Trust – Echo of a Tortured Scream
Disclaimer: - I don't own the turtles – and I never will…which, in the case of this story, is probably a good thing if this is the torture I'm going to put them through.
Summary: - This is the first in a possible two-part series. The Shredder and all his forces in their final revenge against the turtles – CHARACTER DEATHS, and a lot of them at that… Leonardo is on his deathbed and dying from a poison more deadly than any plague and more deadly than anything Baxter Stockman could ever come up with: grief, guilt and graphic scenes from the past that are leaving him drained. Twenty years ago, two of his brothers died and in the next ten years his entire family was taken from him. Now he is left alone – this is his story – the final tale of Leonardo; leader, brother, son and friend.
A/N: - This is the darkest Fanfiction I have written to date. There will be a lot of character deaths – and it will be full of hate, revenge, hurt, sorrow, guilt and depression. Be prepared for it – I don't like killing them off, I really don't, but I just wanted to be able try my hand at a seriously dark fic with no comedy. Please Review and let me know what you think.Thanks toMika, Rapha, Sparx and Lavi for giving me their views prior to publication - you know who you are.
LEO'S POV
It's always the way; it's always the way that when you have something precious you don't appreciate it…until it is brutally snatched away from you and you are left with nothing. You never dream of that happening – you never expect that day to come quickly, but it always, always, comes sooner than expected…much sooner.
I know I was wrong to even think about trusting him in the beginning, but I realised my mistake soon enough – thanks to my family and a severe wake-up call. But a part of me still can't help thinking: what if I had never met with him that night? Would it all have ended like this or would we not have encountered him for many years, if ever?
What do I think?
I think that things would have been different, better, for us had I not made that decision. We would not have been faced with him for a lot longer; possibly never – I don't know – I don't know anything anymore…except for one small, nagging fact at the back of my mind, worming it's way so deeply into my soul that death will be a welcome release.
Because of my bad judgement, my brothers are dead; stone cold and rotting under the hard earth of this World. Looking back, I could have played it differently – thought things through, behaved more sensibly as it is…was…my responsibility to do.
But I can't; what's done is done and I have to accept it.
Now, gazing across the vast expanse of the remnants of my ruined life, I know once and for all that I am alone, even as I lay here dying. All beings have a future in death, at least that is what I have been brought up to believe, but my brothers have been so long gone from this life that I can no longer see their smiling faces and open arms beckoning me to join them – to be reunited. All I see now is the maimed carcasses, the dying breaths, the inevitable call of death knocking at the door to their innermost beings, the disfigured faces, the last words, the stench of burnt flesh and the echo of tortured screams. I do not even recall what has passed between the night of the last death and the present day. All I can do is close my eyes and wait for my soul to finally be released…wait for the final judgement that will send me to join my brothers or condemn me to the burning pits of hell for eternity.
My story is not a happy one; it is a tale of all that I loved being ripped away from me, leaving me naked in the dark, vulnerable and exposed to the scrutiny of the universe, fate mocking my every move by twisting the knife in a little further every time I tried to pull myself back from the brink of insanity…but my tale is over and no longer matters…no-one shall remember me, nobody will miss me, not a soul on this planet will ever even know that I existed…how did it come to this?
20 YEARS EARLIER
"You have been a thorn in my side long enough!" Shredder bellowed.
"Change the record, Shredder, you say that every time!" Leo retorted. He was the 'fearless leader' of his team. He and his brothers were about to defeat a foe they had hunted since they were only fifteen years of age. Helpless teenagers caught up in a vicious circle where they were both hunters and hunted. Now, at eighteen years of age, they had experience and skill along with passion and grace. Leaping into the fight, they fought the Shredder, known originally to them as Oroku Saki, for what they hoped would be the last time. This was always the way for them – each time hoping it would be the last but the last time had yet to come. A battle for survival – survival of the fittest – that they, as ninja, were determined to win for the final avenging of their Sensei's Sensei, Master Yoshi.
Leonardo, the eldest and the leader, was immediately engrossed in hand-to-hand combat with the Shredder himself, twisting and turning to avoid the blows with a natural elegance and beauty that his brothers had never achieved. Wielding his twin katana with an enhanced vigour, he countered his opponent's attacks and laughed to himself every time the Shredder made a mistake that gave Leonardo the upper-hand. Their fight looked more like a dance than a fight and could almost have been completely choreographed, were it not for the bruises peppered all over Leo's body from an earlier fight and for the simple fact that both combatants' weapons were sharpened for the kill.
Raphael, the next oldest and the hot-head, was almost yawning as he took on the Shredder's right-hand man, Hun – a giant with a lot of brawn but very little brain to go with it. To an outsider, he could have looked bored with the fight but close-up it was clear that there were dark circles under his eyes, and that it was only a mad glimmer of hatred and raw fury shining out and radiating from every pore on his body that was keeping him going. He was fighting Hun with a certain amount of ease and venting all his frustration into the fight, so enhancing his skills. Hun was roaring louder than he ever had before as he realised he had met his match in the red-masked turtle that stood before him, twirling his Sais with a blood-thirsty lust – a lust for the blood of Shredder and Hun.
Donatello, the third oldest and brainiac of the group, was cornered by all four Foot Elite ninjas and was slowly being driven towards the edge. With a keen mind and the ability to make difficult calculations very quickly he was able to work out all the various angles and moves that would quickest result in the demise of his enemies. All four of them had been beaten by the Elite in the past, and that was when they were fighting together, so Donnie was concentrating mainly on defending himself until he could think of a better way to achieve victory that wouldn't result in his death at the same time.
Michelangelo, youngest and the joker, swung his Nunchuks round so fast that they were visible only as blurs. He faced Karai, Shredder's adopted daughter and most trusted member of his team. She was known for her tricks and subtle ways of convincing the turtles she had some good in her, before turning round and throwing it back in their faces with an attack. Mikey was best suited to face Karai as she was skilled with a chain and a swift flick of the wrist could send it flying towards an opponent at an alarming speed and they wouldn't have time to react; Mikey's incredible speed and agility enabled him to dodge such attacks, designed to catch a foe off-guard, relatively easily.
"Guys, we're getting our shells waxed here!" Raph called, slightly out of breath as several Foot Tech ninjas came to Hun's aid.
"Raph's right – we may have to call a tactical retreat," Leo called back.
"I said we were getting beaten – I didn't say that I wanted to run away from a fight!"
"Sorry, Raph, but I'm the leader and I say we go!"
"And I say you don't!" Shredder took his chance and kicked Leo in the chest, sending him down.
"LEO!" Mikey yelled, punching Karai in the face and glancing over to his oldest brother. There was no-one in any situation to help the leader and panic welled up inside him as he realised the immense danger to his brother.
"Now you will die – how glad I am that you are to die first and by my hand," Shredder cackled, his raspy voice sounding out over the noise of battle, even over the roars of Hun and the crashing of the thunder. He raised his blade and began to bring it down when he was swept off his feet by an olive green shape with a purple mask. Donnie had momentarily escaped his foes and tackled Shredder to get him away from Leo.
"Don't you dare!" he hissed as he and the Shredder battled.
"Change of plan," Shredder growled back, "you will die first," he threw Donnie off and over the edge of the twelve storey building before turning back to a horror-stricken Leo, who had staggered to his feet and picked up his katana.
"You will pay for that," he hissed, voice trembling as he fought with himself to control the grief and guilt that was fast welling up inside him. He lunged at the Shredder but the metal-armoured villain jumped back to avoid the blades of Leonardo.
"Foot – disappear!" he yelled, "Hun, you know what to do!"
"Yes, Master," Hun grinned maliciously, seizing Raph suddenly by the bandanna tails and slamming him down to knock him out. Shredder threw down a smoke bomb and the white smoke billowed out over the rooftops; when it had cleared, the only ones left on the rooftop were Leo and Mikey.
"Raph?" Mikey began searching for his red-masked brother, fearing the worst. Leo, meanwhile, without a single word to his baby brother, clambered down the fire escape and round to the area where Donnie had fallen. Mikey looked up to see no-one but himself on the rooftop, Oh Shell…where's Leo and Don? He thought worriedly. Shivering, he searched the rooftops and then, deciding that they must have been captured, he began to make his way slowly back to the lair, tears of despair clouding his vision as he tried to contemplate how he was going to tell his Sensei about Leo, Donnie and Raph.
"Donnie!" Leo screeched as his brother's prone form came into view. Rushing over, stumbling a little, he fell to his knees at his brother's side. He gasped and resisted the urge to throw up as he noticed that Donnie's legs were all bent at odd angles and his shell was cracked in several places. His right arm was limp and bone was jutting out of it, blood leaking from it and staining the ground. At the touch of his brother's hand across his forehead, Donnie forced his eyes to flutter open,
"Leo…" he managed weakly, "don't blame…yourself…"
"Donnie, you have to fight it – don't give up," Leo spoke softly and urgently to his younger brother, willing him to live, "just hang in there, bro – you're gon--------" he broke of as Donnie's eyes closed and he went limp in his big brother's arms. A raspy sigh, the Death Rattle, escaped from his bleeding and torn lips. Picking him up gently, Leo slowly drew up to his full height, face darkening as the sudden realisation of what Shredder was doing dawned on him. This was his revenge – his final revenge against Leo and his beloved family.
"Leonardo," Shredder's icy tones cut into the turtle's thoughts as he stood forlornly, holding his brother's body close to him, "do you not wonder what has become of Raphael?"
"Raph…you've got Raph?"
"Perhaps…" Shredder smirked.
"Where is he?" Leo's voice had quickly changed from being full of grief to full of hope to laden with venom in the space of only a few seconds.
"Why don't you find out?" Shredder barked, throwing down another smoke bomb and disappearing once more. Leo caught a glimpse of him leaping over the rooftops in a triumphant manner and screeched louder than he ever had in his life, not words but just a long and mournful wail of despair, rage, hate, love of his brothers, grief and hope. He ran back to the lair and placed Donnie's body in his bedroom, the place where all the genius' best ideas came to him, and then left again without a word, not even listening to the desperate sobs of his youngest brother as he discovered the body of Donatello. Ignoring this, Leo ran, on and on, in hot pursuit of the Shredder – to find Raph, save him, and kill the Shredder…