I hope you are all ready for this... This is the chapter, where the horror attacks, and surely the last chance to warn you, if you don't like violence and angst.
To all the guys and girls, who haven't turned away yet; I am so greatful for all the many reviews. I am still chocked to find new ones in my mail-inbox. Thanks for that! And now...
Enjoy
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"Leo… Leo come on, wake up…"
Leonardo's eyes fluttered open, feeling the throbbing pain in his head. He looked around himself, noticing how dark it was.
"You' alright?" Raph asked silently beside him, making Leo turned his head towards the voice. He nodded slowly, trying to push himself up in a sitting position. But - he couldn't. He tried to move his arms, but it was no use. He could feel the tight ropes around his wrists, but got up anyway, looking at his brother.
"Where are we?" he asked, seeing Raph was tied too. Nothing unveiled their surroundings, as they had been left in the dark. Not even the walls were visible. Raphael sighed, taking a quick look around, before turning his gaze at the leader, giving out a single respond…
"No clue."
Leo sighed, trying to get his hands free, but it was no use. The ropes were too tightly bound around the wrists. He searched the room for anything sharp, now that his eyes had adjusted more to the dark. It was a small room, with black walls. Leo could spot a door in the other end, without windows or even a knob. Raph had seen it too. He got up and walked over to the door, looking at it, while Leo walked over to him too.
"How the shell do you open this?" he muttered, trying to look for even a small hole. Raph snorted, taking a step back.
"I think I have a way…" he hissed, suddenly launching a kick into the door. He fell backwards, still remaining on his feet and swearing heavily.
"Damn, what's that fucking door made of?" he cried in anger, looking at it with a dark glimpse in the eyes.
Leo blinked, a bit surprised. That kick had been really powerful, and yet his brother hadn't even left the smallest mark. He scanned each corner of the door, and then let his eyes search around the door. Maybe he could find a switch of some sort. But nothing. He turned to Raph with a worried look.
"It's no use," he said to the younger brother, "We have to stay put and wait for someone to open."
"And if they don't?" Raphael quickly retorted, "We can't just stay here and wait for a miracle, Leo."
No. Raph was right. But what else was there for them to do? They were trapped, with no chance of escaping whatsoever. Leo sat down near his brother with a sigh, not saying a word. He hated to think of it, but Raph's words still rang in his head…
"Just stay away from me, Leonardo… Just stay out of my life."
Over and over. Of all the fights they had had, and that wasn't a few, Raphael had never talked to him like that. Had he really crossed the line by being after his brother this time? He only did it because he cared, because he wanted to know, what was going on in what seemed like a troubled mind. Leo carefully closed his eyes. Raph had meant every word, he had said. If not, wouldn't he have apologized by now? Raph was a true hothead, but he always apologized, when he knew, he had crossed the line. His brother had had all the time in the world, while sitting in the closed room.
'Never mind that now,' he sharply told himself. He needed to focus, now wasn't the time for him to loose track.
His trail of thoughts was quickly cut off, when light suddenly hit them, as the door slid open and a pair of ninjas looked down at them. Between them, Hun stepped inside, giving them a wide grin and gestured for the ninjas to grab the turtles. More ninjas stepped inside, being three to hold each turtle and four as a backup. They grabbed Leo and Raph, dragging them out of the room and out in the bright light, making both of them flinch. They couldn't see much, but Leo knew they were still inside.
"Get them in," Hun ordered the foot ninjas. And that made Raph turn. He had had enough. They had been locked inside a dark room, and now they were being thrown into another room? No way. The red-cladded turtle cried in anger, trying to fight off the ninjas holding him, actually knocking one of the off. The four remaining ninjas came to their cohorts' aid, grabbing the turtle and pinned him to a wall. But it wasn't enough. Raph kept struggling in their grasp, the anger pushing all senses out of his mind, when Hun stepped in and hit the turtle on the back of his head, making the bleeding gash open again. Raph gasped, hitting the ground when the ninjas released him. He frantically tried to fight off the dizziness and the sickening feeling overwhelming his stomach.
Leo gasped, instinctively trying to run and help his brother, but was held back.
"I suggest, you two cooperate," Hun said angrily, pulling Raph to his feet. He looked at the turtle with a satisfied smile. This turtle was the worst. He had been right from the start. The human couldn't wait until he got his revenge, and he would - soon enough.
The turtles were brought into a new room, looking around. The walls were painted a red color with black stripes here and there. Torches hang on the wall, being the only source of light in the room whatsoever.
Leo blinked. Wasn't there a shadow sitting in the far end of the room? The figure slowly stood up and stepped into the light. The leader quickly recognized him. Oroku Saki.
Shredder stepped forward, looking at the two. This time, he would finish off the pests, once and for all. His plan couldn't go wrong.
Raph and Leo were thrown on the floor, landing on their knees right in front of their arch enemy. The dizziness surrounding the red-cladded turtles mind hadn't gone away yet, but it was less painful to look up now. He stared down the Shredder, getting a stare back. The smartest thing would have been to look away, but he simply couldn't. The hatred burning in his heart wouldn't let him. This guy was supposed to know exactly what the turtle thought of him. Raph's eyes burned, but lost its spark suddenly.
Shredder slashed the back of his hand against Raphael's cheek, making it sting a bit. Raph didn't care. His head had been pushed aside, but he threw the head back to look at the man before him, when a warm feeling made him aware of something. Small blood drops landed on the floor, and Raph suddenly noticed the blades on Shredder's hand.
Leo flinched. What was all this about in the first place? If Saki wanted to get rid of them, why not just execute them right away?
"What are you up to?" the leader asked in a hissing voice, making Shredder chuckle. The dark-haired man placed his hands on the back, looking firmly from one turtle to the other.
"You," he answered finally, "Have been a thorn in my side for so long." He turned around, giving a short nod to one of the men behind Leo and Raph. Both turtles looked at each other, not sure what awaited them. Shredder glanced back at them.
"Now it is time to repay the troubles."
Leo suddenly felt something hard hitting him from the back and flew forwards with a gasp. On the ground, he turned his body to see Hun's grinning face, as the blond human lifted the jo staff again, sending it towards Leo's shoulder. The turtle cried in pain, hearing a crack from it and a sharp pain shot through his arm.
"YA TWISTED SON-OF-A-BITCH!" Raph cried, getting to his feet surprisingly fast and pushed his shoulder into Hun's abdomen, making the human bent over. But Raph had been too fast. The dizziness and the sickening feeling welted over him like a waterfall, making the turtle almost loose his balance. But he wasn't going down - not yet. He twisted around, sending a kick towards Hun, but the human quickly grabbed it. With a diabolic grin, he twisted the leg around, making Raph fall to the ground with a thud. He growled angrily, trying to drag his foot back to no avail. Hun pulled hard, sending the red turtle through the room and smash into a wall. Raph fell to the ground with a groan, trying to get up, but he couldn't. He felt too tired.
Leo gasped, trying to get up, when a ninja placed his foot on his plastron and held him pinned to the floor. Shredder looked at him, hands still placed on the back.
"I will make a deal," he said in a loud tone for anyone in the room to hear, "You tell me, where the two other turtles are, and I'll spare your lives." Leo blinked. Was he supposed to save himself on the costs of his brothers? The thought made him sick. His eyes turned to slits, as he looked up at the villain, now a true fire of anger burning in his eyes, one that could have been mistaken for the sparks of Raphael's eyes.
"You're sick…" he snorted in reply, making Shredder's mouth turn even more downward than before. He looked at Raph, as the turtle was slowly getting up on his knees.
"You could join my army of ninjas," Shredder continued, walking closer to Raph, though his message was turned to Leo, and the leader was fully aware of that. Standing beside Raph, Saki threw a last glance towards Leo and looked down at the red-cladded.
"You can spare your brother's life," he said, a tone too softly for Raph to bear. Something was wrong. He looked up at Shredder, a small trickle of blood running from his mouth.
"I swear," the turtle spat, "If you even THINK of touching Leo, I'm gonna kick those blades up your ass…"
A quick reply. Too quick. The Shredder blinked, a bit surprised which was soon turned to amusement. He held out one hand and snapped his fingers.
"I resume, that goes for both of you…" he commented. Raph was suddenly grabbed by Hun and dragged away, making the turtle struggle wildly. And so did Leo. A pain shot through his shoulder, as he tried to turn around and get the ninja's foot off, but something told him that he had to. Something was about to happen, and Hun dragging away with his brother was the worst sign he could think of.
'No,' a voice cried inside Leo's head, 'We have to stick together…'
"Let him go!" he cried, a desperate hint of fear creeping into his voice. Hun simply smiled, dragging the bleeding turtle into the room next door.
"NO!" Leo yelled. Now the fear was taking over. A large knob was forming in his guts, one that kept growing and growing, making him feel that it would explode by the huge pressure, leaving him an empty shell. Three ninjas entered the room with Hun, slamming the door behind them.
"RAAAPH!" Leo twisted and slammed a knee into the ninja's leg, making him fall so the turtle could get up. He pushed himself to his knees-
Bang
And the air was silent. A gun had been fired, and Leo wasn't in doubt of where it had come from. A tear trickled down the fearless leader's eye, as reality slowly hit him.
"No…" Tears started streaming down his cheeks, hitting the floor with low splashes, echoing in the silence. He closed his eyes tightly. It couldn't be, it just couldn't.
"Why…. no…"
But the turtle had been wrong. The large knob didn't go away. It kept pushing, starting to block his air supply and his vision. But it let behind an empty shell…
