Turtlefreak121: (puts down Stephen King novel) What was that noise? (another squeak) Oh, gosh! It-it can't be! (noise again) HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? (tries to run, trips, falls and looks back at computer desk and yells) mouse: Squeak

TF121: (growls in rage, picks up computer mouse, and chucks it) Grr! I wouldn't be putting up with you if you weren't my bargaining chip for a stupid tablet pen! (growls again before storming off towards her room)

Thanks to: coldshunshin, Tewi, Lunar-ninja, calliopechild, Dierdre, Flaremimi, Pi90katana, and Longing for Leo for the reviews

The Dark Half

Chapter Five

By Turtlefreak121

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT.

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Leo put his hand over his eyes as Raph and Don struggled to carry him. He didn't want to be carried, though - instead, Leo tried to stop his brothers, but he couldn't find the strength to speak. Despite this, Leonardo did not want - did not need - his brothers carrying him like some pathetic child. He pulled his arm from Donatello's shoulders and clutched his face as he struggled to get his other arm from Raph.

Raphael didn't want his brother to go psycho again either. He grabbed Leo's arm and wouldn't let go.

"Give me...my arm!" Leo barked - very unlike himself. Then again, everything was unlike him at the moment.

"Leo, what's goin' on?" Raph demanded as he slowed enough to rest his older brother against the sewer wall.

Planting his hands on the sides of his head, Leo slowly slid down the wall and almost got into a fetal position. "He won't go away!" he growled.

The other turtles looked at each other in surprise. Had their leader gone nuts?

"Who, Leo?" Don tried to reason.

"T-the one who broke into April's store...the one in my nightmares..." he stated as he screwed his eyes closed.

"You have nightmares?" Mikey asked.

"Wait, you know who broke into the antique store?" Raph asked, ignoring Mikey's comment.

"I always knew..." Leo said as he gnashed his teeth - the wailing in his mind was unbearable. His reasoning was that the less noise, the less the headache that was splitting his skull open. Some of that noise just happened to be his brothers. Sure, he felt like a drunken idiot, perhaps - in one sense - he was, but he was getting rid of some of the pain one way or another.

"Who?" Don continued the interrogation.

"M-me..."

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Max looked over and saw the crowds gathering around the dead body. For purposes of enjoyment, he walked with the crowd - to view the spectacle he was responsible fore. The stupid kid should have just given him the bike.

You should have asked, a voice said in his mind - like a father to a son. This wasn't Aku's voice - definitely not Aku's voice.

"Shuddup..." he growled in a low voice so that no one could hear him.

IT WAS AN INNOCENT KID! it roared. HE WAS HEADING HOME TO PREPARE HIS MOTHER AND FATHER'S TWENTY-FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY AND YOU KILLED HIM!

Grabbing his forehead, Earwins headed out of the crowd and back 'home'.

"Make him stop, Aku!" Earwins growled. "MAKE HIM SHUDDUP!"

I CAN NOT GIVE YOU ENOUGH POWER TO OVERPOWER HIM AS LONG AS HE HAS A CONNECTION WITH--

"Shuddup, Aku!" he roared as the new-found 'conscience' continued to scream in his head. "I'll get rid of him and his family if he ever dares to contact me again!"

Don't threaten them - I will destroy you if you come so much as millimeter thin to their throats you--

"Don't order me around, you don't even know what all I'm up to, you freakin' parasite!" Max spat.

There was finally silence - especially from the people walking around him.

YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF HIM ON YOUR OWN, EARWINS!

"I can see that!" Max snapped.

The pudgy man cut the corner into the alley and half ran behind the dumpster. He sat down on the ground - his back against the corner and his determined and ghastly face facing directly forward. He then closed his eyes and allowed his eyes to roll into the back of his head. His mouth opened half way and he could feel everything in his body slow down - now there was nothing but him, Aku, and the other...

"I'll kill 'im..." Max smirked.

G-g-get ou-o-out of m-my head, Max!

"No way, buddy-boy - you're going to get what's coming to you, you dim-brained idiot..."

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"You?" Raph gasped with Don and Mikey.

"That's impossible, Leo - you were still in your room at the approximate time that this was taking place - we all saw you!" Don complied.

Leo rubbed the sides of his head - how could they possibly make this harder than it already was?

"I-I killed Weasel and Big Tony, too..." Leo stated. "I know I did - I can see it in my head over and over and over again...all the time...every time..."

"Leo, you're not feeling good," Raph responded quickly - he wasn't taking anymore of this crap. "Let me n' Donny help ya up and we'll go home. After ya get back into yar senses yall thank us.

"He...I...killed again!" Leo yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everyone was taken back by this.

Leo covered his eyes and began crying. "He killed his old banker and now...two? TWO bystanders! That stupid kid should've given him the freakin' bike!"

Don reached out to touch his brother's shoulder in reassurance when Leo slapped it away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" he roared. "H-he's gonna...use me...me...he's gonna make me do something awful..."

"Leo--" Mikey tried to soothe, but his brother stood up.

There was an almost wild look in Leo's eyes as he backed away from his three brothers. His feet sloshed through the water as he tried to get away from them.

"I-I can't let you guys be around me wh-when he goes off!" Leo exclaimed.

"Leo--"

"NO, RAPH!" he snapped. "I-I won't let you die by my hands! I WON'T LET YOU DIE AT ALL!"

Before the turtles could respond, Leonardo took off like a rocket in the other direction.

"LEO!" Raph yelled before running after his brother.

Mikey shivered. "What's going on, Don?"

"I think the stress...the attacks...those threats... That kick from the Purple Dragon must've started something off."

As the two took off - far away from Raph and even farther from Leo - Mikey looked to his brother. "This is really freaking me out!"

Don shook his head. "Try being Leo..."

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He couldn't allow himself to be used by Max to kill his brothers. That's what he had done before, wasn't it? Max had used him to break into April's store and destroy the place. That was what Max wanted - to scare Leo into allowing him to be. But he wouldn't break the connection - Leo doubted he could. As Max continued his killing spree, Leo was there each and every time! And Max was getting something he didn't like as well.

Honor, Leo thought. Max can't have honor of his own, else he might not be able to kill innocent people who - by doing their jobs - had 'wronged' him.

Oh, but there was so much more going on that Leo didn't know about - something driving him absolutely crazy!

"That's impossible, Leo - you were still in your room at the approximate time that this was taking place - we all saw you!"

But it was, Don - it had to be. Then Leo thought again - just how much more was there? Was there something else taking part in Max and his interactions? How was it that the two of them - so different - were connected anyway? What was it that they shared? What was the bond that enabled the two of them to interact mentally, emotionally, and - worst of all - physically.

He had been a fool to try and contact Max to begin with - he should have known better than this! He should have foreseen Max taking advantage of this moment to fulfill his promise.

Looking behind him, he couldn't see Raph - but he could hear his echoes. That was enough to keep Leo running - he couldn't risk it. Never again.

He felt horrible for not saying good bye to them...Master Splinter...their friends - everyone. The thing was, they were all safe as long as Leo was far, far away from the lot of them.

Rubbing the mixture of tears and seat into the scaly skin of his beak, Leo gulped - he felt the first pulsation.

KILL! MURDER! DESTROY! KILL THEM! MURDER THEM! DESTROY THEM! EAT THE FLESH FROM THEIR BONES! BREAK THEIR NECKS AND EAT THEIR LIVERS!

Leo stopped and his body jerked back and he held to his heart as his body went into strange convulsions.

Raph stopped as he saw his brother bending over and shaking uncontrollably. "Leo!" he yelled before running towards his brother.

No, Leo thought. Oh, Raph - don't! Please don't come near me while I'm like this! Don't get killed by me! MAX! G-g-get ou-o-out of m-my head, Max!

No way, buddy-boy - you're going to get what's coming to you, you dim-brained idiot...

Suddenly, Leo's shoulders began throwing themselves forward and nearly shooting past his head as spit and vomit began to collect itself in the back of Leo's throat.

Crying, Leo vomited onto the sewer floors as Mikey and Don rounded the corner.

"Leo!" they shouted as Raph tried to get near their older brother.

"Leo, calm down - we're here!" Raph stated calmly as he tried to soothe his obviously sick older brother.

Scowling at the floor, Leonardo slowly straightened and used the back of his forearm to wipe the spit from the corners of his mouth.

"I thought I told you to stay AWAY!" he roared before reaching back for his katana.

As the blade became unsheathed, Raph realized how much danger he was truly in and began to back up. "Whoa! Leo, calm down!"

A strange, foreign laughter came from their brother as he neared them with his katana drawn. "I-I protect you...and took care of you for fifteen years..." he growled. "And you can't leave me alone for only a few minutes!"

Suddenly, Leonardo pulled his katana high into the air as he stood before Raph.

A nun chuck flew from the shadows and wrapped around Leo's katana and pulled it backwards.

"Leo, don't!" Mikey cried as he struggled to keep control of his brother's katana.

Glaring back at Michelangelo, Leonardo gnashed his teeth. "Why you little maggot!" he sneered before turning his body around and kicking Mikey into a wall.

"MIKEY!" Don yelled as he charged at Leo who slowly walked towards the injured turtle.

Easily enough, Leo ducked under Don's Bo before kicking him behind his knees and causing him to fall. As Donatello reached the ground, Leo threw his fist as hard as he could into his brother's face and caused Don to fly back unconscious into the water.

"LEO!" Raph roared before charging. "Don't make me hurt you!"

Ignoring the comment, Leo easily used his speed to dodge his brother's Sai and then skid to a halt behind the red-banded turtle. He then elbowed Raph hard in the side of the head and knocked him senseless.

Leonardo left his two brothers in a daze and came after the confused and frightened Michelangelo.

Mikey's eyes widened in horror as Leo lifted his sword above Mikey's head and smirked.

"I'll make it hurt - for my favorite brother..." Leo said before he began to attack.

Suddenly, Leo stopped and terrified look came to his face. His face screwed together and tears ran down his beak as the sword trembled in his grasps.

"M-Mikey..." Leo cried. "R-run...I can't hold him for...long..."

Tears of terror flowed down the orange masked turtle's face. "Leo...what's going on?"

Dropping his sword, Leo fell to his knees and cupped his face into his hands. "H-he made me kill my brothers...my brothers..." he sobbed.

Reluctantly, Michelangelo reached out and hugged his brother. "No one's dead, Leo...you just scared us."

"Mikey...please..." Leo begged as he and Mikey finally looked each other in the eyes. "Please take Raph and Don and go...I'm not stable...Max could come back and--"

Mikey shook his head. "No way, Bro - you're our brother too...we're not leaving without you!"

Leo shook his head and held his hands to his face again. "Oh...Mikey, I won't let you guys watch me commit seppuku..."

The orange masked turtle's eyes could have fallen from their sockets. "No, Leo! I won't let you!" he commanded as he grabbed his brother's hands and squeezed. "Everyone's okay right now! Just calm down."

Suddenly Leo's eyes rolled into the back of his head. "Mikey...go..." he pleaded finally before his body began to rack back and forth and he threw himself to the ground and began to have what Mikey could only call a seizure.

"LEO!" Mikey shouted. He looked around and saw no one - his brothers were still out cold.

Suddenly, Mikey's shell cell began to play its tone.

Leo's eyes opened wide - he knew who it was.

"Michelangelo?" Splinter's voice asked. "Where are you and your brothers? You have not been home in hours!"

Leo's head shook. "M-Mikey! Don't tell him any--"

"Master Splinter!" Mikey yelled in relief. "Everything's nuts! Leo's having a seizure and Raph and Don are out cold and-and--"

"My son, where are you?" Splinter asked in alert. "I shall come immediately!"

Leo grabbed Mikey's arm and shook his head. "It's not--"

"We're in the sewers - under fourth and main!" he exclaimed.

"I shall come, my son!" The phone hung up.

Leo threw his head against the concrete and cried out.

"He won't be mad at you, Leo! You've got something wrong and we'll fix it up as soon as Master Splinter gets here!" Mikey informed him.

"That wasn't Master Splinter..."

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Turtlefreak121: Ahem - not much to say except I've got nothing to say!

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