Dear Readers,

WOW! I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update. It's all schools fault…I swear! TT. Unfortunately, because of school, there will only be a few chapters more in this story. No, I will not cut the content down, the chapters will be few, but almost ridiculously long, my apologies in advance for the extended amount of reading.

So, moving things along, on with the chapter! (finally xD)

.: KareBear :.

"Stuck in the Middle with You"

Chapter 5

It's hard to describe becoming frozen.

It's like plunging your bare arm into ice-cold water. At first you can't feel a thing, then quickly a burning sensation comes across your arm and spreads though your entire body. Burning with cold. Hard to describe and even harder to word. Your arm burns with the sensation of ice cold gripping your body, but your fear isn't in being cold…. it's how long your able to feel that cold…. how long your arm will be able to feel the cold before it starts to weaken.

His eyes were stinging from the piercing cuts of the blow zero winds. He was lying in a blanket of white and his body was cold, yet numb…

Numb…Numb! NO!

He quickly stood up and the blanket that neatly covered his body scattered away like dust in the wind. He curled his body and huddled for warmth. Once in his huddle he was able to open his eyes and peer at his paled skin….skin?

He was in his body again?

Or at least…it looked like his body…

He remembered how before he was able to feel the physical pain for the shadow warriors and how his body was hard and tough, but yet still colored and shaped like a soul. Now it seemed that his soul once again inhabited his body…or some form that looked very much like his own. He rubbed his arms frantically and could only hear the wind blowing from outside his huddled form and the sound of his teeth chattering. His breathe came out in fast little intervals as he breathed into his almost frost bitten hands. The warm air would come across his body for only a second before turning just as horribly cold as the rest of the air around him.

He knew that going numb was a sure sign of hypothermia and he needed to find shelter, fast! Especially seeing as he was a cold-blooded creature, he would surely sacrum to the cold much faster then a mammal. He ventured to take a peek outside his huddled form, and squinted as the wind made his eyes feel as if they would become frozen at any moment. He turned his head about, only to find…

"AH!"

He would have jumped back, but his body was just too cold to even move. His head jerked back slightly at the sight directly behind him….a large stallion only a few inches from his body.

The only way he found himself able to tell it was some kind of horse, was the shape of the animal. The ice, snow, and wind, made it almost impossible to make out the physical characteristics of the horse. All he could see was the darkened and shadowed form of the great steed standing about him, unflinching in the cold that wrapped his body like a thousand tiny wires, pulling all at once.

The horse nodded his head and Michelangelo did the same, he had come accustomed to these animals waiting for him. He knew his lesson was coming, but what lesson it was, he was not certain.

The horse turned and galloped a little ways away from him.

"Hey! Wait!" he called out in harsh voice. He quickly gripped his throat as the large amount ice air shot down into his lungs, making his body feel as if he needles were being sent throughout his blood stream.

The horse turned back to him and watched as the young turtle, tried with all his might to stand, only to just barely erect himself, his knees wobbling and looking as if they were going to give way any moment.

The horse bowed his head and looked at him.

"Love"

Mikey heard the word and knew that was his lesson, but didn't believe it. Love? Love was his lesson? He loved and cared for his family and friends more then anyone and HE was getting a lesson on LOVE?

For an instant, he forgot all about the cold, dropped his hands to his sides and looked at the horse stupefied.

"Love? My lesson is about love?"

The horse turned his body forward and looked onward.

"Follow and see for yourself, but heed my warning, if you stray or lose sight of me, you will be lost for all time."

And with that the horse began to gallop away.

"HEY! WAIT!" Mikey called as he watched him begin to gallop away. He quickly followed, his body not building up any more warmth from his walking unlike a mammal. His feet became more and more frozen as he made hard content with the white death.

And so he began to quickly make his way through the cold oblivion, this Dante's Inferno of hell.

"You want to help us do what!"

"Aid you in your search, of course."

"How do…"

"Do we know that your brother is missing and you and your band of merry reptiles are scowling the city in search of him? Come now, do you honestly think we could miss three turtles searching about OUR city without one of us noticing?"

Drip

Drip

Drip, Drop

Small drips of water hit Leonardo's nose as he grunted and, gripping his swords tightly in his hands, made a lunge for Hun, he quickly darted away and made a hasty retreat, all the while calling to him.

"You may want to speed your efforts up, mutant. I promise you, if we find him, our master isn't going to be very accommodating."

With that he jumped down the side of a building. Leo ran over to confront him, but found he was gone.

Leo grunted in anger and, to release some of his rage, cut a nearby pipe in half and watched as the pieces dropped to the ground with a heavy clunk.

The water increased slightly, and Leonardo find himself looking toward the darkened sky; rain dripping gently off his head and down his body, but it wasn't the rain he was concerned about.

He shook the anger and the dark thoughts away, and started running in the direction of a nearby manhole. He grabbed his communicator as he jumped down the side of a building.

"I just hope I'm not too late…"

Just a little further.

Why is it running so fast?

I can't keep up….my body freezing over…

Please wait up, please….

I can do this, I'm a ninja…

…but I'm also a cold-blooded animal, and even ninjas have their limits…

What sort of test of love is this anyway?

Just a little further…please let it just be a little further.

Michelangelo's mind raced with thoughts, and yet sometimes he found his mind becoming numb, just like the rest of his body. He would have to shake his head and continuing thinking in order to make sure that he wasn't succumbing to the cold.

Just as he saw himself slightly catching up, a light flickered out the corner of his right eye. He turned to it, remembering to keep walking so as to not lose the horse.

….a fire?….

A cave! He felt his heart suddenly leaped for joy as he spotted a small cave with a fire roaring in the inside. Warmth! It seemed so inviting and as he felt his body gradually turning for it, he turned his head to the horse….but saw he was much further ahead then before.

He wasn't heading for the cave.

The young turtle wanted to cry. There, RIGHT there, was a cave with shelter and warmth and this horse wanted to continue forward. However, fearing his warning, the turtle turned his feet and went back on track, peering sadly at the cave as he walked on past it and was soon out of sight.

"Don! Raph! Come in! Emergency!"

Raphael, who was uptown and making his way towards Donatello, grabbed his communicator quickly as he ran and answered the call.

"Leo! What's the matter? You all right?"

"I'm fine, but Mikey may not be!"

Don was hot on the trail of Michelangelo, but heard the words exchanged between his two brothers and quickly picked up his shell cell.

"Why Leo? What's going on?"

"I had a run in with Hun and…"

"HUN!" Raph found himself yelling out of anger. "What did he want? You okay?"

"I'm fine, but he and the foot know Mikey's missing!"

"How…how could they have found out?" Donatello cried out in disbelieve

"I don't know, but they just do and for all they know, they could be just as close to finding him as we are."

"Let's hurry then. Over and out" and with that Donatello hung up his phone and found his heart beating a little faster, his feet moving a little quicker.

Without a word, Leo and Raph also hung up their phones and quickened there pace as well, down the darkened sewers, without the light of the once beautiful moon.

Above the surface, also covered in shadow by the darkened moon, a group of darkened figures made their way stealthily about the field. The flowers would wave violently about the fields before being crushed harshly by the footsteps of the dark figures.

"Party 62C, this is head officer of Party 74F, any signs of our target?"

One of the darkened figures took out a communicator and opened it up.

"No sign yet….is this line closed?"

"I believe so. Why do you ask solider?"

"Cause this is ridiculous! My men can't see a damn thing and the grass would make it near to impossible to find a green turtle…"

"Suck it up, we'll be there to help in a matter of moments. If the boss were to hear that, you would have worse things to worry about then finding some turtle in a field…"

"True. Over and out."

With this he clicked his communicator closed and roughly placed back in his belt. He scowled about at this horrible task he and his crew were placed upon. He tried to imagine the scenario of calling Hun and telling him they had found nothing, when his foot hit something hard.

He looked down and squinted his eyes in order to make out what he had just hit.

He tapped it lightly with his foot and then, very carefully, bent down to touch it.

His hand was touching….a hand….

Even through the dark mask, one could easily tell that a crocked smile had just spread widely across his face.

"Miles dost one keep, many miles till thy sleep. Miles dost one keep, many miles till thy sleep. Miles…"

He felt his senses failing him gradually, his mind becoming more comfortably numb and his body crying out for rest. He tried his best to keep his mind on track by repeating a piece from a poem over and over to himself, but knew that the words were wrong. He then tried to figure out what the true words were, but then his mind would rambled off in a daze of unconstructive thoughts and drowsiness. It took a swift shake of his head and the continued repeating of the poem to keep him semi-sane.

His eyes burned with the cold air, and no longer could he make out the snow. All he saw was white and a small amount of shadow that lead him further into the distance; further into the unknown, to a destination not made clear…all for the sake of love.

Many a time he found places where he could have strayed. A cave with a warm fire, a small cabin with the aroma of hot cooked food pouring out from the tiny crack under the door, and even once and mysterious caravan with people with blankets and warm drinks to spare offered him passage the opposite way. Each offer was denied, especially the last one for, as much as it looked so inviting to be with company and warmth, he couldn't shake the feeling of discomfort at the fact that all their faces were shadowed.

He now continued on. His feet moving not by will power, but instinctively, like breathing.

Suddenly, he felt his right foot slip on a patch of ice and was sent tumbling to the left foot. His feet were pulled from under him and he saw himself falling. However, with all the energy used to walk, he could only watch as his body fell limply to the ground with a hard thud.

The snow lifted into the air and danced around him in the cold wind. Some was scattered into the wind and became apart of the horrid storm, while some, joined with new snowflakes from the gray sky, softly fell on his fallen form.

His eyes, glazed over with exhaustion and numbness, couldn't look at the snow around him, his neck unable to turn to see if his body was still there.

"Have to…get up…miles dost one keep…have to get… many miles till…must… thy sleep…sleep…"

From above he felt a presence, but had no strength left in him to even glance at the being that stood tall above him.

"Do you wish to quit now?" the presence asked him. It was the horse from earlier.

"…miles…keep…sleep…"

"Do you wish to end it here?"

"…I don't want to…but…but I can't move…"

"Then…are you willing to die now…for the sake of love?"

"…not…not like this…can't…die…sleep…sleep is…die…can't sleep…"

The snow was all around him. The white was blinding, and he could no longer make out the shadows. He didn't want to die, and he felt, for the first time in so long, tears swell out in his eyes. His tears were warm…but quickly turn to ice against his cold skin.

"I….would die…" his voice cracked and felt like ice in his throat. "…for love…but…" He felt strength rise up within him as he thought of what he would die for…more…who he would die for. He slowly felt his body rise and he was supporting his weight on his hands. "…I would…die for love…but…" he rose up to look at the horse that stood above him. "…I will not…" he felt his anger build up inside of him and close to his chest he felt apart of himself patch up around the whole near his heart.

"I will not….DIE HERE!"

At this and with all the force, he could muster; he bolted up and grabbed the horse around its neck. The horse did not flitch at the quick and tight embrace of the young turtle creature. He felt the turtles heavy breathe against its neck and the weight of his body as he began to sink due to fact that he had used all his energy to launch himself upwards. As he was about the fall, he felt him whisper in his ear.

"I will not…die like this…with no one to die for and people still to live for…no matter the conditions or temptations…I will not falter…for the ones I love…"

At this the arms that were starting to slip around his neck fell limp and his body began to fall backwards.

As Michelangelo fell, his half-shut eyes gazed upwards and, for the first time, he was able to make out what he had been following for so long.

A horse, whose clear eyes reflected the turtle's own love back to him.

At this he smiled, closed his eyes, and prepared himself to fall back into the snow.

However, he didn't feel the burning of the cold snow against his shell and lower back, but a warm embrace, and then all was dark.

"Easy now…be careful with that thing! The boss wants it undamaged!…Man! We're all gonna be promoted for this job!"

"Where we taking this thing anyway?"

"I just called for a pick up of the body from Party B82, they'll be here in a just a few minutes."

"Good, cause this thing is heavy."

"Stop complaining, and get it near the road."

Voices echoed from just a little ahead as a turtle with the color purple dancing around his eyes and head raced down the broken sewer pipes and drainage system leading far out into the city. How his brother head found himself so far away from the city in such a sort amount of time was mind baffling, but irrelevant. All that mattered was his sibling's safety. As he came closer to the dim light at the end of the large tunnel, the voices from outside of it grew ever so louder and clearer.

Slowly, the turtle emerged just slightly from the shadowed drain and peered out to see who was out there. At first, he could have sworn he was seeing shadows speak, but upon closer inspection and the squinting of his eyes, he could see it was…

"Foot Ninja!" he felt himself cry softly to himself. He felt his hands reach for his shell cell, when something else caught his eye. Something larger and bulkier that took three of the men to carry…what was it?

He felt the phone drop in his hands and a sudden horror mixed with a pitch of anger build inside of him. Before he could even think, he pulled out his bow staff and jumped down from the drain to the soft, grass covered earth.

The darkened ninjas had no time to think, as one of their own men was cracked right upside of his head with a loud THWACK!

They watched as his body fell limp against the soft earth and quickly looked up to the swinging stick flying into the faces, backs, arms, and legs of their other comrades. It was some time before the mysterious warrior leaped back and showed his barely visible face to his opponents.

"It's one them reptiles!" one of them cried, but this was the only words that were spoken, as the three that carried the bulky form were sent away with their treasure while the others defended their find; circling around the reptilian warrior.

The eyes of the lone warrior saw what was happening, and charge forward in order to get to the three that were fleeing, crying out in a loud battle roar as he did so.

Just as he charged forward, the ninjas began their assault.

Meanwhile, a voice from a small electronic device cried out from the abandoned sewer.

"Don! Donny! What happened? Can you hear me? Donatello!"

"Michael?…Michelangelo, can you hear me?"

He heard the voice speak to him with a softness that echoed throughout his entire body. He felt warmth surround his form, inside and out, and the voice only amplified the relaxed feeling that stretched from his head to his feet.

His eyes slowly cracked open and looked at the foggy imagine that stood above him. It took a moment, while his eyes adjusted and his vision became clear, to see who it was. It was…

"You!" he felt himself cry out in happiness.

He rose up quickly and looked at her with surprise and happiness. He then noticed his hands and looked at his body. It was as it was when he was first brought to this plane, his soul, a blue, white, and clear mist of a soul.

He looked at the woman who was kneeling next to him, smiling so sweetly that he felt his whole body tingle from her radiance.

It was the angel from when he was first brought to this plane.

"What happened?" he asked, almost excited.

She tilted her had and telepathically answered him.

"You overcame the obstacles of your own heart and have learned many lessons about yourself."

"But…but what happened with the last lesson?"

"A test of love…and how far you are willing to go…"

He was going to try and contemplate what she said, if he had not caught a glance ahead. He felt his mouth drop and a smile spread from ear to ear. One of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen lay before him. An ancient city of crystal and gold, was under him, with rivers of following all through, leading to a sparkling ocean that lay far in the distance. The sun was sparkling on the waters of the horizon and the city shimmered as if it were all diamonds.

They layed in the grass just a mile or so away, up high above the city, just right for catching ever detail of the enchanting world below.

"What…what is this place?" he asked, astonished.

"This is one of the many worlds that lie far away from Earth and your plane of existence. I thought you would enjoy the view." She said with a small giggle

He turned and smiled at her. Never before had he felt so wonderful, but soon his face changed as he saw her own face change ever so slightly.

"What is it?" he asked, concerned

She rose to her feet and came very close to him, he felt almost nervous by the weight stare and the expression on her face. She came close and touched a small area around his heart. He looked down to see what she was doing, and saw a small hole just over his heart. He had almost forgot about why he was here and looked at her concerned about his well being; her expression made him anxious and worried.

"You…you've learned all you needed to know and realized all that needed to be realized…why is it that your soul is still slightly broken?"

"You mean….you don't know!" He asked almost horrified. He thought of this angel as a being of infinite wisdom and insight. The fact that she didn't know what was still wrong with him blanketed him with indescribable fear and dread. If she didn't know then…who did?

Her face became increasingly worried as she looked into his worried expression. The wind came in slowly, with a slight chill in it's coming. They turned in the direction of the wind and both of their expressions dropped completely.

"What….what is that?" he asked as he stared off far into the distance.

The once beautiful sun was darkened and the sky grew cold and unforgiving. The city sparkled no more and grew dark with shadows. No longer did it shimmer like a diamond in the light, but rather it grew cold and lifeless.

The sky was growing more and more dark as the unknown black clouds rolled closer and closer to towards them. With a sudden crash, a lightening bolt came shooting out and struck the highest point of the highest building in the city and set it aflame.

With this sudden crash of light and sound, the angel woman snapped out of her stare and pulled on Michelangelo quickly, away from the city.

"Quickly! We must leave here!"

"Why?" he asked as he did his best to keep up with her fast pace. "What is that thing?"

"It's…"

"…dark!"

"What?"

"It's so dark in here, I can't see my own hand in front of my face!"

"Just keep following the signal. It's just a little further ahead."

"I'm worried about Donny. Why won't he answer his cell?"

"I don't know…and with Hun and the Foot around…I'm really worried."

"How the hell did he find out?"

"I have no idea…let's just keep moving!"

The two brothers of red and blue had meet further down in the sewer pipe and were now running full speed, side by side, down the darkened pipes and tunnels.

In the distance, just faintly, they could hear the sounds of weapons clashing together, heavy breathing, and cries of anger.

After what seemed like an entirety, the two brothers emerged from the tunnel only to watch one of their own, bloody and scared all over, be sent flying far into the distance, his body crashing hard with the earth below.

"DON!" the two cried in unison

Fast as lightening, they had jumped down from the sewer drain and were next to their fallen brothers side.

Scattered like autumn leaves were many of the Foot soldiers, but still many were standing. However, it wasn't just them that had taken down the turtle's brother.

A crack of knuckles filled the air, and this was enough to not only bring the attention of the two uninjured turtles away from the burse-covered brother, but also identify who had helped in the beating of their brother.

"Looks like we win the game, turtles. I think my men have already claimed their prize." A darkened, tall, and bulky figure emerged from the crowd of ninjas, cracking his opposite hands knuckles.

Leo looked dumbstruck and shot his head in disbelieve.

"How…how did you get here before us!" he asked, astonished.

The figure laughed and snickered at him.

"Unlike you simple minded mutants, I didn't run here. Once I got the word I drove over!"

Before Raphael could attack, a hand quickly darted and took his shoulder. The brother turned to see that it was Donatello, struggling to stand, but all right.

"They….they have…"

"MICHAELENGLO!"

A voice cried as the wind swirled around the two soul like figures. The wind was swirling around and tried to catch the two figures in a vortex of wind and darkness that looked to consume anything below it. The two were not able to run from it fast enough, and could only cling to a large rock for protection from the force in the heavens. A dark vortex that spun and sucked in anything that wasn't bolted down. Pieces of the once beautiful city had begun to crumble and the pieces were being pulled up, only to disappear once they reached the center of the swirling darkness.

Michelangelo was holding on to the piece of earth as tight as he could, as he shielded the angel woman with his body. His feet were slowly lifted up from the ground, which made him dig his fingers deeper into the rock, till the rock itself had dented impressions of his hands.

He had no idea what this thing was, but he had the feeling that he needed to stay away from it or something horrible could happen.

"Why do you fear me?"

His eyes slowly opened and he looked up to where he could have sworn he heard the voice.

"Why do you fear me?" the voice from the sky asked again.

"Is this…is this another test?" he cried into the sky.

He felt something grabbed tight around his waist and he looked down to see what it was. It was the angel. She gripped him tightly and rubbed his face against his chest.

"NO! It's not a test Michelangelo! Don't listen to it! No matter what it says, don't listen to it!"

He looked down at her fear stricken face and became afraid at what the force might be. He turned his head back to the sky and looked at it with a face that showed that he would not be swayed by the voices words.

"Your friend fears me, because she does not know who I am."

"Then, who are you?"

"Michelangelo! Don't listen!"

"…I am your salvation."

A cry pierced the air that made the Earth shake just slightly.

Three brothers fought in the night against the ninjas of the Foot and the servant of their master; Hun.

Normally, they wouldn't be a problem. However, they were clearly out numbered and they were growing more and more exhausted with each ninja they took down.

Hun watched as his endless amount of ninjas took care of the job for him, when a call came through on his cell phone. He quickly grabbed it from his belt loop and held it to his ear. He nodded and smiled, and without a word spoken, ended the call and turned to back to the fight.

Overhead a few helicopters came across the battle; each one stamped with the symbol of the foot clan on the side.

With a snap of his fingers, the ninjas returned to his side.

"I believe we won this round, turtles."

"NO! We're not finished with you yet!" Raphael stepped forward and began to run towards them. "We won't stop till we have our brother back!"

Hun dodged the exhausted turtle easily and kicked him far away from them.

"RAPH!" Leonardo called to him as he watched him fly

The ninjas, meanwhile, had begun to disperse; some taking a helicopter and a few just fleeing into the distance and blending into there darkened surroundings.

A rope ladder came and landed behind Hun and he gently took it. He began to ascend into the sky as the two standing turtles gave chase. The helicopter was too fast for them, however, and soon Hun was hovering high above them, laughing as he began to fly into the distance.

"We will contact you soon turtles! We won round one, better luck with round two!" With that and a loud laugh, the door of the helicopter was shut and it took off back into the city.

The three boiled with anger and hatred that couldn't be fathomable to any other person. Raphael felt his hand clutch the dirt under him and begin to form a tight fist. He rose up quickly, the dirt still clutched in his fists, when something caught his eye.

He released the dirt in his right hand to look at what he had caught in his left hand.

He picked up the end of it and shook the dirt, to see what the object was.

It was Michelangelo's mask.

With this his anger and hatred for what Foot had done and all that had happened had reached a boiling point and he let out a scream that echoed through out the fields.

Soon, his two brothers joined him, and together they screamed out their frustration, anger, and sadness into the darkened sky.

End of Chapter 5

Oh….my….GOD! That took me so long to write…dies

My god, that must have taken me, off and on, a full month. I feel like crawling into a corner and sleeping for the next ten years.

Again, so sorry for the delay in posting this, but this is one hell of a chapter that I hope you all enjoy!

Bye for now!

goes to sleep