A/N: - Ok, before I let you read this final chapter, I have to say this: Thank you so much to all my dedicated reviewers who have stuck with me all the way through this story – it's been great to read your reviews each time as they always make me smile. I am stunned at how many reviews this has had and really cannot believe my luck with it. So here is the final chapter of Wreaking Revenge and please leave me one final review at the end and let's have this go out with a bang! Thank you again! Enjoy!
Having watched their brother leave, the remaining three slumped down where they were and thought of all the possible consequences of the situation. Raph was unable to move at all, Mikey was able to haul himself along the floor a few centimetres at a time and Leo was still led face down and unmoving.
"Leo?" Mikey ventured, halting his attempt to get any closer to his two brothers. When he didn't receive an answer, Mikey turned to Raph, "is he…?"
"I'm ok…" Leo spoke softly, hoarsely, and pushed himself shakily up onto his knees, "where's…Donnie?"
"He's gone – he went to go find Splinter."
"Splinter? But…he'll never make it,"
"It's a long story, bro," Mikey sighed tiredly, "we'll explain later."
Meanwhile, Donnie was struggling through the forest, sticking close to the floor as he could currently crawl a lot faster than he could walk. He had been going for about forty-five minutes and, so far, he had not come across Baxter Stockman or any traps, man, have I been lucky or have I been lucky?he thought. But as soon as these thoughts crossed his mind, he saw a pair of red eyes glaring at him from a bush ahead.
"Famous last words," he muttered, subconsciously slapping himself for jinxing his luck so far.
"Famous last words indeed, turtle-boy," Stockman emerged from the trees, though it was not his human solid head but a projection of it that was seen.
"Keep away, Stockman – you'll never alert the humans – you're monitor has been shut down!" Donnie smiled lop-sidedly.
"You lie," Stockman hissed, "and now I will kill you and your brothers will die. Speaking of your brothers how is Leonardo? Poison not working too fast, I hope. I wouldn't want his end to come too quickly,"
"It won't," Donnie scowled darkly, "because his end won't come – we'll get the antidote and you'll pay for this!"
"Try me," Stockman advanced, powering up some sort of gun that was attached to one of his beetle legs. Donnie barely managed to roll out the way of a shot; he had no idea how far from the edge of the forest he was but he decided to yell for help in case someone heard him. It was a long shot, but certainly worth a try.
"SPLINTER!" he yelled. Stockman momentarily froze then, realising no help was on its way, began to power up his laser again, chortling viciously to himself. As the shot was about to fire, Stockman was beaten aside with a white hockey stick,
"GOONGALA!" Casey shouted triumphantly, "take that, ya lousy excuse for a beetle!"
"Casey – thank shell," Donnie smiled, relieved.
"Donnie, you look terrible! We gotta get you outta here – hey, where are the others?" Casey craned his neck to look past the turtle, who he had now helped to his feet.
"They're back at the hut, in an awful state – we have to get them out! Mikey can probably just about walk, but if we don't hurry then he won't have any feet left to walk on! Leo and Raph are not doing too good so we have to hurry."
"I got it; ok, let's get you back to the Battle Shell and me, April and Splinter will go find your brothers."
"I want to come back too,"
"No, Donnie, you ain't in a fit state to do anything." Casey helped the turtle out of the forest and after about twenty minutes they reached the Battle Shell. Splinter and April both hurried forward, looking very worried.
"Don, what happened? You look awful!" April exclaimed, hand over her mouth in shock as she took in the state of her friend.
"My son, where are your brothers?" Splinter asked after having got over the state of his second-to-youngest son.
"Still in there – I was the only one fit to get out, Sensei, except maybe Mikey but I didn't wanna send him out."
"We must get to them – you will have to tell us the way, my son, as I will not allow you to venture back in there."
"Ok, Master Splinter," Donnie sighed, knowing it would be fruitless to argue. He gave them detailed directions, not easy considering it was dark and the main way to get to the hideout was to keep going straight.
"We will find it, Donatello, do not worry – now, get into the Battle Shell and wrap yourself in a blanket – we will see to your wounds once you are all safe. Do not reveal yourself to the enemy, my son. It pains me to leave you on your own but, from what you have told us, I fear all three of us will be needed in the forest."
"You got that right, Sensei," Donnie bit his lip, waving them off before staggering into the back of the Battle Shell and collapsing, snatching up a blanket and pulling it tightly around himself, trying to shut out the pain from his wounds and the panicky feeling that his brothers would not be found.
Back in the hut, the three turtles were jerked to life by the creaking of the door, and the first light of dawn streaming through the windows.
"Master Splinter, thank shell you're--- Roshiri…" Raph's voice faded and died in his throat as the human walked through the door, flanked by his three brothers, Ramakha at the back looking scared and distraught.
"We heard a scream in the forest and, once we fixed our communications to Baxter Stockman, discovered that your brother, Donatello had escaped. He may have got out lightly, but you won't. Ramakha, the chainsaw on Michelangelo; Ronald, you held Reginald with Leonardo as your turtle seems to have run away. As for me," he crossed the room in three quick strides to Raphael, "I believe I am due to finish you off, Raphael, am I not?"
"Keep away from me, scumbag," Raph growled menacingly, finding his voice again at exactly the right moment.
"Tell you what, Raphael, I'll make a deal with you," Roshiri studied his nails and then flicked his eyes to meet those of the red-clad turtle, "how about every time you backchat to me I do something to one of your brothers?"
"You wouldn't dare…"
"Alternatively, how about you watch a little horror-movie style entertainment – you might enjoy it," Roshiri roughly turned Raph's head to face where Ramakha had fired up the chainsaw and was about to use it to remove Mikey's feet. At the same time, Leo was suffering another attack from the poison, his screams chilling Raph through while he had the visual of his other brother pleading with the human to have some mercy.
"Ramakha," Mikey was begging, "you were helping us – why are you doing this? Dude, snap out of it, please?"
"Stop it," Raph whispered, "Stop it,"
"What's wrong, Raphael? Not your style?"
"Raph," Mikey sobbed, "shut your eyes – you shouldn't see this,"
"He is right," Ramakha echoed woodenly, "you should not watch, for your own sake."
"He will watch!" Roshiri snarled. Ramakha's hands were shaking as he prepared to do the deed he'd almost been forced to do two days before. But with one last look at Raph's pained face, Mikey's tear-stained and bloody one and Leo's wide eyes as he fought to stay conscious, he turned away, shut off the saw and threw it so it landed just in front of Roshiri's feet.
"Sorry, Roshiri, I cannot do it. I am in charge here and I say that this is wrong and unjust. Their other brother is probably lying dead in the forest, Leonardo will be beyond help as of tonight, Raphael is broken in body and spirit and Michelangelo's light-hearted playfulness is no longer visible. They have received punishment enough in my eyes, and I know how it feels to lose a family. I could not do that to anyone else – we lost one family member as they are soon going to – isn't that enough for you?"
"Ramakha has a point," Reginald piped up unexpectedly.
"Traitors…" Roshiri narrowed his eyes at Ronald, "are you with them or against them, Ronald?"
"Ronald, you know what's right…"
"I…" Ronald racked his brains for the right words, "I don't want to pick a side…"
"Then you are weak!" Roshiri bellowed, drawing a sword from his belt and running at his brother, decapitating him with one fell swoop, Ronald's head, bearing a shocked expression, then rolling across the floor and stopping by Reginald's feet.
"He was not weak…you call him weak for not choosing between his brothers, like you call us weak for doing the right thing," Reginald's breath caught in his throat along with a lump and tears building up behind his eyelids, which were shut as he tried to control himself.
"Roshiri, stop this madness now," Ramakha's temper was beginning to flare up, "you are being reckless and you must stop it!"
"You cannot order me around! Just because you were the leader of the Elite it doesn't make you the leader of my own personal choices and of who I get vengeance on. He snatched the remote from Ronald's dead body and held it up, "Now, I shall destroy this, thus leaving the poison to finish its work without disturbance."
"No…" Raph took a deep breath and summoned his strength to use his good arm to grab the human's ankle and overbalance him. Roshiri, however, did not fall but merely stumbled a few steps before kicking Raph off of him. Ramakha drew his sword and spoke in a voice far from how he usually sounded,
"Roshiri, turn and fight,"
"What?" a flicker of fear showed in the other human's eyes.
"You heard," Ramakha sounded exactly like the Shredder did as he spoke.
"You want to fight me?"
"For possession of the controlling device; you win, you can destroy it. I win and I take it to do as I wish."
"Very well," Roshiri nodded and he and Ramakha began to circle, while Reginald untied Raph, Mikey and Leo, leaving them crumpled on the floor. A heated fight began and Mikey watched in silence while Raph made a valiant attempt to get to his coughing older brother. Roshiri was definitely a quicker, more agile fighter but Ramakha was intimidating and made the other nervous, fighting with anger rather than skill. Both were evenly matched and the fight could have gone either way. Neither one would admit defeat until they were dead on the ground, which meant that neither one appeared to get tired. As Roshiri suddenly appeared to get the upper-hand, three more figures burst into the hut; Master Splinter, angry and ready to fight, Casey Jones, furious with his hockey stick in one hand and golf club in the other, and April Jones, livid with her hair scruffy and framing her face, which was contorted with rage. While Roshiri was distracted, Ramakha took his chance and stabbed him, just missing his heart. Reeling round in pain to face his smirking brother, Roshiri drew his arm back and threw the remote out of the window and into the depths of the forest before rounding on Ramakha and fighting once more. Knowing that his time was running out, Roshiri held his sword up to Ramakha's neck. At the same time, his brother had his sword over Roshiri's heart.
"Stale-mate," Ramakha panted.
"You kill me and I kill you," Roshiri echoed, blood beginning to show through his shirt.
"Likewise, brother, likewise,"
"And the remote is gone – you'll never find it now."
"Reginald," Ramakha barked in an orderly tone, "you must find that controlling device and then press the antidote button as soon as you find it. You have not got long as I seem to recall that we made it so that the poison would kill Leonardo slightly earlier than three days as a sick joke, though now I no longer see what was amusing about it. You have only twelve hours as it must be found before five o'clock today, understood? Goodbye, my friends, and remember your promise. Brother," he addressed Roshiri, his voice making him sound noble, "I die for honour," he thrust his sword through Roshiri's heart and at the same time had Roshiri's sword plunged into him, but it missed his neck and slid just under his collarbone on the right hand side. Both brothers fell to the floor and Roshiri died almost instantly, not even trying to fight for life.
After a stunned silence, Reginald bowed to the turtles, Splinter, April and Casey,
"As the only one who remains and on my brother's wishes, I shall find that controlling device. It does not matter where you are in relation to where I am, as long as it is pressed before five o'clock. I bid you all farewell as I must take my brother up to our home to tend to his wounds, and then I shall most definitely start searching - I trust you can find your way out of the forest,"
"We shall manage – thank you, Reginald-san," Splinter bowed to the human and Reginald cast one last look at the bodies of his two brothers before leaving the room with Ramakha in his arms and heading up towards the Foot Headquarters.
"Guys, you…" April couldn't find the words as she made her way over to where Leo and Raph were.
"Mrs. Jones, you shall help Leonardo. Mr. Jones, assist Michelangelo,"
"I can manage, Sensei," Mikey got to his feet, albeit unsteady and took a few tentative steps.
"Mr. Jones, your help shall be needed with Raphael then – you shall have to carry him carefully. Michelangelo, you cannot make it out without assistance and I will help you to walk."
"Thank-you, Sensei," Mikey smiled weakly, putting some of his weight on the rat. Slowly, the six of them headed out of the forest. Leo was still having an attack, and from the length of time it had gone on for and the fact that he seemed to be hurting all over signaled that it could be the start of the final attack, heralding that his death was close at hand.
Finally reaching the Battle Shell, Donnie staggered out to meet them and Mikey related the story in disjointed words as his teeth chattered and the inflamed welts on his legs caused him excruciating pain. Raph was now out cold, knowing that he and his brothers were in good hands and were going to be treated, while Leo was still fighting off the screams as his attack worsened. Donnie and Mikey were sat in the back of the vehicle with their brothers and April, who was doing all she could to help each of them, while Casey drove them back to the lair and Splinter scurried off ahead to prepare his sons' beds and set up the first aid supplies they were likely to need, which was pretty much all of them!
By three o'clock that afternoon, the four brothers were all in their own beds; Raphael was still unconscious but his limbs had been splinted and bandaged, Mikey was in the bunk above Raph and in a fitful pill-induced slumber with cooling tonic and antiseptic cream on his legs and plasters and bandages adorning him. In Donnie and Leo's room, the purple-clad turtle was not in his bed – instead, still wrapped up and now covered in bandages and cream than stung immensely, he was sat by his brother and was dabbing at the feverish turtle's forehead with a cool flannel. Leo's wounds had also been cleaned and bandaged by April and Casey between them and now the humans were speaking with Splinter and packing away the bits and bobs they wouldn't need any more.
"Reginald will…" Donnie winced as one of the grids carved on his plastron sent a burst of pain through him, "he will find that remote, you'll see."
"Donatello!" April bustled into the room, "you are supposed to be in bed! Get up there now!" she helped him up the ladder and into his own bed, "we will take care of Leo."
"How can I possibly sleep when he keeps crying out every few minutes?" Donnie protested, "I may as well do something useful!"
"Don, please just go with me on this one, okay? I know you're used to fixing up your brothers but you need to be fixed up too this time and I will not let you over-work yourself while you're in such a fragile state,"
"I'm fine, April, really," Donnie lied through gritted teeth.
"Now you sound like Leo – you're not okay, Don, and you know it, so just rest. You can do no more for any of your brothers. You already saved their lives by finding us back there, so now you have to have a well-earned rest, yeah?"
"Yeah," Donnie agreed reluctantly, "You'll keep an eye on the others though, won't you?"
"Of course, now get some sleep before I'm forced to drug you," April grinned, kissing him on the cheek before leaving the room.
"Yes, mother," Donnie muttered sarcastically.
"Don't push your luck, young man," April joked back from outside the room, "I heard that!"
Leo's condition declined rapidly and as four o'clock approached, there was no sign of any change.
"Maybe it gets worse before it gets better," Mikey suggested sleepily, having woken up when he heard his older brother moan his way back into consciousness in the bunk beneath him and instantly ask Casey, who had been checking his injuries, how Leo was doing.
"I don't think so, Mikey," Casey sighed, "Ok, Raphy-boy, you gotta try not to move too much or you'll end up doing even more damage to yourself." He left as he heard April call him from where she was in the living room.
"Hey, Ape, what's up?" he put an arm round her and led her to the sofa, where the couple sat down.
"The screaming has started again." She stated simply; Casey knew exactly what that meant.
"Starting to look hopeless, huh?"
"Splinter's in there with him – we tried to get Donnie to move in here but he wouldn't leave."
"Can ya blame him? He wants to be in there for his brother."
"I know, but I don't think it's fair that he can be in there and Raph and Mikey aren't allowed in. If one is there then they all should be there." She grumbled. Right on cue, Donnie, helped by Splinter, shuffled out of the room and was led into Raph and Mikey's room. Splinter then emerged from there and put a hand on Casey's shoulder,
"I request that you do not come into the room,"
"Sure thing, Master Splinter," Casey replied, "Uh, is Leo doing ok?"
"Worse than I would have expected, but there's less than an hour to go."
In the forest outside the Foot Headquarters, Reginald spotted a small object in the undergrowth and bent down to pick it up,
"Alleluia," he sighed in sheer relief as he pressed a green button on the device he held and then pressed it again for good measure. At that moment, there was a short beep from the object and a smile broke out on Reginald's face, "I think, my friends, I have found this not a moment too soon," he glanced at his watch, "fifty-three minutes and forty two seconds – how long you had to live before, Leonardo – now you have the rest of your life to look forward to."
A deathly silence filled the lair as half-past four approached. Leo's attack had begun to die down, which everybody assumed meant that it would soon be the end and his body was beginning to shut down. The minutes passed in what seemed like hours and Raph, Mikey and Donnie were all awaiting news. What they didn't expect was a sharp knock on the door of the lair, breaking through the silence. April, seeing that nobody else was going to do it, answered the door and gasped in surprise as Reginald and Ramakha strode into the room, a bandage peeking over the top of Ramakha's black shirt. They were wearing black, floor-length trousers and black, light-weight shirts with a pocket on the left hand side over their hearts. On these were blood red embroidered 'R's encircled by silver swirls and the Japanese symbol for peace underneath the 'R's.
"We come to see how you all fare," Ramakha greeted, "ah, Mrs. Jones, more beautiful each time I see you,"
"Hands off, buddy," Casey snapped out of his dream-world, "she's mine – go get your own!"
"Apologies, Mr. Jones, it was intended as a joke," he winked at April, who giggled.
"Yeah, yeah, very funny," Casey muttered, sounding uncannily like Raph when he was in a bad mood.
"How are our reptilian friends?"
"Not so good, I'm afraid," April wrinkled her nose and frowned, "um…not meaning to be rude but I don't see why you choose now, when Leo is almost dead, to turn up for a friendly visit."
"We came to inform you that we pressed the antidote button on the remote half an hour ago," Reginald beamed at her.
"You…you did?"
"We did,"
"Master Splinter," April gasped happily as Splinter arrived from Leo's room, "the reason Leo's attack died down was because they pressed the button! The poison is being wiped out!"
"I know,"
"You know? How the heck do you know?" Casey exclaimed, puzzled.
"Uh…hey," Leo spoke from behind Casey, grasping a chair for a little support as the dizziness had not yet quite passed.
"Hey," Casey greeted casually, then freezing and looking back round, "hey!"
"Hang on, I'll go get the others," Leo grinned, staggering slightly as he walked to the door of Raph and Mikey's room. Knocking, he received a quiet answer from either Donnie or Mikey; he couldn't tell which through the door as the voice was so soft,
"Can I come in?" he asked. After hearing three gasps on the other side of the door, it clicked open and Donnie was stood there, utter shock mixed with an overjoyed grin on his features.
"Leo!" Mikey's eyes lit up as his oldest brother stepped into the room, as if the poison had never existed and only the torture had been carried out. The youngest turtle carefully climbed down the ladder of his bunk bed and hugged his brother. Moving past his two youngest siblings, Leo sat on the edge of Raph's bed, where the hot-headed turtle was propped up on several pillows, grinning like a Cheshire cat – an expression which was reflected exactly on Leo's face,
"Hey, bro, how ya feeling?"
"Fine," Leo answered shortly, taking in the amount of bandages covering his brother, "but you don't look so good…"
"Firstly, you ain't totally fine so don't kid me, and secondly it ain't as bad as it looks,"
"Raph, you've got two cracked ribs, a fractured arm and ankle and a clean broken ankle –and you're telling me it's not as bad as it looks?"
"You're no better," Raph mumbled grumpily.
"I am,"
"No you're not,"
"Am,"
"Not,"
"Am,"
"Not,"
"Guys…" Donnie warned, shaking his head but smiling all the same.
"Some things never change, do they? Leo and Raph are just as grumpy and up-tight as ever," Mikey laughed heartily, receiving a bap round the head from Leo, who was now standing, and had a pillow thrown at him by Raph, "What? I was just saying!"
"If you ever need an ally, then you know who to call," Reginald told everyone once they were all gathered in the bedroom of Mikey and Raph a few minutes later, after having witnessed Splinter give his sons a very half-hearted lecture about bickering and throwing things at each other.
"And we say the same for you," the rat declared.
"Ladies, gentlemen, turtles, rats…and Raph," Mikey poked his tongue out at Raph, who refrained from throwing something a little more pointed, like his Sais, at the orange-clad prankster.
"What is it, Michelangelo?"
"This is the day we never thought would come in a billion, trillion years! The day we make peace with the Shred-heads relatives; to be honest guys, I thought you were total boneheads even when we were allied with you for a while last time, but it's safe to say you've reversed that judgement,"
"You think we can throw something at him?" Ramakha muttered to Reginald.
"Better not, or we'll end up with a lecture too," Reginald replied, gaining a chuckle out of his brother and a snort from Casey who was stood nearby. April eyed her husband in revulsion at the sound but just contented herself with rolling her eyes and sighing loudly instead of making a comment.
"Well, everyone, this has been fun, but we have to go or we'll miss our flight." Ramakha announced.
"Flight? Where are you guys going?" Raph cocked his head on one side curiosly.
"To Japan – we do not wish to stay here. We are having the Foot building re-furbished as a place of teaching for the martial arts and will return once it is completed to teach there. But first, we wish to take our brothers' ashes to Japan and sprinkle them in our homeland. We have forgiven Roshiri for what he did as his loyalty to the Shredder was more unwavering than our own and he never doubted the Shredder. Ronald could not make the choice between his brothers so he did no wrong. We hope you will also forgive us and our deceased brothers."
"We can, in part, forgive, but we will not forget nor fully forgive all that has been committed on your parts," Splinter sighed.
"We expected as much, and that, for the while, will do, though we hope that one day we can truly earn your forgiveness." Reginald inclined his head to April and Casey before bowing to Splinter and the turtles. Ramakha did likewise and the two brothers left the lair, leaving the others behind.
"Wow, teaching martial arts at the Foot building? That'll be something different," Leo mused.
"Change is good, my son, as I have told you a thousand times,"
"I know, Sensei,"
"Now, all of you off to your own rooms and Mr. and Mrs. Jones and myself will be in the living room enjoying dinner if you need us, but I absolutely forbid you to leave your rooms." He pointed his finger at them and ushered Leo and Donnie back to their room before joining April and Casey in the living room, meaning Mikey and Raph were left alone.
"So," Mikey yawned as he clambered back up into his bed, "any ideas how to amuse ourselves? Uh, Raph? You awake?" he climbed back down the ladder. Then, with a devilish grin, he glanced around the room until he spotted what he was looking for. Picking it up and taking the cap off, he crept towards his brother, permanent marker at the ready. As soon as the marker touched Raph's face, unfortunately for Mikey, the red-clad turtle woke up and roared louder than anyone had heard before,
"MIKEY!"
"What?" Mikey whined, "like I said earlier: 'Some things never change!'"
A/N: - I really, really, really hope the ending was ok – let me know what you thought of this chapter and of the story as a whole. Here is the last set of shout-outs, the ones from chapter twenty-three: -
Cynlee: - Happy ending like you thought! Yeah, some of the stuff in the last chapter was probably not everyone's cup of tea with the amount of violence in it but there is a happy ending so it's all ok! And thanks for all the reviews you've posted!
BlueRaven: - I only know a little Spanish – I'm doing it for GCSE and am only halfway through the course – but it's a cool language! And I'm glad you've enjoyed this story so much! Thank you for all your reviews!
Lioness Goddess: - Well, I could hardly have them be-foot Mikey, could I? That wouldn't really be fair – but then they are Shredder's brothers…Um…Tic-Tac-Toe – I'm not entirely sure what that is but Noughts and Crosses is where you have a 3x3 grid and you take turns (one person is noughts and one is crosses) and the first one to get a line of three (vertical, horizontal or diagonal) is the winner. Thank you for all your reviews of every chapter and the support throughout the course of the story – it means a lot!
BubblyShell22: - I could never kill Leo with just a poison – he deserves to die with more honour than that. Thank you for all your brilliant reviews – and I'm really flattered you enjoyed this story so much.
Lady-Of-The-Rings: - Can Baxter Stockman be considered a trap? He's definitely a hindrance! Thanks for all the reviews you've left – I'm grateful for every last one!
Eldarsevenstar: - Lol, I don't succumb easily to mobs! grips handles of swords tightly but then sheaths them and besides, they got the antidote – any longer in that hell-hole of a hut and they would all have died! And I could never kill Leo like this – if ever I were to kill him then…well, maybe someday you'll find out ;-) Thank you so much for all the reviews you've left me and especially for this last one as it really made me smile!
Dreema Azaleia Wingblade: - Ah, a new reviewer – excellent to see this late on! Thanks for your review and here is the final chapter of my story – hope you liked it! And Raph begging is definitely cool – fun to read AND write!
Thank-you again and again for all your reviews and I hope you enjoyed this story. There probably won't be another sequel of this massive length but there may be a Fanfiction that involves the Shredder's brothers at some point, to expand on their characters and more importantly how they got wound up with Shredder as a brother and about Ramakha's Secret Past with the slaughtering of his family – let me know if this would interest you! Thanks again and one last thing: review!
Dory's Human Replica
Xxx
