well.

Do you not recognize this place, my son?

I looked around, again seeing nothing but darkness. I'm sorry, master. I don't know. And I was again shocked by his answer.

We are deep within your subconscious mind, my son.

I narrowed my eyes in disbelief. How could that even be possible? Splinter may have the years of experience in ninja mind manipulation, being able to enter the mind of your enemy with your soul, but I certainly didn't! I was good at seeing the truth among the lies in one's voice and eyes, but entering the mind as he had was completely beyond my training!

I don't understand, sensi. How did I get here?

He said nothing at first, and I could see he was thinking. Did he even know? I was beginning to think he didn't.

You are not who you seem. The Leonardo before me is not my son, but only the anger and hatred that has collected inside of him over the years. I am determined to defeat you.

What? How could my master say such a thing? He is right in front of me! Can he not see that I am the same as before? I felt another shiver, and a sudden twisting pain grabbing into my chest. Why does it hurt like that? Why am I so cold?

It will take a lot of time for you to heal, my son. I hope you will make the wise decision and let me help you in the venture.

I turn my head away in confusion. Time to heal? Anger? Hatred? What is going on? As I look back at Splinter, I gasp as I realize he has disappeared. I jump to my feet, trying my best to peer into the darkness, hoping to find a sign of him. I just don't understand! What is happening?

Open your mind, and open your heart. Please. Let me help you.

That wasn't Splinter. That voice was female. The light over my head disappears, and I am again covered in shadow. I grab my head as another sharp pain courses through it. Nothing is making sense! Why won't someone help me understand?

Be strong. The pain will go away. You must open your mind. You must open your heart.

I hear another sound. A rustle, of fabric, perhaps? The smell of sandlewood enters my nose as another light shines in front of me.

Hello, Leo. I'm glad you came to join us. Please, sit with me.

I recognize her. It's Angelina. Her long brown hair is pulled back into a low ponytail, and her face is clean of makeup. She is dressed in a long dark green robe. The smell of sandlewood grows stronger as I walk toward her, and I then see the incense burning away next to her. I again sit down, and she lifts her eyes to me. I start to ask her how she got here, but it seems she can read my thoughts.

I told you Fate had brought me here. Even though what you see before you is just your mind creating an illusion, I'm here because I was told by my great grandmother that I would find a creature with a lost soul and help him fight his way back to attain the one thing that he needs the most in life.

And that might be?

Love.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Love? You have got to be kidding me! I start to laugh at Angie, and I can see the hurt in her eyes. Love. What a ridiculous concept! The only thing love ever did for me was make me dead inside.

Leonardo, please. I can see the pain you carry and how hurt you are-

How could you? No one can see the pain I carry! This is all just some drunken nightmare that I'm experiencing and any minute now I'll be waking up and running to the bathroom to puke my guts out! Angie shakes her head at me.

We knew this would happen. We knew you would not open up to us. And you won't be able to wake up. The Rune I gave you was for your protection, Leo. But it was protection against yourself. I also place a spell on you to make you sleep for three days. You will not be able to wake yourself unless we deem you ready.

I can not believe what I'm hearing! Have I finally gone completely insane? My laughter grew louder as I rose to my feet and I staggered into the darkness. I hear Angie's voice again as the light fades away.

That was your only chance, Leo. Now I am afraid that we must do this the hard way.

I shake my head as her voice fades away. This has been one hell of a nightmare! God, I hope I wake up soon. But wait, do I really want to wake up? I can't face everyone, not after what I did. I have turned my family and friends against me. I feel tears in my eyes suddenly and the weight that I carry in my chest bares down on me even more. I fall to my knees and bury my face in my hands. I have no one to turn to, no one who cares. The sadness within me pulls me down to the ground and I curl into ball as my sobbing grows. How could I do this? Why did I let things go so far? I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Someone, please. Please help me.

It's too late. No one is going to help you, so stop crying and get up!

My eyes shoot open. I didn't need to guess who that voice belonged to. I bring myself to a sitting position and blink my eyes several times, trying to believe what they were showing me.

Get up! If this is what I have become, I'm glad I went into hiding! I can't even show my face again after what you did!

A green hand reaches down, and I hold on as the owner of the hand pulls me up. I stare in amazement as my own eyes stared back at me from under my blue mask. I can also see the handles of my swords sticking out. It was me, a younger me. A much stronger spirited form of myself that was who I once was. I watched myself as I crossed my arms and shook my head.

I still don't see how you got this far. I figured I would have had some sort of rational thought as to what I was doing. All of this over something that could have been forgotten! Something that was so small and inconceivably stupid! You may not have realized it at the time, but I was thankful that she saved us! She risked her life for all of us!. And you also know that you made that choice to save her as well. Saki could have ended her life at that very moment, and at least you let me through to save her.

Okay, now I know I've gone insane! I standing here, listening to MYSELF! What right does he have to yell at me, anyway? He's just a kid! Just a stupid, naive nineteen year old who thinks he knows everything! So what if she did save us? And so what if I saved her? It still does not excuse the fact that she went behind my back, went against my word, and put herself in the middle of something that she didn't belong in! Then after all of that, she told she loved me! How can you betray someone that you care so deeply for? You can't toss a feeling that strong around when you deceive someone!

Stop thinking with your head and think with your heart for once. You will see things more clearly if you do.

And just like that, I, well, that part of me, was gone, and the darkness came back. I still don't see any sense in this. Why can't I snap out of this crazy dream? I have to find a way out of here. A bright red light shines in the distance. It looks to be the size of a golf ball, and it slowly splits up and becomes two red lights. As I stare at them, they start to take the shape of a pair of eyes, and they are moving closer to me. I hear the sound of metal scraping metal as the eyes move closer. My heighten ninja senses pick up on an evil presence, but I feel defenseless and vulnerable. I feel something warm splash against my toes and run down the side of my feet. I can't see what it is, but as the smell of death and decay fill the air, I knew instantly it was blood.

A familiar ominous laugh echoes through my head, and I knew in an instance that my old enemy had come back. I take a step back and feel something squish beneath my foot.

The blood. It's everywhere.

Michelangelo was starting to believe that life couldn't be better! Not only had he gotten some great news from his coworkers at Comic World ( all two thousand copies of his comic sold out in a day!), but at that moment he was standing inside of a crowded Tower Records store watching his favorite pop star dance and sing her heart out on a makeshift stage. Samantha, who was also a huge fan of Mandy, was bouncing to the music on Michelangelo's shoulders and clapping her hands. Both of their voices joined in with the hundreds of other fans that were crammed into the small store. Yes, for the twenty one year old mutant turtle, life could not be any better.

Suddenly the front doors where thrown open and the sound of gunfire erupted over the crowd. Everyone fell to the floor as five black clad men carrying machine guns entered the building. One of them, a huge muscular mutant tiger, began shouting orders to his men in a foreign language that Michelangelo couldn't identify. As the four gunmen began to herd the crowd farther back into the store, a black van pulled up in front of the store and five more black clad gunmen jumped out. The tiger pointed toward the stage, were Mandy was huddled with her backup dancers and her manager, and the gunmen raced to them and grabbed the pop star right out of her dancers' hands. Michelangelo's eyes widen as he watched them silence the singer's screams by striking her in the head with the butt end of a gun, then drag her unconscious body outside to the van.

"Uncle Mikey," Samantha whispered through her tears. " You gotta do something!"

Michelangelo lowered Samantha down to the ground slowly and handed her his cell phone. " Call Uncle Raph. Tell him what happened and stay here until he comes." Samantha nodded her head, then ducked behind a rack of CDs. Michelangelo then pushed himself through the throngs of crying teenage girls toward the fire exit.

Once outside, he pulled himself up a fire escape to the top of a neighboring building. He could see the van swerving though the downtown Manhattan traffic with several police cruisers tailing it, and he knew that if hurried, he could cut them off near Central Park.

As soon as he began running, Michelangelo could feel a stinging ache creep up his legs, and he cursed himself for not listening to Splinter's warning of keeping up with his exercises. Every step he took, Michelangelo felt waves of pain flowing into his calf muscles and he gritted his teeth as he continued to race across the rooftops.

Once he neared the park, Michelangelo came to a stop, and pulled off his dirty, worn out Nikes. He sighed in relief as he wiggled his toes around, then looked over the edge. Just as he had thought, the van turned a corner and was headed right for him. After he counted to three, he jumped down from the five story building and landed with a loud thud onto the van's roof. Michelangelo laughed as the van swayed, and he guessed he must have scared the driver. But his laughter was cut short as bullets began to tear through the roof. Michelangelo pushed his body into a handstand, then braced himself as he crashed he feet into the windshield. He grabbed the driver and the gunman in the passenger seat with his bloody toes and threw their heads together. The mutant tiger screamed out from the back and his men began to fire their guns again, but they suddenly flew backwards as the van crashed through a few parked cars and into the side of a building.

Michelangelo, who had jumped from the van before it crashed, flung open the back doors, and found that most of the gunmen had been knocked out. Their leader had not, and Michelangelo jumped back as the mutant tiger came at him with his long claws extended. The tiger grabbed onto Michelangelo's left arm and flung the turtle into the side of the van. Michelangelo shook his head and tried to get back up, but felt a sudden fire rip through his arm. He looked down and noticed the fresh half inch gash that sat just below his elbow, and watched as the blood slowly dripped down onto the street.

"Man, did you just make a mistake," Michelangelo growled as he stood back up. The tiger narrowed his eyes at the turtle.

" Oh, you think so?" The tiger growled back. Michelangelo then realized the accent the tiger spoke in was German. " I believe you are the one who has made the mistake. You have no idea what you have gotten involved in."

"Why don't you just give up now and hand over the girl before I get really upset." Michelangelo took another step, suddenly wishing he still carried his nunchucks with him.

" Never." The tiger said through his clenched teeth. "Her DNA is worth more than you know. I will not give her up without a fight."

Michelangelo raised an eyebrow. Her DNA? What the heck? He turned back around and looked into the back of the van. Mandy was still unconscious and the blood from the cut in her head was mixing into her dark blonde hair. Michelangelo felt his blood boil and he turned back to the mutant tiger. Gathering up all of his energy, Michelangelo ran toward the tiger, and just as the tiger took another swing at him, he did a handspring and flipped over the tiger's head. The tiger was about to turn around when he felt Michelangelo's foot bust into his jaw line, and the crowd that had gather around them heard the sickening crunch of bone. The tiger fell to his knees and screamed in pain, then watched helplessly as the turtle pulled the girl from the van and sling her over his shoulder.

Michelangelo headed back down the street, holding onto the singer's limp body with his right arm and tried to ignore the searing pain in his left arm. He turned into an empty alley and stopped in front of a manhole cover. He bent down to remove it when he suddenly realized what he was doing.

" Duh, Mikey. You don't live down there any more." He laughed at himself as he stood back up. The sound of screeching tires caused Michelangelo to jump, fearing that the mutant tiger had some how managed to get the van started. The horn of the vehicle sounded and Michelangelo sighed in relief as he heard a familiar voice.

"Come on, you idiot! Hurry up!"

Michelangelo turned and smiled at the sight of Raphael, Vanessa and Samantha sitting in his brother's Mustang. Vanessa opened the door, then gasped at the girl that was slung over Michelangelo's shoulder, the gash in his arm and the dried blood that covered his bare feet.

" Good God! What happened?" She asked as she held onto the girl as Michelangelo slid into the back seat and took Mandy into his lap.

" It's a long story. We gotta get her to our house."

" No way, Mikey!" Raphael grumbled. " We're takin her to a hospital. You guys are gettin blood all over my leather seats!"

Vanessa sneered her fangs at Raphael. " Can't you show just a little compassion every now and then?"

" We can't take her to a hospital, Raph. She's got people after her and they'll find her there." Michelangelo looked into his brother's eyes through the rear view mirror and pleaded silently with them.

" The things I do around here." Raphael sighed heavily and put the car in drive.