Author's Note: Hello there, sorry for the wait. Now I have to give full credit to Glazier Blue as she took the reins on this chapter. It came out wonderfully, and I know you all will love it. Without further word, enjoy.
Chapter 9: The Hunt Begins
He had watched it all happen and could do nothing! Playing like a film in his own head, he had watched himself beat his own sons until they were bleeding and broken. How could he even look at any of them again and not see what he had done? How could he expect them to forgive him? Had the Rat King allowed him to be heard through this battle, he would have been screaming. He would have cried like a child, and he would have begged one of his boys to kill him! To end his suffering and save themselves. But he could do nothing. It was all for nothing!
The father hung limp in his net, sick and completely defeated as he replayed the looks on their faces when he attacked them. Those images would haunt him until his dying day... He had then decided that wouldn't be very long. Being in this prison, his mind defiled, his body abused while been forced to inflict such damage on others was far worse than any Hell could deliver. If the Rat King succeed in killing any of his sons, then he would spend the rest of his imprisonment searching for any opportunity for a release, not just from the Rat King but from life itself. Like this, life had no honor anymore. The Rat King had taken it all from him. He looked about at the other rats squirming in their prisons... He wondered if any of these rats were like him and were praying for death. Unlike him, they were not able to say it. Not that it would have made much difference. Maybe when he finally found a way to die, he could take some of them with him, and release them from this Hell. They were all connected to one hive mind after all... He had already been able to feel some of their pain the Rat King inflicted on them. He again watched the tiny red lights feed down the great vine from their master's brain as he relayed his commands. Listening to them choke and squeal in agony was too much for him to bare. "I promise to find a way to give you peace," The rat master said silently…yet he was suddenly overwhelmed with a warm feeling of... was that gratitude? Had the other rat's heard him?
He had to push this feeling away for the moment. His sons were still currently being attacked... Dear God! More of the Rat King sadistic thoughts swept through Splinter's head. He was planning for him to hang Raphael! Like a trophy, he would take out the one he considered the physically strongest of the group and have the leader watch. After Red-Raphael! was dead, he had plans to massacre the youngest too and Blu-Leonardo would have a front seat to all of it... Just so he would know how much of a failure he was... before he finished the job. The fathers blood curdled. He had taken all of his personal knowledge of his son's fears as part of his hunt and kill game! Much like he was doing to Donatello, the goal to torture them in every intimate way until death was considered a kinder release. Having him deliver the torments was just the icing on the cake.
Splinter wouldn't blame his sons if they had killed him just now... In fact, a small part of him wished they would. Growing up, Splinter knew of the dangers of the world, had told them that if it ever came necessary to sacrifice him to save themselves, they must not hesitate... But they did. Even while he beat them, they couldn't kill their father. His heart warmed with love and sorrow at that. He honestly didn't know whether to be grateful or saddened because either way they were still going to die at his hands because of some sick game, of which he was the prize!
All through the fight, he had felt the Rat King strength and hatred coursing through his body against his will, moving his claws as they tore through his sons flesh... when something strange happened... Something unexpected. Something wonderful, per say. He knew that smell! Moments later burning pain was suffocating his senses, but the tears it bought to his eyes were that of joy! His son's had worked together and found a way to stop him without killing him. They had remembered one of his few weaknesses... Now he was restrained. At least three of his sons were out of danger... for now. His heart squeezed with pride. The Rat King however, not so pleased. He may be in control of Splinter's body, but it was still Splinter's body, nonetheless. He was being blinded by the stench of the onions just as much as the rat master was. The rat could feel the anger running through him like lava and it clashed violently with his sense of joy and relief.
Despite the pain he was enduring from the Rat Kings telepathic web feeding in and out of his body, the rat master couldn't help but feel a bit smug at the cleverness of his boys. "You underestimated them Rat King. They passed your test!"
The replied to this was red light vibrating its way down the telepathic web, burning his captive as he snarled. A deep angry frustrated snarl! "The test? The test is no longer my goal. Now I have found you, we have a much bigger purpose. Pass or fail, your sons will not be surviving me. You belong to me, not them!" He stated matter of fact.
"I do NOT belong to you!" Splinter yelled in disgust. "You are not my Master, you are my jailer. I will never willingly fight for you."
"You don't have to be willing... You just have to be here in my hive mind and your body will do whatever I want as though it is my own. And right now, your body will sleep. Regain your strength until I can find a way to break us out of the restrains! Then I will finish what I started." More light fed down the web burning Splinter as he spoke. The ninjutsu master crying out and squeezing his eyes shut as the pain coursed through him. The angrier his jailer was, the more it made the light burn inside! Though he couldn't see him, Splinter could feel the Rat King was close, as though he was just over his shoulder. "As for you! You will watch them all suffer as punishment for deifying your King!"
"You won't defeat them! They have beaten you twice now because they have each other. When one goes down, another will rise to defend -"
"Be silent!" He ordered and Splinter's mouth involuntary snapped shut. "I can't kill the three right now in your body." He sounded as though something else had just occurred to him. Splinter could practically feel the dark smirking in his tone, which made the fathers blood run cold. "But there is still one 'I' can finish off right now. He stands alone and oh, he is SO alone."
"NO!" Splinter yelled as his heart lurched. "Leave Donatello alone. You're not interested in testing him remember... You already won. You have me..." Splinter choked on the words that were coming. There was only one option left to save his son. "Let him go in exchange for my body. Leave my family alone and I will join your army."
"You think they will just let you go!? They are a threat! I cannot allow them to get in our way of building my empire! They will never stop trying to find you unless I break them first... and they would be so broken knowing that one died horribly in your place. I can play the long game and take them out one at a time."
Splinter hadn't realized that he was breathing so heavy... His heart pulsing what felt like a hundred miles an hour. He was never one for losing control, but at that moment red light burst from him! "I will kill myself and you before I allow you to hurt him." Splinter declared in such a dangerous tone that light running down the vine even had the Rat King withdrawing from him. Both eyes rose in surprise at that…Had he, Splinter just done that? There was a long pause before he spoke to the rat master again and this time the king's tone was missing its arrogance.
"I'll forgive you for that little outburst," he said with a dark and dangerous tone, then he sigh. "As a gift from your King, I promise to return his body back to your remaining sons. He wouldn't agree to fight me, even after he believed it was you who ordered him. He is not worthy to die as a warrior, but I will show a little compassion. His body will be in exchange for yours. Then we will both put them all out of their misery." He said this so cold and yet so simply, Splinter knew he was being serious. Unlike the others, Donatello was bound and completely defenseless. He wouldn't stand a chance. The panic that hit the rat master following this revelation even seemed to affect the other captive rats around him. He noticed them cry out and squirm in there restrains along with him. Could they feel his pain too? How did this telepathic net work? Linked together but it couldn't go both ways, could it? None of these small rats would have the strength or will to fight back against someone as the Rat King... Now that was an interesting thought... but this thought was quickly pushed aside by the present situation escalating.
"If you don't want to see your son die, I suggest you close your eyes now." The Rat King's voice came out of the darkness along with the vision of looking through his eyes. Splinter could see that he was heading back down the tunnel towards Donatello's location. It played in his head like a horror film climax. "I'll make it quick!"
"NO!" More light bled from Splinter as the realization of losing Donatello loomed over him. "Rat King please I will do anything!" He begged but it made no difference from hurting the other three. He could feel everything of his captive. His logic was that of a solid wall of ice. No second thoughts of mercy existed. Killing Donatello was like stepping on an ant before it could multiply. A cold-blooded killer, with a mind lost in madness, with the logic of an army general. Not a good combination. "Not my son! Please not my -"
Both the Rat King and Splinter thought's had simultaneously come to a crashing halt. "Where is he?" The Rat King said bewildered, but soon Splinter could feel the anger rise within his captive as he blankly glared at the rope that once bound his son.
"He got away!" Splinter almost wanted to cry. "Once again you underestimate him!"
"That little...! Yes, Splinter it would appear he has a little more about him. But that doesn't yet make him worthy... We shall have to see." The rat king sigh suddenly releasing all his anger in one swift wave, which only made the rat feel more uneasy. "No matter. He won't get far in my maze. My minions will search, and my eyes will find him." Red light burst forth along the web making every rat shriek! In the real-world thousands of rats had just suddenly stopped what they were doing and ran straight for the nearest tunnels in search of the young mutant.
"No Rat King please just stop. Enough of this madness. I said I would pledge my allegiance -"
"Look around you Splinter. Does it look like I need your allegiance? I will destroy all that oppose me. But for fun, let's see if your ninja is as good at staying in the shadows as much as all my minions are." The rat king then faded from the father side to begin his hunt, leaving him alone with the others that were been forced to hunt Donatello down.
Splinter had to do something! He had to get a message to his other sons somehow. Looking up seeing the bound rats struggle in there restrains, the earlier thought returned to him. If there was ever a more critical time for him to perfect his higher mind, it was now! But this was beyond even his ability. He was a master of his spirit plane as was the rat king, only he had gone a violent step further and absorbed other, smaller, weaker minds into his own consciousness. Taking away free will of another was not impossible to a Grandmaster, but it was forbidden. This was a dark path Splinter never thought he would even consider walking down. But what choice did he have if it was the only possible way of saving his sons?
He would have to reach out and tune into as many captive rats as he could, using the same link as the rat king had them all imprisoned in. He wasn't strong enough to challenge him for complete control of a mind that wasn't his. He couldn't even hope to achieve anything to the same scale as the rat king had, but maybe... maybe just enough to disrupt the hive would give him a limited window of opportunity. It would take a lot of mental power and a lot of time and that was something he did NOT have! Just a small hope of finding allies among the thousands of other prisoners and he would feel EVERYTHING they were feeling... If it didn't kill him, it would certainly drive him to madness... But for Donatello sake, he had to try and tip this scale.
Donnie didn't know where he was going, nor did he care as long as he got as far away from the Rat King as possible. It was a "good thing" that he didn't care because he was completely lost. He was used to running around endless connecting tunnels like in the sewer, but this was not his playground. This place looked to go on forever and he was so tired...His legs were still numb...His arms throbbed. He was beyond thirsty... His head was spinning... oh shell. He wasn't going to be able to get far...If only he could find a place to hide and rest for a bit, but how could he? The Rat King and his army of blood hound rodents would soon be on his trail if they weren't already. If only he could mask his trail somehow?
Every tunnel looked like the last...He could be going around in circles for all he knew – whoa! Donnie stumbled only catching himself seconds before falling. Dizziness and nausea soon followed, likely from dehydration... or maybe a concussion... or blood loss? Donnie had to stop and prop himself up against the wall to support himself. He wiped the sweat from his brow honestly expecting to see hot blood in his hand. Did he have a temperature too? It felt like it, but he couldn't stop now. There was a way out of here... wherever here was. Only able to move at a slower pace, Donnie still needed the wall to guide him... The side of his head dragging against the brick as though his brain was suddenly too heavy for his shoulders. Just keep going, he told himself. The long dark winding tunnel however seemed to be swaying of its own accord. Not a good sign.
The teen only made it a little further before he fell to one knee. "Shell! Not good...This is not good." He groaned "What the shell has this creep done to me?" - A noise from where he had just come from snapped Donnie out of thought. Paranoia kicked in as once again it felt like the walls were growing eyes. They were coming!
He had to get up. He had to hide! But even if he could hide, they could still smell him! Shell what was he going to do? - Hey, was that running water he could hear?
Hundreds of large gray rats were now sweeping the wall and the ground like river flow, able to fit and peak into every nook and cranny in search for the young green mutant. Only the Rat King knew this map, as did his little minions. As predicted, it wasn't long before the army picked up his scent. "I'm coming for you little turtle." The Rat King snarled as they picked up speed towards the sound of water. They were heading toward one of the underground run offs from the river!
A dozen of the large rats followed Donnie's scent only to come to a stop at a fast moving but shallow waters edge where he had vanished. Purple had definitely come this way, but he must have gone into the river to try and cut off his trail. Very clever. He may be a fun challenge after all. Some of the vermin took off around the edge, up and into the walls and pipes leading to the other side, while others were directed to go into the river and follow the stream down. The turtle wasn't so foolish to follow the miles of flow all the way to the ocean, was he?
Unbeknown to the Rat Kings many eyes, Donnie was not too far away and was even watching all the rats filter their way into the stream from a metal platform above he had managed to jump and climber up onto. He may have given them the slip for a moment, but he had to keep moving. His vision was flickering in and out of focus as he stumbled on the much less sturdy platform. It was an old workman structure... Maybe he could get up to the street this way? … oh shell! He wasn't going to make it that far because either the platform was swaying, or he was? Two choices, either stop moving or fall off it! From then all sorts happened in slow motion. The air rushed past his ears for what was probably nothing more than a second. Now the floor of the platform was coming up and with a sharp, resounding crack, Donatello knew he was going no further. Oh wonderful! A spontaneous inconvenient nap time.
"Guy's, he's stopped fighting and he even looks to be sleeping. That's a good thing, right?" Mikey said looking at his father, who's still chained down to the cot.
"Unless he is faking it and waiting for us to let our guard down – ow! Watch that stuff Leo." Raph answered having the last of his wounds on his shoulder stitched up and cleaned.
"Raph has a point... but even if he is sleeping, I doubt he will just wake up and be magically back to normal." Leo finished patching up his brothers, which was difficult considering how much his hand throbbed from a makeshift patch job. Taking a moment to glance a look at himself in the mirror with the large band-aid on his face, still not believing that it Splinter who had done it.
"I know I should be happy you two agreeing on things, but then I know things are just really, really bad, so I'm not happy about it at all! Especially when we can't do anything about it!" Mikey groaned adjusting his sling for the fortieth time. The orange clad turtle then deflated further into misery. Though both brothers had set his arm back into its rightful place, which hurt like shell, he looked as small and broken as ever. Raph and Leo exchanged a look, as he needed some hope... They all did.
"Ok. Now we are patched up, maybe it would be a good time to try and figure out what's going on," the eldest lifting his spirits a little.
"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Raph spat. "Splinter's the only one who knows what's going on here and in his current state, he is hardly likely to tell us!"
"Which is why we have to try and reach out to the real Splinter... if he is still there," Leo cautiously made his way over to the back of Splinter's cot before sitting down cross legged at his head.
"What the shell are you doing fearless? He might be faking it and waiting for one of us to go near him!" Raph quickly got up following him over.
"He's still tied up and we have the onions at the ready. If I can reach him on the Spirit plane -?"
"How do you know he is even on the spirit plane? For all we know, he may have... gone forever!"
"Don't say that, Raph!" Mikey spat quickly not wanting to think of the possibility.
"I have too Mikey! None of us want to think Splinter is dead... No, I really don't want to think that," the red clad turtle looking now more broken than ever. "But what if he is? And whoever has turned him into this, is in there waiting for you! We don't know who we are dealing with, but it wouldn't take a genius like Donnie to know they have some pretty damn freaky mind tricks to take over Sensei! And I don't want to have to take you down too Leo!"
"I know Raph, but it's a risk we have to take if there is any chance of finding him and maybe Donnie," This one statement alone cut off any further objections. They all knew the risks of losing Leo as well... But there really was no other choice.
"You sure about this dude?" The youngest looked at the sleeping figure nervously.
"Nope!" Leo half smiled. "But let's do it. Both of you come sit either side of him. Mikey you watch father's vitals, but have the onions at the ready... Raph you watch me and be ready to drag me out of this if I look to be losing control!"
"You got it!" The two said together. There wasn't a time the brothers normally worked together perfectly without some objection, but with their fathers and brother's life hanging in the balance, now was not a time to fight for front seat. The fear was evident on their faces as they took their position. Even Leo was having to force his nerves away before placing his hands on either side of his sensei's head. Closing his eyes and focusing hard, the search had begun.
By the time the world had come back, Donnie still had to wait for it to stop spinning. A slightly sinister squeaky sound however forced him to look up. He was greeted with two tiny red burning eyes looking right at him. Not daring to break eye contact, the turtle slowly tried to pull himself up. The rodent hissed warningly at the movement. He had been found. But so far just by the one... That would soon change. He didn't know how but Donnie KNEW without a shadow of a doubt that it was the Rat King staring back at him. It may already be too late... but he didn't have a choice... He had to stop this one before it could send out an alert to the others.
Who would blink first? The red glowing eyes glared and hissed at him with such hatred... He knew it was going to bite him, probably right on the face from this position. But it didn't notice the turtle's hand twitch. Three, two, one – SNATCH! Donnie grabbed the rat right out of the air, gripping it tightly around the back of the neck. It squirmed violently in his hand as he tried to pull himself up into the sitting position. Now what was he going to do? One rat and his cover was blown. The Rat King would be here any moment. At the thought of seeing him again made Donnie panic. He was here to be murdered... He started to shake at the thought of what the Rat King was going to do to him when he caught up with him. That terrifying, twisted bandaged face was the stuff of nightmares. His heart was in his throat as the creature nipped and squealed in his fingers until they bled... It wasn't going to let him just leave! What was he supposed to do? What? "Oh god I'm sorry!" Donnie said before shutting his eyes tightly as he took the rat into both hands and SNAP! One quick motion and then the rodent stopped moving. Oh God! What had he become?! The cracking sound made him feel sick. He had never killed something before. Without thinking he quickly dropped the dead rodent into the water below and ran! His head spun worse than ever, but he was not going back there!
To Donnie's misfortune he hadn't known how right he had been. At that moment the rat king looked up realizing that one of his subject's had just suddenly vanished from his telepathic web. "You'll pay for that Buttercup!" He growled. "Purple has just decided how he is to die!" He snarled taking off to the last location the mutant had been seen. Most of the rats following his direction... but not all of them.
A/N: Hope you like. A lot has gone on in this chapter right? You really have to feel for Splinter as he was forced to watch himself hurt his son, and would do anything to make it stop. Rat King is just very cruel isn't he? Well, Leo has a plan to try and contact Splinter, and yet Splinter is crestfallen upon hearing Don was going to get it. Yet we find out Donatello is gone, he's weak yet is still on the run, but now has angered Rat King big time, so now it's on. Things will be getting very interesting from here on out, and I thank you all for sticking with this so far. Till next time.